Equihen-Plage: Dunes and Maritime Heritage

If you’re looking for a hotel in Equihen-Plage, the area’s different themes can help you get a sense of the destination. Maritime history, dune landscapes, architecture and regional products each offer a different perspective. This can help you decide whether nature, historic building styles or local products are especially important for your trip.

Maritime heritage: the Quilles en l'air

The Quilles en l'air were fishermen’s houses made from overturned boats. Until the Second World War, they formed a distinct neighbourhood of just over twenty homes. This building style connects maritime heritage with a specific historic form of housing. The fact that the Quilles en l'air formed a distinct neighbourhood sets their history apart from that of a single fisherman’s house. For travellers interested in everyday history, this offers a way to explore how people lived and the unusual construction of their homes. The reference to the period up to the Second World War firmly places this history in the past.

Dunes d'Écault: trail and natural environment

The Dunes d'Écault extend across Equihen-Plage and Saint-Étienne-au-Mont. This natural environment includes a 4.7-kilometre dune trail. It passes through embryonic, white, grey, shrub-covered and wooded dunes, taking you through an area with diverse plant and animal life. The different terms describe colours and types of vegetation, making the trail’s varied landscape its central natural feature. At 4.7 kilometres, the trail’s length also gives you a practical reference point when including nature in your travel plans.

Saint-Pierre: post-war architecture

The present-day Church of Saint-Pierre was designed by Robert Nédonchelle between 1955 and 1959, after its predecessor was destroyed during the war. The current church therefore dates from the post-war period. It has a concrete structure, with visible pillars inside. The baptistery’s stained-glass windows were made by Juteau. Its history, construction and window art offer different points of interest: the dates place the building in context, while the pillars and stained glass are specific design details.

Shellfish and seafood from the area

Shellfish from the local shellfish beds can be bought in front of some houses. Christophe Penel sells local shellfish, cockles and prawns from the local fishing grounds in Equihen-Plage by arrangement. Sales are available daily from July to September. If you plan to buy from Christophe Penel, arrange your visit with him in advance; daily sales are available from July to September.

A treasure hunt in the Boulonnais

A treasure hunt in Equihen-Plage is one of the family treasure hunts in the Boulonnais. This adds a distinct type of activity to the area’s natural and architectural heritage: a treasure hunt in a regional format. You can consider it separately from the dune trail and architecture when deciding which travel themes interest you.

Choosing themes for your hotel search

When choosing a destination, you can distinguish three main attractions: the dune trail offers landscapes and a clearly stated distance, the Quilles en l'air offer a historic form of housing, and Saint-Pierre offers post-war architecture.

Discover more destinations: Beuvry, Nœux-Les-Mines, Airon-Notre-Dame, Ecques, La Couture, Le Ponchel, Troisvaux, Wisques

For the wider travel overview: Pas-De-Calais.