Discover Lefaux: Nature, Trails and Architectural History

Lefaux appeals to travellers with a range of interests: the nature of the Baie de Canche and the area’s architectural history offer different highlights. The Baie de Canche National Nature Reserve includes Lefaux; Saint-Jean-Baptiste Church and the Tour Belvédère offer further historical points of interest.

Natural surroundings and landscape

The Baie de Canche National Nature Reserve is open to the public. Nature guides organise excursions there lasting two to three hours. This duration makes the guided nature excursions a clearly defined activity; Lefaux is also one of the municipalities included in the reserve. When planning your trip, both the natural setting itself and organised activities exploring it offer concrete starting points.

Les Garennes de Lornel consists of extensive coastal dunes along the estuary. These include dry or wet dunes, as well as open or wooded ones. Moisture and vegetation are two distinct features of the landscape: the dunes are not all alike. Travellers interested in landscape types when choosing a destination will find a distinctive natural setting here, one that goes beyond the general description “coastal dunes”.

Compare trails by distance

The GR du littoral runs for 10.7 kilometres through the Baie de Canche area associated with Lefaux. The Sentier de la butte aux signaux is a 2.9-kilometre trail in the area associated with Lefaux. The routes differ by 7.8 kilometres: the Sentier is the shorter option, while the GR du littoral is the longer one. If you compare trails by their stated distance, these two figures give you a concrete basis for choosing. This makes it easy to distinguish the focus of your trip without treating the two routes as equivalent.

Church and tower: two historical highlights

Saint-Jean-Baptiste Church in Lefaux is a Neo-Gothic building, constructed in 1884 to plans by Clovis Normand. It has a series of stained-glass windows dating from 1892, dedicated to the life of John the Baptist. The dates make the sequence clear: the windows date from eight years after the church was built. The building thus brings together Neo-Gothic architecture and a religious series of images. For travellers interested in culture, the church can be appreciated not only for its construction date, but also for the subject of its windows.

The Tour Belvédère in Lefaux offers a different architectural highlight. The round tower was built in the 19th century by the De Fiennes de La Planche family. Its purpose was to provide an elevated vantage point from which to view the surroundings and, in particular, the distant sea. Its historical purpose sets it apart from the church: while the church is notable for its style, construction date and stained-glass windows, the tower is associated with the idea of looking out over the surroundings from above. Together, the two buildings offer different ways to explore Lefaux’s architectural history.

Discover more destinations: Capelle-Lès-Hesdin, Saint-Venant, Offrethun, Nœux-Les-Mines, Bouvelinghem, Caumont, Ferques, Saint-Pol-Sur-Ternoise.

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