Quend: Dunes, Trails and Culture

Explore Quend through its dune landscape and trails across different habitats. The Dunes du Royon stretch across the commune between Fort-Mahon and Quend-Plage. There is an educational trail with information panels about the dune habitat and wetlands. The trail makes these landscape features a specific focus of a visit.

Dune trails and their landscapes

The Dune du Royon route can start in Quend-Plage and run towards Fort-Mahon, or vice versa. It passes through an extremely sensitive dune habitat with numerous plant species and many birds. The educational trail also draws attention to the wetlands, while the route description highlights the sensitive habitat with its plants and birds. If you plan this route, keep the dunes’ sensitive nature in mind.

The Le Colombier route has a specific starting point: it begins at a car park in Monchaux on the road to Quend-Plage. The landscape alternates between fields and meadows, bushes and copses; small streams border the paths. The Le Colombier route passes through a landscape shaped by farms. This gives Le Colombier a different landscape perspective from the dune trails. Check the local signs before setting out.

Nature watching beyond Quend

Another nature destination lies outside Quend: the Parc du Marquenterre is an ornithological reserve in nearby Saint-Quentin-en-Tourmont, between Le Crotoy and Quend. The park has a 6 km visitor trail and 13 observation points. The combination of a set trail length and observation points gives you concrete guidance when planning a visit focused on nature watching. The park is a destination in its own right and is not part of the commune of Quend.

Culture and other activities

Quend-Plage-les-Pins has preserved wild dunes and a pine forest that is unique on the Picardy coast. The town also has a chapel with hand-painted stained-glass windows. These windows add a distinctive detail to the building; together with the natural features, they offer different ways to shape a stay that takes in both the landscape and local culture.

The Asinerie du Marquenterre is a farm offering visitor experiences and open to the public. It was founded in 2003 and opened to the public in 2004. Direct contact with farm animals is part of the experience. Check current access arrangements before your visit.

For a movie night, the Cinéma Pax in Quend-Plage-Les-Pins offers a cinema programme that is updated weekly. Checking the current programme can help you work out when a visit might fit into your schedule. At Arbre et Aventure, the seasonal offering includes an acrobatic course in the forest and archery battles. If you plan to take part in either activity, check the seasonal dates in advance.

Discover more destinations: Saint-Valery-Sur-Somme, Beauquesne, Fossemanant, Bouvaincourt-Sur-Bresle, Neufmoulin, Creuse, Chépy, Villers-Bretonneux

For the overview of the wider region: Somme.