To encounter the city's long-time commercial bedrock, commercial fishing, head to the quay used by small fishing boats. Hungry seagulls dive and squawk overhead as they survey the fishing boats and the 20-or-so stalls where poissonniers (fishmongers) sell just-caught cabillaud (Atlantic cod), carrelet (plaice) and sole (sole) – Boulogne's most important commercial fish – as well as bar (sea bass), mulet (mullet), raie (skate) and turbot (turbot). You'll also find homard (lobster), crabe (crab) and huîtres (oysters) in season.
Lonely Planet's must-see attractions
0.5 MILES
At this vast manta ray–shaped aquarium – one of the world's largest – huge tanks with floor-to-ceiling windows make you feel as though you're swimming…
10.03 MILES
Topped by a lighthouse and a radar station that keeps track of the hundreds of ships that pass by here each day, the 49m-high cliffs of Cap Gris-Nez are…
0.68 MILES
Boulogne's hilltop Upper City is an island of centuries-old buildings and cobblestone streets. You can walk all the way around this 'Fortified City' atop…
14.63 MILES
Southwest of Calais, just past Sangatte, the coastal dunes give way to cliffs that culminate in windswept, 134m-high Cap Blanc-Nez, which affords…
Cité Internationale de la Dentelle et de la Mode
19.28 MILES
Innovative exhibits trace the history of lacemaking – the industry that once made Calais a textile powerhouse – from hand knotting (some stunning samples…
27.71 MILES
Nestled in the bucolic Authie valley 27km northeast of Le Crotoy, this strikingly beautiful 12th-century abbey, rebuilt between 1687 and 1756, merits a…
19.22 MILES
In front of Calais' ornate Hôtel de Ville stands the first cast of Rodin's famous sculpture Les Bourgeois de Calais (The Burghers of Calais; 1889), which…
18.02 MILES
This broad, gently sloping sandy beach stretching for 8km is safe for swimming and gets packed in summer.
Nearby attractions
1. Musée Libertador San Martín
0.39 MILES
The house where General José de San Martín, the exiled hero of Argentine, Chilean and Peruvian independence from the Spanish, lived from 1848 until his…
0.5 MILES
At this vast manta ray–shaped aquarium – one of the world's largest – huge tanks with floor-to-ceiling windows make you feel as though you're swimming…
0.5 MILES
Cast in bronze, this statue atop a small pyramid commemorates the pioneering Boulogne-born Egyptologist Auguste Mariette (1821–81), founder of Cairo's…
0.54 MILES
Built between 1777 and 1780 as a private mansion, the Hôtel Desandrouin (also known as the Palais Impérial) was later used by Napoléon in 1803, 1810 and…
0.55 MILES
Boulogne-sur-Mer's red-brick town hall was built in 1734, but its 37m-high square medieval belfry dates from the 12th century. It's free to climb the…
0.65 MILES
The Haute-Ville's minor basilica is locally referred to as a cathedral, although it's never held that status. Its towering 101m-high dome, visible from…
0.68 MILES
Boulogne's hilltop Upper City is an island of centuries-old buildings and cobblestone streets. You can walk all the way around this 'Fortified City' atop…
0.69 MILES
This 13th-century gate, modified in the 17th and 19th centuries, is at the northeastern end of the Haute-Ville's rue de Lille.