In a nutshell
The most popular and most requested town for French golf breaks in Northern France, Le Touquet was once the holiday resort for rich Parisians. With glamorous hotels, large casinos and long clean beaches, you can understand why.
Due to its proximity to Calais and the Eurotunnel, it has become a mecca for English golfers travelling to France for their annual golf holiday.
With a selection of highly regarded golf courses close by, numerous restaurants and some lively bars, Le Touquet has a lot to offer. There is a good choice of ‘up-market’ and ‘cheap & cheerful’ hotels, offering a choice to every type of client.
Le Touquet Location
Le Touquet is located in Northern France right on the coast, 55 minutes’ drive from Calais, 2 hours 30 minutes’ drive from Paris.
From the UK, most people tend to self-drive by taking the Eurotunnel crossing from Folkestone or by taking a ferry from Dover to Calais. Both are really convenient and well priced, but most golfers tend to jump on the Eurotunnel as this takes a mere 35 minutes vs the hour and a bit on the ferry.
Le Touquet does have its own airport, and receives flights from Lydd Airport in Kent. The taxi ride into Le Touquet is 5 minutes.
Golf courses near Le Touquet
The golf surrounding Le Touquet is superb and there is a great selection of different types of courses to keep you entertained.
Just 5 minutes away is the Golf du Touquet with its two courses, although the challenging ‘La Mer’ course is the pick of the two. 30 minutes’ drive up the coast is Golf d’Hardelot, again with two courses. The magnificent pine woodland course ‘Les Pins’ is the more celebrated of the two, although ‘Les Dunes’ has improved considerably the last few years.
The pure links course of Golf de Wimereux is 40 minutes away and the superb Golf de Belle Dune is also around 40 minutes’ drive the other way. Nampont Saint-Martin golf club is another option within 40 minutes’ drive and there are again two courses onsite.
Restaurants in Le Touquet
Eating out in Le Touquet is a real pleasure, as there is a mixture of established and hidden-away restaurants waiting to be discovered.
Sticking to the main roads like Rue Saint-Jean and Rue de Metz, you can’t go wrong but expect to pay slightly more. For example, the Jean’s Café on the corner of Rue Saint-Jean and Rue de Londres has an American ranch style décor, but serves classic French food with some more informal American options. The wine menu is superb, the beer is good but the price is top-end.
Along Rue de Metz are some good options including La Taverne Royale, a more informal Brasserie style restaurant offering a Menu of the Day alongside typical French bar food – not too expensive. Le Matisse is a comfortable restaurant which would appeal to groups, with a wide ranging menu offering pizzas, different types of meats, fish, pastas and local specialities.
A very famous restaurant along the Rue de Metz is Chez Pérard, a famous seafood restaurant renowned for its fish soup which is sold in many supermarkets including Waitrose in the U.K. The seafood platter is to die for although this is top of the budget range.
Slightly less well known, but absolutely superb, is the Bleu Blanc Mer on Rue de Londres. It will struggle to take large groups but anything of 8 or less, I would very much recommend eating here. It is family run and you can expect a friendly service. Fish and meat specialities are all on offer and there are always a few different daily specials.
On the whole, there is a great choice of restaurants throughout the town and no doubt everyone will have their own recommendations. Taking a short walk through some of the back streets, you could discover your own new favourite.
Bars in Le Touquet
The nightlife in Le Touquet is fun, vibrant and although there is not an abundance of choice, it is quality not quantity.
The main hub which gets the liveliest is on Rue de Metz, the pubs being Le Globetrotter and L’Impasse. The Globetrotter screens all the live Sky Sports channels so on any match day or during any Major, this is the place to be. A pint of Jupiler lager costs around €4.50. L’Impasse gets a little livelier later in the evenings, and there are often local DJs playing some sort of playlist late into the night.
There are two casinos, the large Groupe Lucien Barrière casino, 5 minutes’ walk out of town and a smaller casino on Rue Saint-Jean, with its nightclub Le Doral.
For people looking to party late into the night, Le Chatham discotheque (on Rue Saint-Jean) and the La Barding (Rue de Metz) are two clubs in the centre of town.
Hotels in Le Touquet
There is a fantastic choice of hotels, ranging from the glamorous and up-market 4* hotels to more cheap and comfortable 2* hotels, perfect for larger groups looking for a central location.
Of the 4* hotels, Hôtel Westminster is the pick of the bunch, with glamorous 50’s style décor and a Michelin starred restaurant. Holiday Inn Resort and Mercure Grand Hôtel are two more top class hotels to choose from, but very different from the Westminster.
Two main options for a 3* hotel are within the town, the recently refurbished and very popular Le Bristol Hotel. The second option is actually outside of town and on the Golf du Touquet, Le Manoir Hotel. Extremely popular with golfing groups who like to wake up and stroll onto the course, Le Manoir has a lovely restaurant and a large bar area.
As for 2* hotels, where to start? The Hotel Red Fox is the closest to the action although any of the list below are clean, cheap and central; Le Nouveau Caddy Hotel, Hotel Les Embruns, Hotel Equinoxe, Le Windsor Hotel.
Golf Holidays in France, Le Touquet
Clearly, Le Touquet is a great base for a a golf holiday in northern France. You have everything you need and with it being under an hour’s drive from Calais, you can understand why this is the most popular golf resort in France with British golfers.
There are a number of tour operators who will organise this for you. Their team of sales consultants will work with you to recommend the best golf courses, advise on the most suitable accommodation options as well as do all the leg work for you….it couldn’t be easier.
