Camping Zuydcoote Beach

Along the beach from Zuydcoote the sandy stretch reaches the small town of Bray-Dunes, home to a watersports centre where you can hire boats or take lessons in sailing, windsurfing or land yachting. You can drive up there in about 10 minutes or walk through the Dune Marchand National Nature Reserve in around half an hour. If you’re just after somewhere to stretch the legs with a lengthy walk, keep going once you’ve hit Bray-Dunes, as there’s plenty more dune walking to be done on the other side – walk for just over an hour or so from the site and you’ll hit the Belgian border (and a nice restaurant where you can refresh with lunch/coffee/something a little stronger). Other outdoorsy pursuits locally include a golf course just outside Dunkirk (20 minutes’ drive), horse and pony rides (from a riding centre 15 minutes away) and paintballing (15 minutes away). It’ll take you about 20 minutes to drive down to Dunkirk to learn about its pivotal role in World War II at the Dunkirk 1940 Museum, and visit the LAAC contemporary art museum with its smashing sculpture garden. If you’ve got kids in tow, also consider visiting the town’s aquarium and Fort-Mardyck Zoo. Just a quick hop over the border into Belgium (15 minutes or so) takes you to two more fably family-friendly attractions: the Plopsaland theme park, with heaps of rides and play areas for all ages, and Plopsaqua, a huge waterpark with loads of waterslides, water features and pools including a disco pool and disco slide (and also a sauna and hot tubs for the pleasant pickling of accompanying parentals).