Eurotunnel’s Guide to Markets just across the Channel
Now you can plan your shopping trips to France with this comprehensive guide to the markets in Nord-Pas de Calais.
You know how it is - you’re driving through a charming French town and see they’re just packing up the market stalls. If only you’d known in advance you’d have got there earlier.
Well now you can thanks to our comprehensive market guide. We give you the lowdown on over 50 markets in the Nord-Pas de Calais region, all within an easy drive of the Eurotunnel Terminal. Most markets start at about 8-9 am and end at lunchtime - and with Eurotunnel’s 35 minute crossing, you get a head start.
A French market really is a feast for the senses. Stalls laden with the freshest of vegetables: sun-ripened melons, giant red tomatoes, plump pink-tinged bulbs of garlic, shiny purple aubergines, piquant piles of black and green olives and all sorts of interesting salads. Farmers’ wives selling a unique assortment of home-produced goodies - rich golden butter, home-made preserves, bunches of fresh herbs and baskets of goose eggs. There are stalls devoted to local cheeses - like Coeur d’Arras and Maroilles, plus pâtés and cold meats, tempting pastries, bread and tartes du pays, all perfect for a picnic.
It’s a good idea to bring a cool bag with you to keep your purchases fresh for the journey home. Many of the markets have much more to offer, too, from kitchen utensils and French provincial cookware to clothes, shoes and even carpets. While often the streets leading off the market place develop into intriguing flea markets where you can hunt happily for some unusual bargains.
In summer, little villages on the coast, like Wissant, see their markets grow to 4 or 5 times their usual size when they offer all sorts of holiday extras like beach games and nautical clothing, not to mention the freshest fish plucked that morning from the nearby sea. And if you don’t make it with the early birds - there’s always the consolation that you’ll scoop up some bargain fruit and vegetables as the market closes.
So Happy Shopping!
Distance from Eurotunnel : 30 miles