With its industrial activities concentrated in a few centres, Nord-Pas de Calais leaves most of its territory open to nature.

Waymarked walking paths, discovery circuits dotted with gourmet and cultural stops; protected coastline with capes, points, rocks and flats; fields, hedgerows and intimate valleys; marshes and coastal rivers embraced by woods and coppices; vast rural plateaux; steep hills and mountains criss-crossed with winding roads; areas protected by three Regional Nature Parks…

You can walk or sail along its 680 km of canals, alone or with a group, or, if you prefer, take a surf bike, flat-bottomed escute or electric boat to the heart of the wateringues drainage areas or to the foot of the ramparts of the fortified towns.   

You can also have a well-earned rest in its thirty-three Remarkable gardens and numerous flower parks dotting the region as far as its urban promenades.

Or, perhaps more unusual for the visitor, an offbeat walk at the foot of the slag heaps, on the lookout for orchids and blue-winged Mediterranean locusts, treading the grass and rushes alongside the tree-lined ponds.

Nord-Pas de Calais is not what you think!


Nature activities

River tourism

Parks and gardens