Hauts de France

A LAND OF HISTORY & LUXURY, bordering Paris & the English Channel

Hauts de France Travel Guide

Les Hauts de France region is located north of Paris and extends to the border with Belgium and is linked with the UK by means of the English Channel located to the north-east of the region. The region was created in 2016 by the merging of Nord Pas de Calais and Picardy.

This region of northern France is home to sandy beaches of the Opal Coast, famous seaside resorts such as Le Touquet, stunning Gothic Cathedrals, vibrant cities such as Lille or Lens and military cemeteries that remind us of the tragic past and World War I battles.

Most important landmarks of Hauts de France

1. Chantilly Castle

There are a number of important sights that one should not miss when traveling to the Hauts de rance region of France. Certainly one of the most famous is Chantilly Castle that has been preserved throughout times. Thanks to the passion of Henri d'Orléans, the castle is home to one of the largest collections of masterpieces and manuscripts. During your visit you will admire paintings from Raphael, Nicolas Poussin, Botticelli, Ingres, Corot and many more

2. The Louvre - Lens

The famous Parisian museum was extended to the city of Lens in 2012 bringing a new aura to this northern city. The main attraction of the museum is the Time Gallery where more than 200 masterpieces loaned by the Louvre museum are on display. In a spectacular open space of 120 meters long, visitors will admire works from the 4th century BP until modern times.

3. The Gothic Cathedrals of Amiens & Laon

The Cathedral of Amiens is certainly one of the most beautiful Gothic Cathedrals of France. Built during the 12th and 13th centuries, Amiens Cathedral is the largest in France standing 42.3 meters high and 145 meters long. Amazingly, the Cathedral did not suffer during the 1st or 2nd WW and it was listed as a Unesco World Heritage site in 1981.

The Cathedral of Laon is one of the oldest Gothic Cathedrals of France. Built during the second half of the 12th century, it has one of the finest façades. The building belongs to a family of Cathedrals with four story elevations such as the ones in Noyon or Tournai and Reims. The rose window of the Cathedral is one of the first of the Gothic style and 8 more than 80% of them are the original that date back to 1190 to 1220.

4. The Remembrance Trail

There are three main trails that are dedicated to WWI history in the Hauts de France region. One is located along the coastline and is dedicated to the Allies logistics bases on the Channel coast. Sea ports such as Boulogne sur Mer saw a steady flow of supplies and troops transit here before being sent off to the Western Front.

The second trail concerns the first part of WWI with the war of movement and the German Occupation. After the stalemate of the First Battle of the Marne and the Race to the Sea, the Western Front stabilized and the belligerents dug in. The war of movement had turned into a war of position.

The third main trail and most visited, is the trail relating to the Western Front itself. The trail is composed of more than 50 sites that include the Fromelles Australian Memorial Park, the Vimy Ridge National Historic site of Canada, the French National War Cemetery of Notre Dame de Lorette but also lesser known memorials and cemeteries such as the Memorial to Polish Volunteers, the Czechoslovak cemetery or the Portuguese and Indian cemeteries.