Boulogne, Ferries and Ferry Crossings

Welcome to the Boulogne sur Mer (France) section of FerryCrossings.org, the site for information about major UK and continental ports and the ferries between them. Our site includes an introduction to a number of ports and feature pages about the various crossing ways, lanes and routes and companies operating between them to help you plan your journey and discover interesting travel destinations along the way. You can even compare prices and save money on your ferry tickets with ads from selected major ferry lines.

Port of Boulogne, France

Boulogne. Boulogne or, to give it its proper title, Boulogne sur Mer, in the Pas de Calais, is France's largest fishing port. A large percentage of today's townspeople make their living from fishing or related activities. In Roman times the town was the embarkation port for Claudius' invasion of Britain in 43AD. In 1805 Boulogne was again the port of embarkation for a planned invasion of England, this time by Napoleon. In the Second World War, although the town didn't suffer the wholesale devastation that other northern French towns did, the harbour area was bombed and destroyed by the Allies following D-Day, in 1944, to prevent any subsequent German naval activity.

The Belfry tower of Boulogne enjoys the status of being a UNESCO World Heritage site. The old part of Boulogne is inside the original fortified town, the walls of which still remain intact and the visitor can walk along them looking down into the old town where many of the old buildings have been restored. Here you will find interesting shops, cafes and architecture. In one corner of the walls (they are rectangular, not circular) is a fine, defensive mediaeval castle built by the Count of Boulogne in the 13th century. Today this castle houses the museum with its outstanding collections of artefacts from around the world including the largest collection of Eskimo masks in Europe and the largest French collection of Greek and Etruscan vases after the Louvre. Boulogne's Cathedral of Notre Dame dates back to the early 19th century when the French Catholic Church re-emerged after the Revolution of the 18th century when worship was suppressed and churches were closed and destroyed. Mediaeval pilgrims visited the original cathedral to pay homage to the 'Virgin of the Sea, which was thought to grant miracles. Re-construction of the cathedral took many years but many interesting finds were found in the crypt including ancient painted walls, arches and even a pile of cannon balls from the time when Henry Vlll laid siege to Boulogne in 1544.

Boulogne was the birthplace of Matilda, Countess of Boulogne and the wife of King Stephen of England (not to be confused with Matilda, also known as Maude, who was the grand-daughter of William the Conqueror. Many saw this Matilda as the rightful Queen of England but Stephen successfully challenged her right to the crown of England. This act resulted in many years of Civil War in England and was only finally resolved when Matilda's son Henry, from her marriage to the Count of Anjou, took the throne upon Stephen's death).

John McRae, a Canadian of Scottish descent, and famous for his poem 'In Flanders Fields', lies buried in the Commonwealth War Graves Commission section of Wimeraux cemetery, close to Boulogne. McRae was first and foremost a doctor but also a lieutenant-colonel in the Canadian Expeditionary Forces of the First World War. The poem was written, after the death of a friend on the battlefield of Ypres in 1915, when McRae was in charge of a field hospital. It was published and subsequently became the rallying cry for allied troops throughout the rest of the war and was used for many fundraising and activities. McRae himself didn't survive the war, dying as a result of pneumonia in early 1918 whilst in charge of the Canadian hospital at Boulogne.

Also in Boulogne, and an experience not to be missed, is Nausicaa, the National Sea Centre. Almost 30 years ago the idea for the aquarium in Boulogne that would be 'more than an aquarium' came into being. It would be 10 years before the project was first opened to the public but since then it has leapt from strength to strength and by 2005 it had seen 9 million visitors. It is an exhibition place and centre that has conservation of the seas and oceans, and the creatures living in and dependant on them, as its motive force. Here you will find changing and informative exhibitions, a Californian Sea Lion Reserve, the Tropical Lagoon Village, sharks and coral reefs, the Underwater Forest, the caymans, and penguins from the southern hemisphere. It offers a multimedia experience that is designed not only to enthrall and entertain but also to educate us in the necessity to live in harmony with nature and be responsible conservationists in our own small ways.

There is a ferry crossing, across the English Channel, between Boulogne and Dover.