After the Marathon Calais XXL: Cap Blanc-Nez

The Route: Calais-Ville → Cap Blanc-Nez / Escalles → Calais-Ville Logistics: Free Div'in double-decker bus, around 35 minutes each way. An out-and-back day trip with no overnight stay required. Marathon Month: June Duration: Day trip

Calais-Ville ──(35 mins Div'in bus, free)──> Cap Blanc-Nez / Escalles ──(35 mins Div'in bus, free)──> Calais-Ville

Marathon Calais XXL starts at Escalles, directly beneath the chalk cliffs of Cap Blanc-Nez, at 08:00. Runners cover the headland in the race's opening kilometres, in the dark of pre-race nerves and the effort of the day's first climb, which means most of them see almost none of it. This trip is the chance to go back and actually look.

June on the Opal Coast sits close to the longest days of the year, and Cap Blanc-Nez in particular rewards a clear afternoon: on a good day, the chalk cliffs of Kent are visible across the Strait of Dover, roughly 34 kilometres away at the crossing's narrowest point. The Grand Site des Deux-Caps, the protected stretch of coastline that includes both Cap Blanc-Nez and Cap Gris-Nez further south, is at its greenest in June, before the browner grasses of late summer set in.

Getting there does not require a car. The free Div'in double-decker bus, part of the wider Imag'in network that also covers central Calais, runs from Calais-Ville station to Cap Blanc-Nez in around 35 minutes under its normal seasonal timetable. No ticket purchase is needed. Runners should check the current timetable before travelling, since seasonal services can run on a reduced schedule outside peak summer weeks.

The Cliffs on Recovery Legs

The summit path at Cap Blanc-Nez is the better option for anyone still stiff from the marathon. It runs along the top of the headland on packed grass and gravel, broadly level once past the initial rise from the bus stop, with benches at intervals and unobstructed views out over the water in both directions. A slow circuit of the main viewpoints takes perhaps 45 minutes to an hour at a genuinely easy pace, with no obligation to go further.

The descent to the beach at Cran d'Escalles is a different proposition entirely: steep, loose underfoot in places, and considerably harder work on the way back up than it looks on the way down. It is also tide-dependent, since the beach narrows to almost nothing at high water. Runners with any residual soreness in the calves or quads are better served staying on the clifftop and saving the beach descent for a later, fresher visit. Anyone determined to go down should check the tide tables for that day before setting off, not after arriving.

A small seasonal information point at Escalles typically opens for the summer around the end of June, useful for a tide table and a local map if it happens to be open on the day, though its exact opening date varies year to year and should not be relied upon.

There is little in the way of formal catering directly at the cape itself beyond a seasonal snack kiosk near the main car park, so a coffee or lunch is better planned for back in Calais, or skipped in favour of water and something carried from the hotel.

Getting Back

The Div'in bus runs the same 35-minute route in reverse, back to Calais-Ville station, on the same free ticketless basis. Trips outside the core summer season run less frequently, so it is worth timing the return around a known departure rather than assuming a bus will be waiting. There is no need to book anything in advance for this trip: it is entirely walk-up, and easily reversible if the weather turns.