Fortified city of Boulogne-sur-Mer with castle in foreground and Basilica of Our Lady of the Immaculate Conception in background.

© eyewave/Getty Images/iStock

Haute-Ville


Boulogne's hilltop Upper City is an island of centuries-old buildings and cobblestone streets. You can walk all the way around this 'Fortified City' atop the ancient stone walls – look for signs for the Promenade des Remparts.

Highlights here include the Basilique Notre Dame, the Château-Musée, the neoclassical Hôtel Desandrouin and the 18th-century Hôtel de Ville with a medieval belfry.


Lonely Planet's must-see attractions

Nearby attractions

1. Porte Neuve

0.01 MILES

This 13th-century gate, modified in the 17th and 19th centuries, is at the northeastern end of the Haute-Ville's rue de Lille.

2. Basilique Notre Dame

0.04 MILES

The Haute-Ville's minor basilica is locally referred to as a cathedral, although it's never held that status. Its towering 101m-high dome, visible from…

3. Château-Musée

0.07 MILES

The cultures of five continents meet inside the Château-Musée, housed in a 13th-century fortified castle. Egyptian antiquities (some brought here by…

4. Hôtel de Ville

0.16 MILES

Boulogne-sur-Mer's red-brick town hall was built in 1734, but its 37m-high square medieval belfry dates from the 12th century. It's free to climb the…

5. Auguste Mariette Statue

0.18 MILES

Cast in bronze, this statue atop a small pyramid commemorates the pioneering Boulogne-born Egyptologist Auguste Mariette (1821–81), founder of Cairo's…

6. Hôtel Desandrouin

0.19 MILES

Built between 1777 and 1780 as a private mansion, the Hôtel Desandrouin (also known as the Palais Impérial) was later used by Napoléon in 1803, 1810 and…

7. Musée Libertador San Martín

0.31 MILES

The house where General José de San Martín, the exiled hero of Argentine, Chilean and Peruvian independence from the Spanish, lived from 1848 until his…

8. Fish Market

0.68 MILES

To encounter the city's long-time commercial bedrock, commercial fishing, head to the quay used by small fishing boats. Hungry seagulls dive and squawk…

  • placement: superzone
  • path: Destinations/POIs/superzone
  • possible size: [970, 250], [970, 90], [728, 90], [1, 1],
  • targeting:
    {
      "url": "france/boulogne-sur-mer/attractions/haute-ville/a/poi-sig/1233450/1316976",
      "position": "superzone"
    }