Malo-les-Bains Beach

Malo-les-Bains swimming beach & WWI historic site

Museums

Art and history museums, all near Malo-les-Bains beach and reachable by Bus C4 from the Gare de Dunkerque (map):

Musée Dunkerque 1940 Operation Dynamo

Near the eastern end of Malo-les-Bains beach, in Bastion 32, is the historic headquarters of the evacuation Operation Dynamo. This underground museum brings the drama, danger and struggle of the great evacuation to life via displays of artifacts, uniforms, equipment, documents, dioramas, and audio-visual displays. More...

The cavernous rooms beneath Bastion 32
are now a fine military museum.

CWGC Dunkirk Memorial

The Commonwealth War Graves Commission maintains the Dunkirk Memorial (Mémoriale Brittanique) in the British War Graves section of Dunkirk's cemetery on rue de Furnes (D601; map)

LAAC (Lieu d'Art et d'Action Contemporaine)

The striking modern art museum on the east side of Bastion 32 from the Musée Dunkerque 1940 features 1500 art and graphic works of the 1940s to 1980s, including by Karel Appel, César, and Andy Warhol, as well as creative materials and interactive exhibits for visitors. More...

LAAC: modern art in a modern museum.

FRAC Grand-Large Hauts-de-France

The Fonds régional d'art contemporain (FRAC) is "a mobile collection of more than 1600 art and design works from the 1960s to today" which circulates through a network of regional museums, of which Dunkirk's FRAC is the one for this region (Hauts-de-France). The museum's two modern glass-warehouse-like structures fit into the harbor setting at the western end of Malo-les-Bains beach. More...

Musée Portuaire

The Musée Portuaire de Dunkerque has 500 artifacts and exhibits detailing the long and storied maritime history of the La cité corsaire (pirate/privateer city), plus three sailing ships moored alongside, and access to the 63-meter (207-foot) Phare du Risban lighthouse which casts its beam 60 km (37 miles/26 nautical miles). More...

City Center

Hôtel de Ville

Completed in 1901, Dunkirk's red brick Flemish-Renaissance city hall boasts a tall tower (beffroi) visible from throughout the city. Built on the site of previous town halls (the first was in 1233), the city hall was damaged in both world wars, but finely repaired.

The façade features statues of great figures from Dunkirk's history. Inside is a fine stained glass window showing the scene of privateer Jean Bart's return from the Battle of Texel (1673).

Église St-Eloi & Beffroi St-Éloi

The original Church of St-Éloi (1440) was destroyed by fire in 1558, and later churches were destroyed by war (as recently as 1940). Rebuilt each time,rebuilding of the present church was completed in 1985.

Facing the church across the street, its ancient 58-meter (190-foot) belltower (beffroi) survived all the cataclysms. Renovated in 2009, the belltower, with the Office de Tourisme on its ground floor, is open to visits: pay the small fee, take an elevator/lift to the 5th floor to see the 50 bells, then climb 60 steps to the observation platform for the panoramic view of Dunkirk. More...

Place Jean Bart

The spacious square just south of the Église and Beffroi St-Éloi is surrounded by shops and restaurants. At its center is a statue of Jean Bart (1650-1702), Dunkirk's swashbuckling naval hero.

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