During our 2-week summer vacation this year, we spent a week at the La Licorne campsite on the French North Sea coast in Dunkirk. In our travel report you can read how we liked the campsite and what we did in Dunkirk.
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La Licorne campsite in Dunkirk
La Licorne campsite is located just behind the dunes of Malo-les-Bains in Dunkirk (France) and offers easy access to the long sandy beach of the French North Sea coast. It is open from the beginning of April to the beginning of November and has pitches and mobile homes in various sizes.
The campsite facilities include an indoor pool (the roof of which can be opened in good weather), an outdoor pool and a water landscape with several slides. There are also sports and leisure facilities such as a multi-sports field, playgrounds, table tennis, a boules court, a pirate ship, 2 bouncy castles and a children’s carousel. In the high season, an entertainment program with children’s club and evening events is offered. There is also a restaurant, a snack bar, a bread roll service, laundry facilities and bike and barbecue rental options on site.
La Licorne campsite in Dunkirk
The campsite belongs to Capfun, a French family business that has specialized in upmarket family campsites since 1992 and operates over 120 high-quality 4-star campsites in France, Belgium, Spain and the Netherlands.
Map of La Licorne campsite
We actually couldn’t find an up-to-date map of the campsite when we booked. We have therefore scanned the current plan 🙂
Map of the campsite La Licorne
Our house “Rio TIP TOP Presta 6 pers Placette”
We opted for the“Rio TIP TOP Presta 6 pers Placette” house type for our accommodation. Our house was really attractively furnished and had a size of approx. 37 m².
The small mobile home has a living/dining area, three separate bedrooms – one with a double bed (160 × 190 cm) and two further rooms with two single beds each – as well as a total of two bathrooms and separate toilets. Additional features include air conditioning, TV, dishwasher, microwave, fridge with freezer compartment, coffee machine, a fully equipped kitchen, garden furniture and a covered terrace with two sun loungers.
The additional designation “Placette” means that the accommodation is located in a traffic-calmed zone and the additional designation “Tip Top” means that our terrace had a weather protection tarpaulin that can be opened and closed as required, so that you are protected from wind and rain on the terrace. We found this to be a great advantage, as it had actually rained heavily for the first 3 days.
The only thing we really missed was an oven. But we took our Ninja hot air fryer with us from home especially for this 😉
Children’s entertainment & playgrounds
In the high season, usually from the beginning of July to the end of August, La Licorne campsite offers a free entertainment program. The centerpiece is the“Club Clapou” for children aged 4 to 10. It is open Monday to Thursday from 10:00-12:00 and 15:00-17:00 and is supervised by two entertainers who are present all day. The activities include games, craft activities, child-friendly sports tournaments and themed activities. This was actually a bit difficult for our kids, as all the entertainment is of course only in French.
But our kids could let off steam on one of the 10 playgrounds on the campsite or use the pirate ship and the bouncy castles 🙂
Indoor Pool & Outdoor Pool
One of the main reasons why we chose this campsite was the direct location by the sea, but also the opportunity to use one of the two pools. La Licorne campsite has an indoor pool, which can also be used in bad weather. There is also a large outdoor pool with several water slides.
That was perfect, because in the first few days it was really rainy, stormy and only 15 degrees. Unfortunately, the beach was out of the question. We were glad that the kids were still able to splash around in the indoor pool.
The beach in Dunkirk
When the sun came out, we finally had the opportunity to explore the beach. La Licorne campsite is located directly behind the dunes and has easy access.
The beach at Dunkirk, particularly in the Malo-les-Bains district, is one of the widest and longest sandy beaches in northern France. It stretches for several kilometers along the North Sea coast and is known for its fine, light-colored sand and generous intertidal zones. At low tide the water recedes far back and at high tide the sea almost reaches the promenade.
The beach at La Licorne campsite
Our sightseeing trip to Dunkirk
We found it really great that there is a bus stop right at the entrance to the La Licorne campsite and that a city bus (line C3) runs from here to the center of Dunkirk – and it’s completely free. Since September 2018, public transport in the Communauté urbaine de Dunkerque (CUD) has been free for all passengers. This applies to all bus routes within the city and is part of a comprehensive strategy to promote local public transport. Mega!
Dunkirk belongs to the Hauts-de-France region and is the second largest port city on the French Channel after Calais. With around 90,000 inhabitants in the urban area (and over 250,000 in the metropolitan region), Dunkirk is an important economic and logistical center. Historically, Dunkirk is best known for the Battle of Dunkirk in 1940, when over 300,000 Allied soldiers were evacuated from the beaches as part of Operation Dynamo.
One of the most important sights in Dunkirk is the Beffroi de Dunkerque, a 58-meter-high bell tower from the 15th century, which is now a UNESCO World Heritage Site. Of the three medieval brick towers among the belfries of northern France, it is the only one to have been largely preserved in its medieval substance. Also worth a visit is the Musée Portuaire, which brings the city’s maritime history to life in an old warehouse building – including walk-in museum ships in the old harbor basin. Another highlight is the beach at Malo-les-Bains with its extensive promenade, historic Belle Époque-style seaside villas and fine sandy beach, which is perfect for walks, sunbathing and water sports.
We strolled through the old town a little, but we didn’t like it very much. What was interesting, however, was that Dunkirk was the finish of the third stage of the Tour de France 2025. A large fan mile was set up in the city with lots of activities.
During our visit, the“Voiles de Légende” also took place in Dunkirk – a spectacular sailing event and official stop of the renowned “Tall Ships Races”. Around 40 to 50 historic tall ships and modern three-masted schooners from all over the world have docked in the port of Dunkirk. The four-day program is free of charge and offers numerous highlights: Free tours of the ships, concerts, themed action villages and a colorful festival on the quay.
All in all, we really enjoyed our vacation at the La Licorne campsite in France. The accommodation was great and our kids had a lot of fun in the pool, on the beach or in the playgrounds 🙂