Golf du Touquet (La Forêt course): On the Côte d’Opale, golfers from France, Britain and Belgium have been well-served for over a century by Golf du Touquet. In 1904 the Horace Hutchinson designed La Forêt course set the ball rolling. Some 25 years later the Stoneham family, who owned much of Le Touquet at the time, commissioned legendary designer Harry Colt to build a second course. Located amongst the dunes and closer to the sea, La Mer opened for play in 1931.

Generally regarded as second in line to Le Touquet's La Mer course, the ever-popular "Forest" layout also puts up a thoroughly enjoyable test of golf. Pre-dating its open linksland stablemate by 27 years, the predominantly tree-lined Forêt occupies a flatter and more wooded parkland environment. Pine and birch trees, rather than towering dunes, flourish alongside the good-width (sometimes opulently wide) fairways on this out-and-back layout.

Although you won't be exposed to the dramatic sand hills of La Mer, La Forêt's back-nine contains many excellent holes benefitting from naturally contoured, gently undulating terrain. The downhill par-3 17th is one of the highlights of the closing stretch. With generally good-quality upkeep La Forêt provides a perfect foil to the impressive duneland La Mer course, and is not one to overlook on your visit to Le Touquet.