Tour de France 2025
Stage 2: Lauwin-Planque to Boulogne-sur-Mer
These are just my insights from living here and having visited most of the towns on the route.
From the archive. Andy wrote this guide in spring 2025, ahead of the Grand Départ in Lille on 5 July 2025. We have kept it as he wrote it, as a record of how this site began.
Clearly there is lots of detail about the TDF route all over the place, so these are just my insights from living here and having visited most of the towns on the routes of the first three stages. And to avoid repeating myself endlessly, these three stages are essentially totally flat. What the Tour organisers mark as hills, for example Mont Cassel and Mont Noir on stage one are tiny bumps in the road by Tour standards.
I’ll add further details to this page closer to the time; hopefully I’ll get the chance to go and drive some of it and look out for good places to view the race. Watch this space as they say!
Route Details and Key Highlights
Starting in Lauwin-Planque, just outside Douai, 30 minutes by train from Lille, the route essentially goes east to the coast at Boulogne.
Arras: Historical Town and WW1 Memorials
A good spot to watch it would be in Arras. The town was almost totally destroyed in WW1 – it was just a few kilometres from the front lines – but was very sympathetically restored. It is close to some of the most famous sites and memorials of the Great War, notably: Vimy Ridge, with the Canadian Memorial and the Wellington Quarries.
Montreuil-sur-Mer: WW1 History and Scenic Views
Heading west, the next notable town is Montreuil sur Mer, again a major WW1 location. The town housed the headquarters of the British Army for much of the Great War; with Field Marshall Douglas Haig being billeted close by.
Stage 2 profile
Etaples and Coastal Sights
The stage then heads further west, before turning north just before the lovely sea-side town of Etaples. And then zig-zags up to Boulogne.
Le Touquet and Hardelot Plage
The races passes close to some of the most famous spots on the coast: Le Touquet and Hardelot Plage. And close to the largest CWGC cemetery in France at Etaples.
Arriving in Boulogne-sur-Mer
Boulogne itself is famous for its fish market, the huge Nausicaá Aquarium attraction and is a bustling port town, the largest in France. There are some direct trains to Boulogne from Lille. Though many involve a change.
Hardelot Plage
Nausicaá aquarium in Boulogne-sur-Mer
