Top Dog-Friendly Attractions in Dunkerque

The 58 m Beffroi Saint-Éloi, originally the 15th-century bell-tower of the Église Saint-Éloi (separated by fire in 1558) and now standalone on the Place Charles Valentin, is inscribed on the UNESCO World Heritage List as part of the Belfries of Belgium and France ensemble (2005). The carillon of 50 bells plays every quarter hour and a full concert on Sundays. Leashed dogs welcome on the Place Charles Valentin year-round; the belfry interior staircase admits only assistance dogs.

The Mémorial du Souvenir and the Mémorial Operation Dynamo housed inside the 19th-century Bastion 32 fortifications trace the May-June 1940 evacuation of 338 226 Allied troops (British, French, Belgian, Dutch, Polish) from the Dunkerque beaches and harbour mole under continuous Luftwaffe bombing, the largest military evacuation in history. Leashed dogs welcome year-round in the outdoor Bastion 32 ramparts and on the seafront promenade towards the Mole and Plage de Malo-les-Bains; the indoor museum admits only assistance dogs.

The Musée Portuaire on the Quai de la Citadelle, housed in a former 19th-century tobacco warehouse, retraces 1 200 years of Dunkerque port history through models, paintings and the daily-life material of the dockers and seafarers. Moored on the Bassin du Commerce immediately outside, the Duchesse Anne (1901), a four-masted German training barque, the Sandettie lightship and the Guilde fishing boat form a floating heritage fleet. Leashed dogs welcome on the Quai de la Citadelle and on the floating fleet pontoons year-round; the indoor museum and the ship interiors admit only assistance dogs.