Dieppe, the birth of THE seaside resort in France

The birth of the seaside resort, in Dieppe

Dieppe is considered the first seaside resort of France, cradle of the fashion of sea baths in the nineteenth century. The Dieppe audio-guided tour stops here to evoke this page of history, when the town launched a tradition that then spread over all the French coastline.

The cradle of the sea baths in France

In France, when it is a question of a seaside resort, you think of numerous destinations of the coast. But few know that everything began in Dieppe, considered the first and the doyenne of the seaside resorts of France. It is here, from the beginning of the nineteenth century, that the fashion of the sea baths was born, which would transform the relationship of the French to the coastline. At that time, under the influence of the English already adept of this practice, the doctors began to praise the therapeutic virtues of the cold sea water and the marine air. The high society seized this novelty, and Dieppe, close to Paris and to England, became the chic meeting point of the aristocracy. The Duchess of Berry, daughter-in-law of the king, took baths there in a spectacular manner in the 1820s, definitively launching the fashion and attracting all of Paris. The town endowed itself with bathing establishments, hotels and promenades, inventing the model of the seaside holidaying that then spread over all the coastline. A historic cradle and a pioneer of the seaside tourism, the birth of the seaside resort is an essential page of the discovery of Dieppe.

What to see

Here you discover the history of Dieppe as the first and the doyenne of the seaside resorts of France, cradle of the fashion of the sea baths born at the beginning of the nineteenth century under the English influence and launched by the Duchess of Berry in the 1820s; the town then invented the model of the seaside holidaying, with its bathing establishments, hotels and promenades, that spread over all the coastline. The birth of the seaside resort is an essential page of Dieppe. It is a fascinating stop, to be explored on foot.

Practical information

The seaside heritage of Dieppe is discovered all along the seafront and the town, reachable on foot. The great beach, the promenade and the buildings inherited from this era are freely accessible. You discover them by strolling, on the trail of the first seaside resort of France.

Why is Dieppe the first seaside resort of France?

Because it is here, from the beginning of the nineteenth century, that the fashion of the sea baths was born, under the English influence and thanks to the doctors praising the virtues of the sea water; the Duchess of Berry took spectacular baths there in the 1820s, launching the fashion, and the town invented the model of the seaside holidaying that spread over all the coastline.