Château d'Ebblinghem
Your perfect Northern France base for enriching language, history, cultural and primary trips
A historic French château, designed around teachers and students
For over 25 years, Château d'Ebblinghem has been helping schools get more from their time in Northern France. Ideally located near St Omer, just 45 minutes from Calais and within easy reach of the WWI Battlefields, it brings together accommodation, activities and dedicated support in one place. The result? Less time spent managing logistics and more time focused on creating meaningful learning experiences for your students.
Whether they're building confidence through French language and enrichment experiences, deepening their understanding of World War I history or taking part in fun evening activities, every element of their stay is designed around their needs.
For teachers, it's the reassurance of knowing support is always close at hand. Dedicated Group Co-ordinators, carefully designed facilities and experienced NST staff help ensure your trip runs smoothly.
Because Château d'Ebblinghem isn't simply where you stay. It's where NST helps your trip succeed.
Where to find Château d'Ebblinghem
1934 Route Nationale, 59173 Ebblinghem, France.
Perfectly positioned for history, language, cultural enrichment and primary school trips, Château d'Ebblinghem sits just 45 minutes from Calais and within easy reach of the WWI Battlefields, St Omer and a wealth of French cultural experiences. Its convenient location helps maximise time on tour, giving students more opportunities to learn, explore, and engage with their destination.
Do you cater for special dietary requirements?
Absolutely. We cater for a wide range of dietary requirements, including vegetarian, vegan, gluten-free, dairy-free and halal diets, and allergens are clearly displayed.
Food is one of the highlights of a stay at Château d'Ebblinghem. Alongside nutritious, balanced meals, students have opportunities to sample authentic French cuisine and local specialities, helping them experience another side of French culture. It's often one of the parts of the trip they talk about most afterwards.
Does the accommodation have disabled access?
Yes. We welcome groups with a wide range of needs and will work with you to help ensure every student can take part. Our team can discuss individual requirements before travel, and advise on accommodation, accessibility and any practical considerations to support your group.
For students with physical accessibility needs, the Gareyne building offers full ground-floor disabled access, including walk-in showers, while La Caserne provides lift access and accessible bedrooms.
We know that no two groups are the same, which is why we're always happy to discuss your requirements and help you find the most suitable arrangements for a successful and enjoyable visit.
What safety measures are in place at Château d'Ebblinghem?
The safety and wellbeing of every student and teacher is our priority. Château d'Ebblinghem has been designed around the needs of school groups, with dedicated NST staff on-site throughout your stay and comprehensive risk assessments covering both the centre and its activities.
Our experienced Group Co-ordinators are trained to ensure they can provide practical support, local knowledge and oversight during activities and excursions. They'll be on hand throughout your visit, helping everything run smoothly and safely.
For added reassurance, student and teacher accommodation is arranged with school groups in mind, and a member of the château team is always on duty overnight. Combined with rigorous staff training and industry-leading safety standards, this helps provide peace of mind for both teachers and parents.
Facilities Available at Château d'Ebblinghem
There are four separate buildings at our château, each designed to accommodate student and teacher en-suite bedrooms together, with dedicated teacher and dining areas too.
Dining area
Located in your building and exclusive to your group, area can be used for recreational activities too.
Depending on your group size you may share the La Caserne dining area with another school group.
Dedicated teachers’ lounge
The ideal place to relax at the end of a long day
Tea & coffee making facilities
Complimentary wine & cheese each evening
Free WiFi
Le Manoir
Student rooms: 1 x 6 single beds, 2 x 5 single beds, 9 x 4 beds (2 bunk beds)
Teacher rooms: 3 x 2 single beds
All bedrooms are en-suite
La Gareyne
Students rooms : 13 x 4 beds (2 bunk beds)
Teacher rooms: 3 x 2 single beds
All bedrooms are en-suite
La Caserne
Students rooms: 18 x 4 beds (2 bunk beds)
Teacher rooms: 6 x 2 single beds
All bedrooms are en-suite
L’Auberge
Students rooms : 13 x 4 beds (2 bunk beds)
Teacher rooms: 3 x 2 single beds
All bedrooms are en-suite
Browse our most popular trips from Château d’Ebblinghem
Your dedicated Group Co-ordinator
Your Group Co-ordinator is here to ensure the smooth-running of your school tour, acting as all-round support for your group. During the course of your stay your Group Co-ordinator will:
- Meet you on your arrival, organise a welcome talk and centre orientation and organise your group into their accommodation.
- Accompany you on excursions and assist you with supervision and provide practical and historical information regarding your destination.
- Help supervise them in the dining area.
- Liaise with the Group Leader and adult members of the group on a daily basis to ensure good communication throughout your stay.
- Organise and supervise evening activities for your group.
- Encourage your students to use their language skills at all times, for example, during mealtimes and evening activities.
Recreational Activities Available at Château d'Ebblinghem
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Two football pitches (one floodlit)
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Volleyball area
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Four hectares of private grounds
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TV, DVD player and white board available in each building
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Full box of sports equipment
Organised evening activities
Crêpe Evening
Crêpe Evening
A chance for your group to prepare and cook French crêpes. This activity can be supported by our crêpe activity worksheet designed to help support on-centre language learning. Boules can be added to this activity during the summer months.
French language, food technology, French culture
History Activities
History Activities - Journey to the Trenches
An interactive activity taking the group from enlistment through to life in the trenches.
This activity must be pre-booked through your Tour Co-ordinator and takes place during the day.
History, teamwork, fun, decision making
History Activities
History Activities - View WWI artefacts
Take a close look at a range of WWI artefacts at the château to help evoke the atmosphere of the war and aid pupils in their understanding of trench life.
WWI History: WWI Medicine & Surgery on the Western Front
History Activities
History Activities - WWI Army Biscuits
In this hands-on biscuit baking activity, students prepare traditional ‘army biscuits’ which soldiers would have eaten during WWI. Take part in a quiz, then taste the results with camp coffee!
This activity must be pre-booked through your Tour Co-ordinator and takes place during the day.
Small charge applies.
Campfire
Campfire
Enjoy a traditional campfire, guests can enjoy songs, relax, share stores and reflect on their shared experiences from the day.
Teamwork, fun, support & encouragement
Disco
Disco
A chance to dance the night away. A popular activity for the final evening of your trip.
Fun, confidence & social skills
Silent Disco
Silent Disco
Enjoy a fun Silent Disco with colourful headphones & all your favourite songs!
Fun, confidence & social skills
Quiz
Quiz
Q & A style challenges, this activity can be based on a variety of subjects.
Fun, competition & French language
Passport to the World
Passport to the World
Students are given maps to find flags placed around the centre. The flags hold questions for them to answer before they return to base.
Teamwork, fun, competition, French language
Disc Golf
Disc Golf
Taking frisbee to the next level! Test your aim on our disc golf course and challenge your friends to see who will be the disc golf champion!
Competition & fun
Archery Tag
Archery Tag
Let the battle commence! Your pupils will first learn how to use the bow to shoot the foam tipped arrows, before embarking on a series of thrilling team combat games in our brand new action packed archery tag session.
Teamwork, competition & fun
Sports & Games
Sports & Games
A variety of more traditional sports and games can be offered.
Fun, teamwork, competition
Resources to support & extend language learning
Resources to support & extend language learning
We offer a range of language resources to help your group get the very most out of their time away encouraging pupils and expand their vocabulary including a crêpe activity worksheet and meal vocabulary placemats and town trails.
French Enrichment Activities
French Enrichment Activities - Dégustation de fromage
Sample a range of French cheeses and discuss the varying tastes, your likes and dislikes in the target language. A fantastic after-dinner activity at NST’s château. This activity must be pre-booked through your Tour Co-ordinator
French language, French culture, food technology, fun, educational
Small charge applies.
Meals
Our menu is designed to provide a nutritious balanced diet, accommodating for most dietary requirements. Breakfast and evening meals are provided on-site and packed lunches are supplied daily. Meal times can be flexible to suit your itinerary, and most special dietary requirements are catered for. The catering team will prepare a carefully balanced menu which provides a taste of France but at the same time will still be familiar to most students.
Supporting healthier eating habits:
- Fresh fruit with all meals
- Salad available at dinner time
- Two hot vegetables are served every day at dinner
- Water is available with all meals
- Orange juice is available with breakfast
- Semi-skimmed milk is available with breakfast
Watch our château mini-movie
Helping to combat climate change
Reducing the use of single-use plastics
Hosting hundreds of groups every year, we have managed to significantly reduce the number of single-use water bottles with the introduction of our on-site water re-fill stations.
Offsetting carbon emissions, reducing deforestation & providing wildlife habitats
For every group staying with us, a tree will be planted in the UK and we’ve pledged to offset an additional tonne of CO2 through the Portel-Para reducing deforestation project in the Brazilian Amazon.
Speak to one of our school travel experts
Our team of school travel experts have unrivalled destination knowledge and experience so they can help to bring your tour ideas to life and might even suggest options you hadn’t already thought of too!
So get in touch today and we'll help to create a bespoke, budget-friendly tour itinerary to meet your specific learning requirements.