Within 2 hours of Calais

Amiens Cathderal - the largest
Gothic cathedral in France

With ferries being relatively cheap at the moment, we try to get away as often as we can. When we don't have much time or if we don't want to spend too much money, we often stick quite close to the port. We've done this a few times in France and Holland and have had some fantastic short holidays. As well as keeping cost and drive-time low, you also get to see parts of the continent that you might normally just whizz through en route to somewhere else.

We can usually get a Dover-Calais return for the two of us and our van for around £80. Factor in a couple of tanks of diesel and stay on the aires and you can get a week away for around £300 all in. You could easily spend that on a B&B in the UK for a short stay!

During the half term in October we did had one of our short ones staying in northern France. At no point were we more than two hours from Calais and we were only away for five days but in that time we were able to visit some beautiful coastal towns and villages, two major cities, several WW1 sites and museums, the Agincourt battlefields and we even had time to stock up on cheap booze on the way back. 

What was more surprising was how much else there was to do in this area that we simply didn't get time for.

Tour highlights:

The highlights of our mini tour in the order we did them were:

Grand Fort Phillipe

Coastal towns and villages: We went up towards Dunkirk but didn't stop as we weren't in the mood for shopping. Instead we drove along the coast road stopping at one of two of the small coastal towns. Our favourite was Grand Fort Phillipe which has an overnight aire if you need it. It's only a small place but you can walk out along the coastal defences and the towns itself is quite pretty.

Cassel: Basting about the only hill in the Flanders region this very attractive medieval town has the hill that the Grand Old Duke of York marched up. There is a nice 2-mile walk that takes in all the sites including some great views from the top. 

Lille: This is an under-rated city. We spent a great day here with all the major sights being within walking distance from the main train station. We don't think there is an aire or any campsites in the city itself but there are plenty in neighbouring towns (such as Armentieres or Bailluel) from where you can catch the train.

Amiens: The most notable thing about Amiens is the massive gothic cathedral - the biggest in France. There is plenty of other sites to keep you busy for a half or full day here.

The walled town of Montrueil

The Bay of the Somme: There are some beautiful coastal towns and villages either side of the bay, most of which have aires. We really like Cayeux-sur-Mer and Le Hourdel but there are at least a dozen others you could choose from. For a bit of glamour you could try Le Touquet, favoured by the Parisians. For nature lovers there is one of France's largest bird sanctuaries (Marquenterre) and organised seal watching trips, or you can walk across the entire bay at low tide.

WW1 sites: There is much of interest here including the war graves and several museums, the best of which is at Peronne.

WW2 sites: Although most of the fighting took place further west in Normandy, this area boasts a couple of sites of interest mainly related to the V2 rockets. A massive bunker and musuem at La Coupole are well worth a visit.

Azincourt: There is not much to see relating to the Battle of Agincourt except an interesting visitor centre in the village itself. This was OK for a rainy day, but you would probably need to a be a fan of this period of history to really get value for money out of your 7 euros 50.

The main square in Lille

Montrueil, Saint Omer, Douai, Abbeville, Arras: There are many decent size towns of interest in this region. Montrueil is perhaps the best of these as it is surrounded by ramparts allowing you to walk round the entire town.

The bits we didn't get to see this time

Within this same regions we could have visited:

• The Matisse Museum at Le Cateau Cambresis 
• The Mining Musuem at Lewarde 
• Nausicaa Marine Centre in Boulogne
• Chateaux de Hardelot near Boulogne
• The Louvre at Lens

All in all, we were amazed by this area as all we have ever done before is driven straight through it. We are planning to go back again soon for another week to take in all the bits we found out about, but didn't have time to visit.

Choccy treat at Le Touquet

On top of all of this there's the food (sea-food mainly) and the beer (St Omer) and the bread and pastries (had the best Suisse ever in Grand For Phillipe).