Please tell me about Northern France

[Talou1]

Hi all, just dreaming of when we can travel again. I know nothing about France even tho it's on our doorstep. Looking for somewhere within a of 2 hour drive of Calais, chateaus, beaches, WW2 history. Any areas I should concentrate on? We are happy to camp or hire a cottage (when we are free to again). Many thanks

Been to Fort Mahon Plage when the kids were little. Was lovely there.

If you want WW2, you need to drive more than 2 hours from Calais. If you want a shorter drive you could sail into Dieppe or Caen.

We based ourselves just outside of Caen, and were able to get to many WW2 places, as well as Mont St Michel, Cherbourg, Bayeux etc very easily as well as the coast. Honfleur and Deauville are also supposed to be lovely.

www.chateaumonfreville.com/ is a lovely camping spot and also has cottages but not everyone's bowl of moules frites.

Agreed - you can't get to much within a 2-hour drive of Calais. If you want WW2 stuff you should head to Normandy (ferry Portsmouth to Ouistreham), or about a 5-hour drive from the Calais/Eurotunnel. It's a lovely bit of coast with all the D-Day stuff to explore, delicious fish restaurants, glaces, moules-frites, etc. Caen is not particularly lovely, having been bombed flat and rebuilt, but Bayeux is charming and the tapestry is amazing (for adults and cultured DC - my two philistines found it boooring - they were 11 and 8 at the time).

My favourite bit of Northern France though is Brittany. I've been to north and south and I just it. Normandy is mostly flat and a bit bland IMO, but Brittany is wild and rugged and beautiful. The bit around Vannes and Auray and the Quiberon peninsula is stunning. It's not that easy to reach by driving, but you can take the ferry to St Malo or fly to Brest. Fabulous place!

*love

Mt St Michel - I haven't been there for years and years but it used to be lovely - might be busy now though.

Baie de Somme. Less than 2 hour drive from Calais. Beautiful coast and a great base from which to visit battlefields. So many gorgeous places in northern france!

We stayed near Marquise for a week a few years back. It was quite pleasant. There are some nice beaches near by. We did a day trip to Lille on the train which was fun. It was only 20 mins drive from the Eurotunnel terminal.

Saint Malo is lovely, and you can get a direct ferry. We stayed in Cancale which is famous for its oysters and we did a day trip to mont st Michel which was incredible. I'd like to go back to the area again as I felt there was a lot more to see.

Thk u everyone, will look at all your suggestions ☺️

We stayed in the Cap Frehel area, its stunning. Its about 40 mins west of St Malo. There are huge beautiful sandy beaches, lovely cliff top walks with ww2 bunkers to explore. Fort la Latte is an amazing castle perched on a cliff.