La Bien Assise, Guînes, Picardy

There are shuttle buses from the ferry port to the town centre (Gare Calais-Ville and Place d'Armes) run by P&O Ferries. These run hourly from 10:00-19:00.

There is also a Calais Bus Company and in the centre of Calais there is a free mini bus service "Balad'in" (yellow mini buses and yellow bus stops ! which run every 10 mins 9 am -7 pm Monday to Saturday) - details of routes can be found at : http://www.calais.fr/bus/index_std.htm

Calais has two stations which are connected by the free Navette TER and there is a regular courtesy bus service to and from the stations to the port.

• Gare Calais-Ville (in the Centre of Calais):
  There is the mainline train service serving Calais for regional services on the TER network in Nord-Pas de Calais, while it is also on the TER Grand Vitesse line from Lille. It will take you to Boulogne, Amiens, Arras, Lille and Dunkirk. The Ticket office on Avenue du President Wilson is open Monday-Saturday 6:30am-8:30pm, Sunday 8:30am-9:30am and 1:30-8:30pm.
• Gare Calais-Fréthun (for TGV and Eurostar) located 10 km southwest of town near the Channel Tunnel entrance :
  Gare Calais-Fréthun, is a TGV station. It is the first port of call in France for the Eurostar route before landing in Lille. Passengers can connect here with the SNCF or TGV Nord to Paris services. It is possible to use Eurostar for domestic journeys between Paris Gare du Nord and Calais Frethun. (Passengers are subject to the same immigration checks as if they were using Eurostar for an international journey.

TGV:
The TGV also stops here for national and regional journeys on the following routes:

 Taxis Radio Calais Tel: 00 33 (0)321 97 13 14

Guînes
You can walk into Guînes village which takes 15 minutes.  You will be able to buys meat/bread/fresh fruit and even small gifts in this attractive little town.

Buses between Campsite and Calais
There is a bus stop 5 minutes walk from the campsite which can take you to Calais. Turn right out of the camp,  go to the cross roads then turn left and then catch the number 6 bus and it will take you straight to Calais Town for 1Euro.  When you get to Calais town, if you would like to get a bus to the beach area then look out for the little squarish yellow buses....these will take you to the beach area where there are cafe bars and restaurants in abundance...these buses are free  !

Cap Blanc-nez

Cap Gris-nez

Cité de l'Europe
A large mall with 140 shops, 12 screen cinema, restaurants and takeaways, 10 pin bowling at Coquelles. There are also nature workshops which might be interesting. http://en.citeeurope.com/W/do/centre/home

Bird Watching Ornithology and Nature
Nature lovers will be in bird-spotting heaven in the Marquenterre reserve, between the Canche and Somme estuaries, while other highlights on the Côte d’Opale are the vertiginous headlands of Cap Griz-Nez and Cap Blanc-Nez.

International Kite Festival: Berck-sur-Mer around the 10th of April.

World War 1 and World War 2

• The Somme
  You can visit the Somme’s war memorials to reflect and remember, or visit the huge port of Dunkerque, scene of an heroic troop evacuation in 1940.
• Eperlecques
  There is the Blockhaus bunker at Eperlecques to visit where Germans assembled V2 rockets : http://www.leblockhaus.com/intro.htm (watch out for the noise of the rocket on the website !)
• La Coupole - an excellent war museum in an underground bunker near St Omer : http://www.lacoupole-france.com/en/musee/default_dedie.asp
  http://www.lacoupole-france.com/en/default.asp
• Calais World War 2 Museum
• Famous for the Anglo French summit - cloth of Gold.
• Dunkerque (54 km)

• Forteresse de Minoyecques 
  Underground World War II bunker. Guided tours available. Shop, tea room and picnic area.

Laon
Looking onto the plains of Champagne and Picardy, Laon is dominated by one of France’s earliest and finest Gothic cathedrals.

Lille
Lille has a main TGV station from where you can travel to a variety of destinations. it is also great for shopping and open-air chess-playing. You can visit the Ancienne Bourse (old exchange building), the Euralille shopping centre and the Opéra which are all worth a visit.  You can also visit the birthplace of General Charles de Gaulle in Lille at 9 rue Princess.

Roubaix
This town on the Belgian border has an amazing Art Deco swimming pool-cum-art gallery which is well worth a visit. It also has two large factory outlet centres - "McArtur Glen" and "A L'Usine".

Arques (an industrial town next to St Omer)
The glass factory at Arques is the region's largest employer and is also a good place to go for a bargain or for a factory tour of the glass factory where you can see glass being made.  The factory tour lasts 1hr 30 mins and you must be aged over 8. For information about the tour :
http://visite-usine-fr.arc-intl.com/uk/decouvrez/individuels.html

The factory was founded in 1825, and in 1930 Jacques Durand went to the USA and visited several American glassworks, learning about the latest mass-production techniques. On his return, the old mouth-blowing craft techniques were replaced by industrial methods - tank furnaces and non-stop production. It produces over 5.5 million articles daily. There is a factory shop as well so you might find a bargain !

Cambrai

Arras

Douai

Le Cateau-Cambrésis
Near Cambrai, is the birthplace of painter Matisse. For more information please see this blog posting about the childhood home of Matisse : http://souvenirsdemonpasse.blogspot.com/2011/04/bohain-is-first-place-where-my-dad.html

Cassel
The hilltop settlement Cassel has mansions of note and fascinating connections with the grand old Duke of York.

Amiens
Amiens is Picardy’s capital city and, like Beauvais, it has a magnificent cathedral which has a son-et-lumière season (when the west façade becomes a riot of colour). You can also visit its charming canals and the cottages of the St-Leu quarter.

Le Touquet
Visit the elegant coastal resort of Le Touquet nestling amid dunes and pines.

Montreuil-sur-Mer (actually 15kms inland!).

Nausicaa
Whilst you are on the coast, head for the splendid Nausicaà national aquarium in Boulogne-sur-Mer, where you come face to face with hammerhead sharks and tuna shoals.  It is Europe's largest aquarium and there are 4000 Fish to look at and touch in the various aquariums. There is also a seal pool. You can hire an audio guide.

Beussent Chocolate Factory
This factory which is 35miles (50 minutes) from the campsite is great for everyone with a sweet tooth ! There is also a factory further away at Lachelle. For more information have a look at their website at http://www.choco-france.com/

Parc Asterix
To the north of Paris, you will find this fantastic theme park based on the French cartoons characters Asterix and Obelix. With rollercoasters, medieval banquets etc it makes for a great day out. The address is Parc Astérix BP8 60128 PLAILLY, France.

Steam Train ride
Upper Somme Valley  - St Valery sur Somme to Le Croyton.

hot air ballooning
above the Château de Chantilly?

Kid Stations
A KID STATION is holiday resort that provides particularly good facilities for children, and has taken care to ensure their safety. It is a national scheme, with "KID certified" resorts all over France. In this area, they include: Bray-Dunes, Dunkerque (54km), Gravelines, Wissant, Wimereux, Boulogne and its suburb Le Portel, Hardelot and Berck-sur-Mer.
Each centre offers menus for children in restaurants, also high-chairs, information at the local Office de Tourisme about children's facilities. There should also be plenty of activities such as beach clubs and sports facilities e.g. watersports, tennis, horse-riding, etc. There should also be shows and entertainment for children including competitions and games. Safety is also a high priority so there should be a first aid booth on beach and the environment should be clean with seawater tested daily for quality and suitable public toilets.

Aqualud
Water Park