There's more to Dunkirk than wartime memorabilia - the town is an easy hop across the Channel from Dover, and as the gateway to French Flanders, it makes a good choice for a short getaway.

For shoppers, it ticks the boxes. There are chances to stock up on Gallic goodies at a host of speciality shops, and a veritable wine lake at two pile-'em-high hypermarkets.

Get your nose out of your shopping trolley, though, and there are other distractions - like sand yachting around Dunkirk's spectacular sand dunes, or trying out the resort's recently-remodelled 27-hole golf course.

Alternatively, there are lots of pretty Flemish towns and villages which dot the countryside around Dunkirk - like Buerge, with its 17th Century ramparts; Oye-Plage, home to a nature reserve, and Grand Fort Phillippe, famed for its fish smokery.

To help plan a trip in Dunkirk, the tourist office has put together a number of themed two-day tours, which can be bolted onto a ferry crossing. Options range from the "Dunkerque Gourmet weekend", priced from £67.50 pp including a wine tasting, a gourmet dinner and one night's B&B, to the "Watersports Special", comprising one night's half board with a supervised session of sand yachting, sea kayaking, wind surfing or dinghy sailing (from £58.50 pp).

For golfers, the "Golf and Ramparts weekend", comprising a half-board overnight in Buerges and 18-hole green fees, costs from £74.50 pp. Find out more at www.flandrecotedopale.com or call Dunkirk tourist office (00 33 (0)3 28 26 27 89). The Dunkirk City Pass is good value at £6.80 (half price for kids). It lasts for two days and includes free or reduced access to attractions and public transport, plus a €5 shopping voucher.

If it's just one day you've got in Dunkirk, here's an hour-by-hour guide of what to see and do:

The 10 am Norfolkline ferry from Dover will get you to Dunkirk by noon (13.00 in France) - so you're just in time for lunch.

For food with a view, take the A16 from the port to Dunkirk, exit at junction 33 for Centre Ville, then make for La Mer and Dunkirk's seaside area, Malo les Bains.

Founded in the 19th Century by pirate's son Gaspard Malo, Malo fronts seven kilometres of gleaming blond sands and its broad promenade extends all the way to the Belgian border.

Here you'll find a few grand villas left over from the resort's Belle Epoque heyday and a variety of atmospheric bars and cheerful seafront restaurants.

Get a flavour of old Dunkirk - and some excellent Trappist monk-brewed beer - at Le Malouina, a seafront bar decorated with old pictures of Malo. It's on Digue de la Mer, a few doors along from Bistrot de la Plage at number 24 (tel 03 28 65 0111).

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