Best offers: Save up to 25 per cent on a Mini Cruise to Amsterdam and Stavanger from Newcastle or Harwich where prices start at £55pp, based on two people sharing.

If travelling with the family, DFDS offer a two or three night mini cruise break to Norway or Holland in August for £130 per family with children going half price.

If you want to be flexible on your travels, a group of four can go from Stavanger or Bergen in Norway or Esbjerg in Denmark, giving passengers the opportunity to explore Scandinavia in your car before jumping onboard. Saving up to £68 each way, prices start from £278 and include two adults and two children travelling from Newcastle to Norway.

Two passengers can enjoy a flexible trip to Amsterdam by crossing from Newcastle to Holland for £221 per single journey for them and their car. Holidaymakers can stay as many nights as they like at the 2* hotel Gerstekorrel from just £34pp per night in a twin room. For more information visit DFDS.

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Packed the dog? The children? The suitcase? Right - then it's time to think of the essentials before heading across the Channel

The complete guide to cross-Channel travel

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• A long weekend in Normandy

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• Make a shopping break for the Continent

2CV tour of Pas de Calais

What better way to hop across the Channel than with a classic companion - the 2CV?

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SEAFRANCE

SeaFrance Dover-Calais Ferries retired its slower vessels, Manet and Renoir, at the start of the summer, and introduced its new ship, the SeaFrance Molière, in July. A £12 million refit of the ship included the creation of spacious passenger areas with two bars, two restaurants, and a large shop.

With a passenger capacity of 1,200 and a car deck capacity of 660 or 110, the Molière will more than double the volume of services currently operated by the company’s other ferries.

Best offers: Spend three nights for the price of two at the four-star Château Mont Royal in Chantilly. Decorated in classical French style, the hotel offers an indoor swimming pool, tennis courts, mountain biking and billiards. Prices start at £160 per person this August based on a family of four including return travel from Calais to Dover.

Three nights at the three star Pol Hotel in Le Touquet costs £199 per person in August. The hotel is built in traditional Flemish style and is 300m away from Le Touquet’s sandy beach. The price includes return travel from Calais to Dover.

Passengers can spend three nights at the four-star Hostellerie des 3 Mousquetaires in St Omer from £157 pp including return travel to Dover. The 19th century château has beautiful gardens and is close to the Lys valley. For more information visit SeaFrance.

P & O FERRIES

If the children are happy, the parents are happy according to P&O Ferries, who this summer have increased their onboard children’s facilities. Face painting, drawing, juggling and balloon sculpting are available on its Dover to Calais service with a Pirate Pete children’s club on board all of the ships in the fleet.

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