24 hours in Dunkerque

There's more to Dunkerque 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 Dunkerque'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 Dunkerque - like Buerge, with its 17th Century ramparts; Oye-Plage, home to a nature reserve, and Grand Fort Phillippe, famed for its fish smokery.

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

The 10 am Norfolk Line ferry from Dover will get you to Dunkerque 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 Dunkerque, exit at junction 33 for Centre Ville, then make for La Mer and Dunkerque'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 Dunkerque - 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.

Aperitifs at the Bistrot are rather more exotic than Belgian beer (splash out on a champagne-based Kir a la crème de violette, or a mango-flavoured Safari liqueur, while the butter-fried sole is worth a trip across the Channel on its own.

Finish with an assiette de gourmande (a ventricle-slamming extravaganza of bite-size chocolate mousse, crème brulee, pistachio ice cream and bread, butter and rum pudding), and you'll need a windswept stroll along the beach to get you back in the land of the living.

3pm: Alternatively, take a five-minute drive to rue des Chantiers de France in downtown Dunkerque and you can enjoy a more cultural walk through the Le LAAC Sculpture Garden, which is attached to a Contemporary Art Museum featuring works by Andy Warhol, among others.

The same street is home to the War Memorial Museum, a moving testament to the evacuation of 1940. If maritime history is more likely to float your boat, try the Port Museum at 9 quai de la Citadelle in downtown Dunkerque.

The pretty marina outside the museum holds an old schooner now used as a training ship and open to visitors, and the 1926-built steamship Princess Elizabeth, one of the brave little boats involved in Dunkerque's evacuation.

Inside the museum, you can learn the history of France's third biggest port and pick up offbeat goodies in an imaginatively-stocked shop. Look out for posters of classic ships and big jars of freshly-made fish soup.

Just across the marina, cast your eye over Dunkerque's town hall - its watchtower is a spectacular example of 16th Century Renaissance Flamand architecture. Also worth a blimp is the 15th Century "Beffroi" - a UNESCO registered belfry offering great views over the town.

5pm: Time to hit the speciality shops for some take-home goodies; try Les Doigts de Jean Bart (6 rue de Sud) for finger-licking chocolates, La Bierotek (25 avenue des Bains) for locally brewed, knock- your-socks-off beer, and La Comtesse du Barry (18 rue Poincaré) for fine wines and Flemish delicacies like Waterzoi (a creamy fish or chicken casserole), Potjevleesch (white meats in white wine jelly) and Carbonnade (a rich stew of beef roasted in beer and brown sugar).

6pm: Check into your hotel. There are plenty to choose from - just have to decide where you want to wake up in the morning.

Want to start the day with a seaside stroll? Try L'Hirondelle at 46 avenue Faidherbe; it has a decent dining room and is a short walk from the waterfront of Malo des Bains.

Prefer a small Flemish village within easy reach of Dunkerque? Try Hotel du Beffroi at 2 place Charles Valentin, in pretty Gravelines.

Want quick access to the hypermarkets and ferries? Hotel Kyriad or Hotel Campanile both lie on rue Charles de Gaulle, a short hop from the ferry terminal.

7.30pm: unpacked and showered, it's time for dinner. Staying in Dunkerque, try local specialities like Waterzoi at Au Petit Pierre (4 rue Dampierre) or Pub Mac Arthur (8 rue Belle Vue).

Fancy French cooking and fresh seafood are dished up at Le Corsair (6 quai de la Citadelle), La Cascade (40 place du Casino) and L'Estouffade (2 quai de la Citadelle).

10.30pm: combine a stroll with a digestif or two at one of the many seafront bars in Male les Bains; locals recommend l'Espadrille and the Brussels Café, but you could hit paydirt just strolling along Digue de la Mer and picking a bar that appeals.

8am (or whenever.) start the day with a hearty breakfast and perhaps a stroll around one of Dunkerque's many local markets (there's one every day - check times and locations in advance at the tourist office site).

TOP TIP: Bon viveurs will smack their lips at Dunkerque's annual Wine and Beer festival, held during the last weekend on October.

Time to wave goodbye and head back along the A16 to the ferry? Stock the car up en route at a hypermarket; Auchan is off exit 25A, CORA is at exit 31 and if you take exit 29 you'll find both Carrefour and the home / DIY store Castorama.

And on the way back to Dover with Norfolk Line treat yourself to the ship's Executive Lounge, which includes newspapers, soft drinks, substantial snacks and - most importantly in the busier summer months - child-free peace and quiet.

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