Calais

Understand

thumb|right|350px|Calais pier. Large warehouse supermarkets have sprung up on the outskirts of Calais just to serve the British "booze cruisers" who return to the UK with their car suspensions groaning under the weight of cheap alcohol and cigarettes.

Get around

Most people travel by car around the town, but there is a comprehensive network of buses running from the town centre to the suburbs and Cité Europe. The port is served by a special shuttle bus although via a footbridge the centre, and the harbour terminal are only 15 min apart.

Bus 5 is useful for reaching the large Auchan and Carrefour hypermarkets and the Cite Europe shopping mall and the 6 goes to Calais Frethun Eurostar station. Services run every 30 min during the day and costs about €1 (board through the front door and pay the driver) and all buses terminate outside the Gare D'Ville.

Do

Visit the Coast up to "Cap Blanc Nez" (White Nose Cap), Unesco Classified site. If you have no car, you can take the bus (double-decker) at the theatre or the station for €1 there along the see road. Really cool.

Buy

Alcohol. Since France has slightly lower taxes on alcohol than the UK various establishments have set up to cater for day trippers, although often it is a little cheaper to go to a local hypermarket (and you can pick up other stuff). The main hypermarkets are Auchan and Carrefour, the latter within the Cité Europe shopping centre and can both be reached on bus 5. In the town centre, there is a smaller Carrefour located at the back of the Quatre Boulevards shopping centre (near the Opéra). Lace: two places worth a visit:

Go next

To hitch-hike to Belgium or the Netherlands, if you leave the terminal, you must walk 500 m through a large car park, after which you will see roundabout and an on-ramp to the motorway. That is the place to hitch a ride: there is enough space even for a big lorry.

For a more 'traditional' experience of France, Saint-Omer is 43 km (26 miles) down the road from Calais. The Saturday morning market on the main square, the Place Foch, can be enjoyable. There are also good affordable restaurants and friendly bars, as well as interesting architecture.

Other options:

Ardres — for the old city and its lakes Guines — with its marshes, forest and old tower Wissant — with the Le site des 2 Caps on the seaside Oye Plage — with the natural reserve of Le Platier d'Oye