Recomend me a town a couple of hours from Calais

Rasher

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I have been using a few haunts in recent years on our way to and from wherever it is we are going, Reims and Ypres mainly.

Next year I am thinking of maybe getting a bit closer to Calais for our last night and would like a town that is pleasant for wandering around and getting some food and beer, are any of the following particularly good (or bad)

* Arras

* Cambrai

* Saint Quentin

Thanks in advance.
 
I’ve stayed at the Hotel Memorial in St Quentin a few times on mini breaks with Nutty.

Central location, nice bedrooms and secure parking for the bikes.

Only a few minutes walk to the main square where you’re spoilt for choice for food & drink.




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Arras - been a few times now. Rib bar in the market place is brill, (le Saint Germain, book it as it gets busy! ) also try the underground museum - Carrierie Wellington. also Vimy ridge not far away, worth a call.
We stay in a cheap but friendly place - Hotel Moderne - by the station, bike parking outside. Take the back roads from Calais - we avoid the motorways, worth the journey; canals and twisty roads
 
Montreuil-sur-Mer ( 45 min down the A16 fro Calais) or better still 1 hr via the back road.

- stay at le coq (book direct for better rate). secure bike parking. IRO €90

- eat at Froggies
 
St Q - used a few times. Hotel Le Florence is okay or Ibis Budget Gare. Both have off street parking which is locked at night. Used the latter as we were a group of 10.

Le Florence is a short walk to the main square where there are plenty of eateries either in the square or in adjacent streets. Le Golden Pub is nothing like a British pub - serves Belgian & Flemish beers and decent food.

Ibis is about 1km from the centre but has a large square across the road with plenty of bars etc. Also plenty of bars & restaurants along the main drag into town, Rue d'Isle. New Vietnam was excellent, shuffling tables around for our group of 10.
 
St Quentin is a popular enough stop-over site, as is Arras.

If you want something closer to Calais, St Omer, if you want a town to stay in. In St Omer, I use the Ibis Budget, not because I am a big fan of Ibis hotels but because for a one night stay it’s OK. The car park is large, better than the squashed car park of the Ibis ‘proper’ in the town. It’s cheaper, it’s only 10 minutes walk into the town square, it has two petrol stations within spitting distance and it’s easier to exit the town in the morning, travelling north or south.
 
I’ve stayed at the Hotel Memorial in St Quentin a few times on mini breaks with Nutty.

Central location, nice bedrooms and secure parking for the bikes.

Only a few minutes walk to the main square where you’re spoilt for choice for food & drink.




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We’ve been there too & gets a thumbs up from those with bike security OCD & also those who like a good value hotel
 
Another vote for Arras.

Lovely town, quite a few hotels with underground parking- and a few hotels just out of the centre with parking.

Stayed there several times both to and from the Tunnel
 
Cheers everyone, sounds like I cannot go far wrong with Arras or St Q.

Will probably book based on available deals come booking time.
 
Montreuil-sur-Mer ( 45 min down the A16 fro Calais) or better still 1 hr via the back road.

- stay at le coq (book direct for better rate). secure bike parking. IRO €90

- eat at Froggies

I would be happy to do this too and have done
 
I would be happy to do this too and have done

I think if I could get to within 45 minutes of Calais fairly easily I would probably just carry on and get home that evening, but good to know....

...I though every town and village within an hour of Calais had thousands of immigrants camping in the town square.
 
Folkstone ;)

Regardless of which way I am heading I cannot wait to get away from the place!

Returning from Alps is always at least 2 long days, if they seem too long I will adjust into a more leisurely 3 day return, hence looking for a decent town for the last night, but it needs to be far enough out for me not to think "I may as well just continue on to home".

Will probably get around to stopping in Arras and St Q. over the next couple of years, with Reims I now have 3 options roughly 1,2 and 3 hours from Calais.

If coming back via the Ardennes then Ypres works well, but may try Lille at some point, Mons looks pretty awful as you drive by on the Motorway so I have always ruled it out based on that first impression.
 
One advantage of staying even within just an hour or so from Calais, is that you can cross over France to England the next morning, when the queues at the tea huts are very much shorter.
 
Regardless of which way I am heading I cannot wait to get away from the place!

Returning from Alps is always at least 2 long days, if they seem too long I will adjust into a more leisurely 3 day return, hence looking for a decent town for the last night, but it needs to be far enough out for me not to think "I may as well just continue on to home".

Will probably get around to stopping in Arras and St Q. over the next couple of years, with Reims I now have 3 options roughly 1,2 and 3 hours from Calais.

If coming back via the Ardennes then Ypres works well, but may try Lille at some point, Mons looks pretty awful as you drive by on the Motorway so I have always ruled it out based on that first impression.

I've been considering Poperinge as an overnight if heading via Belgium - similar distance to Ypres but less touristy and cheaper.
 
I've been considering Poperinge as an overnight if heading via Belgium - similar distance to Ypres but less touristy and cheaper.

Poperinge is a really nice stop to make (albeit quieter to Ypres) I would highly recommend Talbot House for an overnight stay if you want something with a little history! https://www.talbothouse.be/en/bb/home
 


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