Experience the best of Dunkirk

Dunkirk is a port city on France's northern coast close to the Belgian border, with a long beach at Malo-les-Bains, a seaside suburb of Belle Époque villas. In late May and early June 1940 more than 330,000 Allied soldiers were taken off the beaches and the harbour in the evacuation known as Operation Dynamo, and a museum and memorials recall it.

The Belfry of Saint-Éloi, a brick tower that belongs to the UNESCO-listed belfries of Belgium and France, rises in the centre. The port museum, in a former tobacco warehouse, traces the harbour's history, with the three-masted ship Duchesse Anne moored alongside. Dunes spread at Zuydcoote, and inland lie the Flemish hill town of Cassel and the walled town of Bergues.

In the weeks before Lent, costumed crowds follow bands through the streets of Dunkirk's carnival, and herring is thrown to them from the town hall balcony. Local tables serve mussels and chips, fish soup, the cold meat terrine called potjevleesch and strong northern beers. Sea air and brisk winds mean even summer days can feel fresh.