Camping Le Grand Hameau

Le Havre (25 minutes' drive) may not be one of northern France's picture-postcard ports, but it's certainly worth a visit – this gritty industrial town was all but destroyed in the Second World War, but by the 1960s it had emerged as a hub of modern architecture (so much so that UNESCO awarded it Word Heritage status). It's also got museums by the bucketful – the MuMa museum (Musée d'Art Moderne André Malraux) is particularly worthy of note for housing some of the best French Impressionist paintings anywhere outside of Paris. Honfleur (45 minutes) is pretty much the opposite of Le Havre – with its narrow slate-covered houses and pic-worthy old port, it's easy to forget that this place was also once a hub of trade. Drop by Naturospace Honfleur (50 minutes), just outside the town centre, if Normandy's less-than-tropical climate has you hankering for the sight of exotic butterflies. Should you set out from base in the other direction, you'll reach Étretat after a mere 15 minutes on the road, home to remarkable natural arches and spectacular white cliffs.