We rattle through France's ports and zoom off without stopping. But all the ports have merits that make them worth either a short half-term break, a day trip, or a long pause before the hard slog down the motorway.
The advantage this year is that the cross-Channel operators are all fighting for customers, so there is a huge variety of fare deals, plus the carriers are working to promote regional specialities close to the ports. Their websites are bursting with ideas, while Eurotunnel produces a good range of mini-guides.
The competition is driven by the threatened drop in holiday-makers. Last year, numbers did not actually decline but many booked late. This year will probably be the same, but the operators are still nervous enough to be wooing custom.
You can get Dover-Calais day tickets with a car for a tenner or under, and August returns, booked now, cost around £150. Most fares include a car and five or nine passengers. Going after 3pm from Folkestone and coming back next day on Eurotunnel is £9 per car. Portsmouth- Le Havre or Cherbourg, on a three-day break, is currently £68 with P&O European, for a car and four. St Malo with Brittany Ferries is more expensive, at £220 for a five-day break, but the ferry is relaxing and boasts cinemas and play areas.
Meanwhile, the adventurous operators are showing signs of wanting to break the Dover-Calais stranglehold: SpeedFerries will begin crossings between Dover and Boulogne in mid-June.
P&O Northern continues to run from Hull into Zeebrugge, with cheap city trips involving two nights at sea. Norfolkline is expanding its service into Dunkirk. Operating from Newhaven into Dieppe are Transmanche, which operates two traditional ferries, one with an Italian crew and chef, and Hoverspeed.
Further south, P&O Portsmouth has a traditional ferry into Le Havre and a fastcraft to Cherbourg, while Brittany Ferries is constantly upgrading its Caen, Cherbourg, Roscoff and St Malo routes. As an off-beat route, Condor Ferries stops in the Channel Isles on route to St Malo from Poole.
Dunkirk
Like Calais, Dunkirk has access to France's high-speed motorway network. Its neighbouring sand dunes and waterways are areas of great scientific interest, making barge trips, available from the harbour, a photographer's paradise.
Getting there: Norfolkline (0870 8701020, norfolkline.com) earlybird offers on selected morning sailings start at £119 for a standard return for a car plus five for travel during any period up to the end of this year, except July and August when the offer fare is £149. Bookings must be made by June 4. Crossing time: two hours.
Nearest beach: Take the coast road north for Les Dunes de Flandre, where you will find 15km of flat sand and dunes.
Where to eat: The Au Petit Pierre, 4 Rue Dampierre (+3 2866 2836). A renovated 18th-century residence, it offers good regional dishes, tarts and pastries, plus wonderful fish. The three-course menu costs €15.
Further information: Dunkirk tourist office (+3 2826 2727, ot-dunkerque.fr).
Calais
Calais manages to retain a sturdily French character even though British visitors constantly threaten to swamp it. It has a market that brings in local farmers and a great cheese shop whose new website indicates current shopping bargains. Most of the noisiest trippers head out to the hypermarkets, that have their own range of restaurants and hotels. In Calais itself, there are good hotels, notably the George V Hotel, plus a range of trustworthy two stars. The second world war bunker in Parc Saint Pierre, in the town centre, has just been revamped and is a great place of interest for kids just starting GCSE history.
Getting there: Eurotunnel (0870 5353535, eurotunnel.com) is equally good for Calais or Boulogne. Three-day, two-night spring break fares start from £59 until June 28. A short-stay saver fare (2-5 calendar days) booked seven days in advance costs from £173. Crossing time for the Chunnel is 35 minutes; for Hoverspeed it is 40 minutes; and for the traditional ferries about an hour and three-quarters.
Nearest beach: Bleriot, just outside the town centre. However, the nicest beaches can be found off the D940. These include Ambleteuse, which has a Napoleonic fort on the seafront. The nearest beach with cafes is Wissant, which is about five miles away.
Where to eat: Brasserie LaFayette, Rue LaFayette (+3 2136 3655). Excellent mussels and chips cost €6-€9.
Further information: calais-bargains.com, ot-calais.fr.
Boulogne
Boulogne is France's busiest fishing port, with huge cranes dominating its seascape. But it also has a charming old town, walled off, with cobbled streets, a dominating church and restaurants on every corner.
Its foremost attraction for families has to be Nausicaa, the sea museum, which has a main exhibition that allows you to walk in an eerily lit area, past tanks holding dreamy amoeba and underneath tanks of sharks. This summer, its temporary exhibition is dedicated to the effects of global warming.
Getting there: SpeedFerries (08700 603900, speedferries.com) will launch a crossing from Dover in the middle of next month (crossing time: 50 minutes).
Nearest beach: Next to Nausicaa is a surprisingly good sandy beach.
Where to at: La Matelote 80 Boulevard Sainte Beuve (+ 3 2130 1797, la-matelote.com, opposite Nausicaa). Michelin-starred restaurant with fixed-price menus from €30 to €65.
Further information: tourisme-boulognesurmer.com.
Dieppe
Mention Dieppe and many say "the Saturday market". It is spectacular, with farmers' wives selling their own chickens and vegetables besides oyster sellers, honey stalls and heaps of fresh goat's cheese.
Getting there: Hoverspeed (0870 5240241, hoverspeed.com) offers an Apex five-day return from £141 to £213, depending on time of day. Crossing time: four hours on a traditional ferry, two fast craft.
Nearest beach: The town has a stony beach and a grassy sea front that attracts kite flyers.
Where to eat: Hotel restaurant Les Arcades (+ 2 3584 1412, lesarcades.fr). The best known restaurant is also a small hotel. It is dauntingly decorated with tartan walls, but don't be put off. Food is served with a flourish of silver dishes, and puddings are flambéed at the table. Menus start at €12, and you can pick your lobster from the tank.
Further information: dieppetourisme.com.
Le Havre
Le Havre is a busy port town, where the tourist traffic pales into insignificance besides other commercial shipping. It gives access to spectacular cliffs, out towards Etretat, where the huge hollowed-out point has been made universally familiar by painters, from the impressionists onwards. In Le Havre itself, the André Malraux Museum has a fantastic collection of Impressionist works.
Getting there: P&O European Portsmouth (0870 2424999, poportsmouth.com) offers sailings next week from £68. Crossing time: 5 hours by day and seven by night.
Nearest beach: Le Havre plage, which is sandy and close to the town centre. A drive out to Etretat, 20 miles away but on the quiet D940, delivers a nice beach, town and spectacular cliffs, as painted by Monet, among others.
Where to eat: Within walking distance of the Malraux is the cheerful Hotel du Vend Ouest (+2 3542 5069, ventdouest.fr); menus start at €14 offering excellent fish.
Further information: ville-lehavre.fr.
Caen-Ouistreham
Caen is not really the port of entry. The ferries dock is at Ouistreham, 10 miles from Caen centre. Ouistreham is a surprisingly busy small town, even at 8am on a March weekend and has a couple of wonderful bakeries. It is worth spending a full day in Caen, with spectacular reminders of William the Conqueror as well as its moving second world war memorial. On June 6, the anniversary of D-Day, a new interactive museum dedicated to Canadian involvement in the second world war will open at Courseulles sur Mer.
Getting there: P&O Portsmouth (0870 2424999, poportsmouth.com.) offers a three-day fare for a car plus four passengers from £68. Crossing time: five and a half hours by day, eight by night. Also Brittany Ferries (09903 60360, brittanyferries.com).
Where to eat: Normandie (+2 3197 1957, lenormandie.com). A traditional French hotel with menus starting at €15. We ate skate followed by a plate of delicious cheese.
Nearest beach: The Normandy landing beaches stretch southwards from Ouistreham to the main British beach at Arromanches, with acres of sand plus good museums.
Further information: junobeach.org, ville-caen.fr/Tourisme.
Cherbourg
Cherbourg feels on a windy day as if it is in the middle of the sea. It clings to the coast with fierce determination. Last year, it opened a new sea attraction, the Cité de la Mer, in the restored transatlantic terminal. This is an interactive visitor centre dedicated to man's exploration of the ocean, complete with the ultimate must-do for adults and kids who like to feel hands-on with powerful technology - a decommissioned submarine.
Getting there: P&O Portsmouth (0870 2424999, poportsmouth.com) offers a traditional ferry, which takes 4 hours, or a fast craft, which takes two hours and 50 minutes, for which the three-day fare next week, for two adults and two kids, is £68. Also Brittany Ferries (0870 5360360, brittanyferries.com).
Nearest beach: The town itself has a good beach; alternatively, take the D116 to Bretteville.
Where to eat: Shellfish are a speciality here because the coast's rugged rocks encourage plentiful growth, both wild and farmed. The railway terminal building houses a good restaurant. There is a wealth of wonderful scenery to admire, too.
Further information: citedelamer.com.
St Malo
St Malo is a small, ancient walled city with a long history and excellent beaches, both on its seafront and at Dinard, along the coast. It has several museums that echo with the distinctive culture and history of Brittany. There are both oyster and mussel farms close by which welcome visitors who invariably leave happily laden with produce. There are a number of hotels inside the walls and down on the seafront. St Malo is an excellent starting point for visiting Brittany, but it is also easily accessible to Le Mont St Michel, the spectacular monastery built on a semi island that is cut off at high tide.
Getting there: Brittany Ferries (0870 5360360, brittanyferries.com) offers a three-day fare to St Malo for two adults and two children, with reclining seats from £220. Crossing time: Brittany Ferries services only sail at night and take eight hours. Condor Ferries (0845 3452000, condorferries.co.uk) offers crossings from Poole to St Malo via the Channel Islands. A car plus five passengers in the half-term week costs £243. The fare next month is £221. Crossing time: 4 hours.
Nearest beach: All of the town's seafront.
Where to eat: Franklin Restaurant (+ 2 99 40 5093) on the sea front and near the Ocean Hotel and the casino. Menus start at €16 and go up to €27, with plenty of fish and shellfish.
Further information: St Malo tourist office +2 9956 6448, saint-malo-tourisme.com/.
