From Dunkerque's gare SNCF – where buses also stop – it's a short walk to the tourist office (July & Aug Mon–Sat 9am–6.30pm, Sun 10am–noon & 2–6pm; Sept–June Mon–Fri 9am–12.30pm & 1.30–6.30pm, Sat 9am–6.30pm, Sun 10am–noon & 2–6pm; tel 03.28.26.27.27, www.ot-dunkerque.fr) housed in the town hall at place Charles-Valentin. If you're looking to rent a car, try DLM Location, 1 rue du Chemin-de-Fer (Mon–Sat 8am–noon & 2–5pm; tel 03.28.66.45.61).A reasonable accommodation option by the station on place de la Gare is the comfortable two-star Le Select (tel 03.28.66.64.47, fax 03.28.66.03.47; €30–40). More salubrious hotels away from the station include the Borel, overlooking the fishing boats of the Bassin du Commerce on rue Hermitte (tel 03.28.66.51.80, [email protected]; €55–70), a modern three-star with well-set-up rooms; the equally well-equipped but more old-fashioned Europ'Hôtel, close by at 13 rue Leughenaer (tel 03.28.66.29.07, [email protected]; €55–70); and the centrally placed Best Western Welcome, at 37 rue Poincaré (tel 03.28.59.20.70, [email protected]; €55–70). There's also a seafront HI hostel on place Paul-Asseman, 2km east of the centre, practically at Malo-les-Bains (tel 03.28.63.36.34, fax 03.28.63.24.54; take blue bus #3 to Piscine, direction "Malo-les-Bains"; €11.20 including breakfast). You could do a lot worse than eat at the station buffet, the Richelieu, though it's not especially cheap. Other possibilities include La Sirène, at 65 rue de l'Amiral-Ronarc'h, near the belfry, for good seafood (menus from €20); or the Taverne Le Tormore, 11 place Charles-Valentin, near the town hall, a brasserie-cum-grill with Flemish dishes (€15 or so à la carte). At 6 quai de la Citadelle, Le Corsaire has menus from €15, as well as a view over the port and the Duchesse Anne, a 1901 German ship given to France as part of the war reparations in 1946. For more enjoyable eating options, however, head for Malo-les-Bains.
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