As a dyed-in-the-wool northerner, I can't think of many advantages of living in the south.

But there is one. The ease by which folk south of Watford can hop on to the Continent is a point of envy.

The Channel Tunnel has been a boon for motoring travellers, with its drive-on, drive-off 30 minute crossings. But the monotonous five-hour trek from Yorkshire dilutes the advantage.

We're better off heading for Hull and the P&O North Sea Ferries. It isn't quick - 14 hours from Zeebrugge or Rotterdam - but the 60-minute hop to King George Dock on Humberside certainly beats an exhausting 250-mile trek to the Channel ports.

The secret of North Sea Ferries is to make the ferry trip a part of the break. It's an overnight journey - 6pm to 8am each way - but I'd rather be eating, drinking, shopping and sleeping than staring at the M1.

In fact, the ship docks back at Hull at around 6am each day but you cannot disembark until 8am when the customs office opens, which is frustrating.

If we had been able to get off at 6am on the Monday when we returned I could have been at work for 8am. Instead, it was 10am when we arrived back in West Yorkshire and I had to take a day's holiday from work.

It's a few years since we last took a North Sea Ferries trip and frankly we remember it as a functional rather than enjoyable experience. How things have changed.

Today's North Sea Ferries - Norstar and Norsun, two state-of-the-art cruise ferries - are in a different class. We were impressed with the restaurants and bars on board, the quality of service, the slickness of the loading and unloading and the comfort of the cabins.

Boarding is anytime after 4.30pm. You leave your vehicle safely down below and head up to the cabins before venturing out to the bars, discos or restaurants.

We had a few drinks in the piano bars with our travelling companions and - before we knew it - we were under way. I've heard some horror stories of stormy journeys but our journey was incredibly smooth.

We went on to dine in the restaurant where the help-your-self buffet impressed us. It was three-course meal with a comprehensive array of dishes - from traditional carvery to Indonesian dishes and a smattering of vegetarian dishes.

Our cabin was good; space is at a premium, of course, but our bunk beds were comfortable and the shower room adequate.

Before we knew it we were in dock and motoring to our destination. We stayed in Noordwijk, a popular seaside resort 30 minutes from Amsterdam, and enjoyed visits to Amsterdam and the pretty old town of Delft.

We headed back to Rotterdam Europoort for our return journey and by 8am next morning we were heading back across the M62 after a weekend to remember.

Converted for the new archive on 30 June 2000. Some images and formatting may have been lost in the conversion.