Crossing the channel...

If you return same or next day, you can get 'le shuttle' as cheap as £23, but pretty slim availability ...

nah. family w/e - about a week

Does one still have to run an 'immigration gauntlet' at calais?

My favorite is alwys dead early morning ferry, breakfast in first class restaurant away from hoi polloi...france by 9 local time and germany by

On te way back klate night start through the night Calais at 4 am and go...

I don't know about cost, but my brother, who lives near Stuttgart, always crosses using the Hook of Holland to Harwich ferry, by Stena. Worth a look, anyway.

costs a lot and takes for bloody ever.

compared with 20 something at unsociable hours calais/dover

Nice ferry tho.

someone who knows that "hoi" means "the". Wonderful !

Almost certainly not.

Yes, both DFDS and P&O offer on-line booking (as do lots of agents but I avoid them now).

It's quick and quite flexible, but, as you say, expensive.

That's an option for Germany but quite expensive and takes all day or all night.

We use DFDS and buy a 'multitrip' ticket which gets the cost down to £29 per crossing and it's also completely flexible so you can arrive early or late (even next day) and get on the next avaiable crossing.

They are the only operator on Dover-Dunquerque which will save you a little driving distance at least when going to Germany.

If you have a friend/acquaintance who *has* a DFDS multitrip ticket they can assign one of their crossings to you, we provide a lot of family and friends with crossings at £29 a go.

Fly to Turkey and follow the masses.

No, it is done at Calais (but still by bored grumpy Frenchpersons.)

The only time I've used it, the ticket was paid for, so I never noticed the price. After a day's driving from Stuttgart, my brother likes the buffet and bar, and a bed, for the night-time crossing. Going the other way, he is ready for the day of driving to get home. Horses for courses, and all that. Also, Harwich is very near me, so he can use here as a landing or starting point.

In Greek. In English it's merely empty terminology with no particular significance.

Only if you are anal enough to inflect it for the proper case.

SWMBO books us online and you can get £25 or so for a day return to Calais. We went yesterday, as it happens, on a shopping trip. Then all you actually need is your passport as they ANPR you when you're at the P&O booth (I assume DFDS does the same).

Agree about the on-board restaurant. We sat in the ordinary lounge yesterday, surrounded by about a trillion noisy kiddiwinks on school trips. The nice restaurant expects you to eat, though, and one reason we go is to have lunch out so no real excuse to be able to avoid the mob.

I wonder if that might change (for the worse) in the foreseeable future?

Cheers, T i m

Cheapest is probably an inflatable flamingo or unicorn.

Cheers

The propblemn is you would think 25 would be chaeper than 44, and throw away the return until you try and book a return ticket.

Fine. Where do I book?

I've only used Norfolkline, now DFDS, from Dover to Dunkirk for about the last 20 years but the order of events is French and UK immigration at Dover, drive straight of at Dunkirk.

On the return, UJ immigration at Dunkirk, Customs at Dover.

I doubt Calais is much different.

Why don't you check out the DFDS (who also serve Calais) and Stena websites for ticket price details?

Oops! I think that should have said DFDS and P&O!

DFDS to Dunkirk, longer crossing but cuts out the run up the coast from Calais and, unless its changed in the last couple of years, no coaches, therefore no noisy parties of school kids.

Book online, beware that the cheap(er) fares will all rise to around 100 on the day of travel. Last month I wanted to book a midday ferry (Dover?Calais) for £64, but you have to login, with a password, which I don't remember, so by the time the email with a new password had arrived, the fare had gone up to £96. DFDS are just as bad as P&O in that respect. So I decided if I was going to be ripped off I may as well take the chunnel for £105. The chunnel is not worth it, taking into account loading time etc, it is not significantly faster highway to highway and you don't get a change to get out of the car and take a proper break.

Yes, first the French want to see your passport, the 'UK Border Farce', then some random check to see what you are carrying, the passport again for the ferry co.