Ferry or Shuttle

[Karlos]

Help please. Having secured our new cail we have nearly 3 weeks off work to take her to Europe mid September r(think its a her). We are thinking of going to south of France and Italy to visit my wife's fathers village who died earlier this year. We have done the south France many times previously with either converted camper or folding camper. Question is ferry or tunnel and any discounts we can get. We always used the tunnel but have found it increasingly expensive over the last 4 years but I am uncomfortable taking a new cali on the ferry parking side by side.. Does anyone have advice on securing discounts for the Tunnel or reluctantly the Ferry Dover to Calais. Hope this makes sense it is Saturday night afterall with wine included.

 

[MickyTwoPints]

Replying on Saturday night with wine included

We always use the tunnel, it's great to be able to leave the UK and be in France within half an hour with no worries about the weather. Having said that, we haven't travelled that far South from Calais, we've always gone East through Germany and are planning to go North to Amsterdam next month. Three weeks away would be amazing though, I'm very jealous.

 

[Karlos]

Hi thanks we did Amsterdam 2 years ago for a couple of night when our daughter graduated, sailed from Hull then through to Italian lakes, Venice and Monaco. Just wanted more time to take in all we had missed in between but until my wife allows us both to retire what can I do. I always liked the tunnel and it was always about the same price as the ferries but now there is a £160 or so difference on a ferry return crossing compared to the tunnel.

 

[MickyTwoPints]

Wow! That's a big difference. I was looking at the Tunnel prices for our trip to Amsterdam yesterday and it seemed to be about £230 or so return which I didn't think was too bad.

Any tips for Amsterdam by the way? We haven;t booked anything but have a few campsites in mind.

 

[Karlos]

we stayed at Camping Vliegenbos which was a short walk to the free ferry.

 

[Karlos]

For the new van ferry Dover to Calais £130 ish and tunnel £215 is roughly what I have been quoted. When we went in May with car and trailer the tunnel was about £160 dearer so ferry it was. I do prefer the tunnel but wandered if there were any discounts to be had.

 

[SailSki]

Hi, if you join the Eurotunnel Frequent Traveller scheme it is minimum of 10 single crossings for £46 each way (+£12 with an Ocean as a camper van) is £116 return which I think is pretty good value,, and you can nominate another person to also use the account.
There are peak hours supplements but I don’t find them unreasonable.
However I found recently that the Frequent Traveller tickets are limited per crossing which meant that although there are high vehicle spaces left coming from France just before the schools return, there are none available for Frequent Traveller members. Frustrating... taking the ferry rather than paying the normal Eurotunnel price, but trying to think how to protect against door-banging neighbors....

 

[Dave650]

Have done 3 weeks in France in Sep for the last few years and used the tunnel no problem apart from a couple of hours delay one year. Always use Tesco vouchers so reduces the cost greatly, just have to pay for the dog.

 

[Martin12bar]

We use our Tesco vouchers for the tunnel - for every £5 of vouchers you can get £15 credit for the tunnel crossing.

Tesco.com - Security

 

[Karlos]

Thanks for that, we have used Tesco Vouchers in the past but haven't got any left this year. Re door banging on the ferry I always make sure I am last off the car deck and first back on, its not only door banging that bothers me its also people passing with bags push chairs etc. I will check out frequent traveller.

 

[Ting Tong]

The ferries are considerably cheaper and I’ve never found door banging an issue. 10% discount on DFDS with CCC. Plus if you have to drive 230 miles to Dover, the 90 mins on the ferry is good R&R.

 

[Meoncoast]

Ferry for me like boat trips and can not afford a cruise