First trip across Eurotunnel in campervan next week

[BeatrixKiddo]

We are driving to Denmark to visit the in-laws next week. Should arrive in Calais just before midnight. Rough plan is to drive to Belgium that night and stop within a couple of hours to sleep. I do have park 4 night but are there any recommendations? Somewhere quiet and not far off the main road A10 E40 towards Ghent. Might all be very obvious when we get there but we have only had the van a year and only done one or two domestic trips so far. Thanks

 

[Ch1pbutty]

We are driving to Denmark to visit the in-laws next week. Should arrive in Calais just before midnight. Rough plan is to drive to Belgium that night and stop within a couple of hours to sleep. I do have park 4 night but are there any recommendations? Somewhere quiet and not far off the main road A10 E40 towards Ghent. Might all be very obvious when we get there but we have only had the van a year and only done one or two domestic trips so far. Thanks

We always sleep in Motorway services enroute on longer trips abroad, as means we get back on the road the following day alot quicker. Avoids wasting time driving round villages in the middle of the night trying to find a suitable spot.

 

[BeatrixKiddo]

We always sleep in Motorway services enroute on longer trips abroad, as means we get back on the road the following day alot quicker. Avoids wasting time driving round villages in the middle of the night trying to find a suitable spot.

Are those the Aires? Is it quiet enough? Thought there might be a lot of noisy lorries etc arriving? Sounds like what we want to do though...get to Denmark ASAP.

 

[Ch1pbutty]

Are those the Aires? Is it quiet enough? Thought there might be a lot of noisy lorries etc arriving? Sounds like what we want to do though...get to Denmark ASAP.

Normally just at the services, fair amount of noise from but I can sleep through anything!

We avoided Aries (in France) as we always had alot of gear on the roof / back of the van, and they seemed too quiet if that makes sense! The service stations had CCTV etc. If the gear had been inside the van then would have used the Aires.

 

[BeatrixKiddo]

Hmmm. We are going to have 2 x bikes on the back. Will just have to play it by ear it seems (pardon the pun)

 

[Vagophile]

We have used motorway services along the E40 towards Ghent a number of times for sleeping stopovers. I can't tell you which, but we have always found them to be relatively peaceful and safe with long term car parking well away from lorry traffic. Maybe Google Earth could help?

 

[BeatrixKiddo]

We have used motorway services along the E40 towards Ghent a number of times for sleeping stopovers. I can't tell you which, but we have always found them to be relatively peaceful and safe with long term car parking well away from lorry traffic. Maybe Google Earth could help?

Great, thank you.

 

[briwy]

Can't help with Belgium but we have camped on the prom at Dunkirk a couple of times. Right at the very northern end ther are parking bays facing the sea. Its a few years ago so possibly clamped down on it now. Have a look on Google maps and you can see it.

 

[kurienp]

We are driving to Denmark to visit the in-laws next week. Should arrive in Calais just before midnight. Rough plan is to drive to Belgium that night and stop within a couple of hours to sleep. I do have park 4 night but are there any recommendations? Somewhere quiet and not far off the main road A10 E40 towards Ghent. Might all be very obvious when we get there but we have only had the van a year and only done one or two domestic trips so far. Thanks

Night stops in mainland Europe is the easiest. Drive as long as you can and then pull into any petrol station, park and sleep. Get up next day morning and continue on the journey. You also get to use the (usually paid) services at the rest stop as well.

Some of the non petrol station stops are also good but can get lonely at night.

As someone has suggested earlier, en route, look at some service stations on Google maps (use satellite view) and if available , street view to get a better idea of the place.

Enjoy the drive.

Sent from my Pixel 2 XL using Tapatalk

 

[AlisonF]

Haven’t stopped overnight, however when travelling between NL and Belgium with my dutch pal and the dogs, he insisted we went to the facilities one at a time to ensure the vehicle and dogs were never left unattended. His explanation was that there is a reputation in some areas for people to cross the border break into vehicles and disappear over the border again (particularly around the area of Arnhem).

 

[soulstyledevon]

Don’t forget to quarantine on your return…

Covid: Fully jabbed arrivals from France must still quarantine

A planned relaxation of England's rules from Monday will not apply due to cases of the Beta variant.

www.bbc.co.uk

 

[WelshGas]

Take the Ferry from Harwich to Hook of Holland.

 

[BeatrixKiddo]

Don’t forget to quarantine on your return…

Covid: Fully jabbed arrivals from France must still quarantine

A planned relaxation of England's rules from Monday will not apply due to cases of the Beta variant.

www.bbc.co.uk

Of course not. The rules are changing fast and who knows what will happen which is why we are prepared to remain in Denmark, or elsewhere for longer.

Take the Ferry from Harwich to Hook of Holland.

yep, that's another option. Anyone who's travelling through Europe just needs to be prepared for any eventuality. We wouldn't be going if it weren't that we haven't seen husband's 85+ year old parents for so long and we don't think it's going to be possible to go very soon, as numbers of infections rise. If we don't go now it could be another year, we feel, before we could go.

 

[WelshGas]

Of course not. The rules are changing fast and who knows what will happen which is why we are prepared to remain in Denmark, or elsewhere for longer.

yep, that's another option. Anyone who's travelling through Europe just needs to be prepared for any eventuality. We wouldn't be going if it weren't that we haven't seen husband's 85+ year old parents for so long and we don't think it's going to be possible to go very soon, as numbers of infections rise. If we don't go now it could be another year, we feel, before we could go.

Overnight crossing and you're on the road by 8am. Own cabin & breakfast and you save on milage. Unless you live south of London.

 

[Azteccamper]

Take the Ferry from Harwich to Hook of Holland.

Agree. We did this about 3 yrs ago. Really enjoyed it - good service and pretty quiet at Easter.

 

[Perfectos]

Hmmm. We are going to have 2 x bikes on the back. Will just have to play it by ear it seems (pardon the pun)

Get some long bike locks, lock the bikes together and attach them to the bike rack frame:
through the front wheels and around the bike rack frame,
do the same for the rear wheels ensuring you feed the lock through the bike frame and around the bike rack main frame.
place a cheap cover over the bikes when stationary (parked up for the night)