Planning a trip

[MJACB2005]

Hi,

I was a member on here like 5 years ago, we visited twice and flew both times. We're thinking about booking again but this time to drive there...has anyone got any experience on this? We live in north west England, not too far from Liverpool. Can anyone advise me on the best way to cross the channel-ferry or Eurostar.. toll roads, anything important before we book? Thanks. Looking at stating at Disney's SL hotel.

[claire2281]

I've only ever been on a coach myself when doing it by road but the journey always appeared pretty straight forward. Lots of motorway driving. I think there are technically non toll routes but tbh I wouldn't want to mess around with that. Obviously don't forget all the gear you have to carry with you in the car by French law - lots of places sell packs of this stuff.

Personally I would go for EuroTunnel over the ferry (Eurostar is the passenger service so you want to look for EuroTunnel when you book). The ferry is cheaper but EuroTunnel is a lot quicker and tbh less hassle when it comes to boarding etc. Also it's less prone to delays as the ferries obviously can suffer in the weather. Do consider when you're going though - if it's close to the alleged post Brexit date cross channel travel could be severely delayed and disrupted (living in Kent we already have massively inconvenient motorway changes in place to deal with this!).

[Zee79]

We drive all the time. We are from the north east. Have breaks when driving. Plan if you want to drive straight through or drive to Folkstone/Dover stay in a cheap hotel over night then get early train)ferry next morning. We've done both. I prefer the tunnel as I don't like ferries to begin with and we got a extremely bad storm one year.  This year we are driving through 2 days early and staying in a hotel the French side as we got a good deal. We use the toll roads but there is only one and it's about €22 each way. You can pack your car with anything you want as no limit apart from what your car can hold. If have children then make sure they got car suitable activities and snacks. Have a look on the AA and they give you a list of what you need for traveling in France.

[MJACB2005]

Great thank you...you've both given me plenty to think about and plan...thanks again, I'm sure you'll be hearing from.me again soon 

[Mrsya]

We drive every time - Nottingham to DCR. We use Tesco Clubcard vouchers for the Eurotunnel crossing. This year our crossing has cost us a whopping £11! 

We stay overnight in Folkestone, which is lovely and breaks up the journey. 35 mins through the tunnel. Then it’s three (and a bit) hours once you arrive in Calais, which is pretty much all straight motorway driving.

We love having the big cabin at DCR and being able to pack up everything in our car. Wouldn’t have it any other way!

[MJACB2005]

Wow...£11!! Sounds great  has anyone ever gone on the ferry from Portsmouth? My brother who drives a coach has travelled over a few times to France and said Portsmouth is really easy to cross at? Just wondering if anyone has any experience of us8ng this? Thanks

[JMB]

We always travel by Eurotunnel as the drive is so easy and it tends to be less prone to delays caused by the weather (usually go in the winter) over the ferry.  I always found the price to be very similar but I am rubbish at looking for discounts.

I live just to the east of Southampton so have looked at the Portsmouth crossing but the ferry travel time is long and seems considerably more expensive. So, it's a 4am alarm, 2.5 hours to Folkestone and a 8am train, in DLP by 1pm.

[MJACB2005]

So we've been looking and actually want to go next July-summer hols though, approx 26th july, staying in DCR.
Has anyone stayed there?
What do we need to know?
Free HB included, what does that mean for breakfast? And what bracket does that come under, is it like a basic half board plan? If so, where could we eat with that?

Thanks

[JMB]

DCR has mixed reviews in my family.  Personally, I like it.  There is the flexibility of eating in or out, it always seems very quiet and I love the drive to the park, plus the kids are always in a seperate bedroom so we can actually get some sleep. My wife says it's too far away, too basic and too cold.  You can't win them all!!

We tend not to use meal plans because of food allergies that some of my family have, but I believe you pick up breakfast from a hut which is at the entrance to each group of cabins. 

[MJACB2005]

Thank you