Dover Calais border crossing delays - deliberate?

[Bodo]

Cobnapint said:

ChemicalChaos said:

Doofus said:

Deliberate for what purpose?

To ps off British holidaymakers? No
To do what little they can following another significant death toll from another terrorist attack? Yes

Yes, because of all the borders France has, ours is definitely the one that's a security risk...

This is the question nobody seems to be asking - why the Dover-Calais route..?

Are they doing the same checks on all the other routes into France via Spain, Italy, Belgium, Germany, Lux and Switzerland......I very much doubt it.

We've been using a rural crossing from Germany to France yesterday - and I've seen this manned for the first time. Took about 15 mins to cross as they've checked the Papiere and the contents of the boot. No need to stop on the way back though.

[jjlynn27]

B'stard Child said:

I Posted this in another thread bearing in mind the trip was before Nice

Going to and coming back from Le Mans Classic this year was "interesting" too

8 lanes to the French border checkpoints/cabins just two were manned on the way home on Monday afternoon after the racing and we sat on the autoroute approaching Calais for best part of an hour

I have a simple solution to this issue if the French want to play silly buggers - don't travel there and vote with your feet - I'm sure UK PLC could do with some home grown tourism

Excellent idea, this year I'll go skiing @ local Butlins. Hi de hi !

[B'stard Child]

RYH64E said:

B'stard Child said:

I have a simple solution to this issue if the French want to play silly buggers - don't travel there and vote with your feet - I'm sure UK PLC could do with some home grown tourism

If you want to take your car into Europe then it's difficult (though not impossibe) to avoid France, all the short crossings land there. Holidays in the UK can be great, they can also be pretty cold, wet and miserable, mostly I prefer to drive down to a villa somewhere in southern Europe (though not this year, thankfully).

I do agree but it might be time to send a clear message...

[B'stard Child]

jjlynn27 said:

B'stard Child said:

I Posted this in another thread bearing in mind the trip was before Nice

Going to and coming back from Le Mans Classic this year was "interesting" too

8 lanes to the French border checkpoints/cabins just two were manned on the way home on Monday afternoon after the racing and we sat on the autoroute approaching Calais for best part of an hour

I have a simple solution to this issue if the French want to play silly buggers - don't travel there and vote with your feet - I'm sure UK PLC could do with some home grown tourism

Excellent idea, this year I'll go skiing @ local Butlins. Hi de hi !

Great reply

Can you only ski in France?

Do you have to drive? There are other alternatives

[Getragdogleg]

ClaphamGT3 said:

So you don't need electricity, insurance, basic foodstuffs, gas, petrol etc, etc?

I wont be going there to buy all those things personally and hoping it all fits into the boot of my car for the return trip and the return trip is not delayed by the French being obtuse.

Shame we have become reliant on others when we used to manage fine before. Yet another example of how we prop up the EU.

[Sharted]

I wish that the little Englanders would stay in Benidorm or Barbados for their holidays, the worst thing about France is the English.

[sunbeam alpine]

Cobnapint said:

This is the question nobody seems to be asking - why the Dover-Calais route..?

Are they doing the same checks on all the other routes into France via Spain, Italy, Belgium, Germany, Lux and Switzerland......I very much doubt it.

I'm in Belgium and they've been giving out warnings on the radio over the last couple of weeks that there is at least a 1 hour wait at the motorway border crossings due to increased controls.

Given that there are so many small roads in our region which also cross into France, I do wonder how effective they are.

[davepoth]

Bodo said:

We've been using a rural crossing from Germany to France yesterday - and I've seen this manned for the first time. Took about 15 mins to cross as they've checked the Papiere and the contents of the boot. No need to stop on the way back though.

So it's quite likely they've manned all of the border crossings, which is a massive undertaking given the size of the French land border. It's not a surprise they're spread too thinly.

[johnxjsc1985]

are there delays in the Mainland Europe border crossings?.

[Efbe]

johnxjsc1985 said:

are there delays in the Mainland Europe border crossings?.

Yes

Quite a few people have said so!

[rich85uk]

The obvious answer is just avoid France, plenty of choice within Europe if you want a short flight and you can get a ferry to Holland or Spain if your taking the car. Knowing the French this will only continue and spending 15 hours stuck on a motorway is not my idea of fun

[stripy7]

Efbe said:

johnxjsc1985 said:

are there delays in the Mainland Europe border crossings?.

Yes

Quite a few people have said so!

This is more interesting- surely a contravention of Schengen?

[BigLion]

Sharted said:

I wish that the little Englanders would stay in Benidorm or Barbados for their holidays, the worst thing about France is the English.

[RYH64E]

rich85uk said:

The obvious answer is just avoid France, plenty of choice within Europe if you want a short flight and you can get a ferry to Holland or Spain if your taking the car. Knowing the French this will only continue and spending 15 hours stuck on a motorway is not my idea of fun

Unfortunately you have to book ferry crossings in advance, usually months in advance, so don't know whether there wil be queues at Dover. I've taken a car into Europe most years for the last couple of decades and never had a major problem. What you do know at the time of booking is that getting a ferry to Spain costs about £1k and takes around 24hr, and whilst it's not so bad getting to Holland it's still significantly more expensive than a trip to France, takes about 12 hours, and makes the onward drive south even longer.

[jjlynn27]

B'stard Child said:

Great reply

Can you only ski in France?

Do you have to drive? There are other alternatives

Thanks. Yours wasn't.

'don't travel there and vote with your feet - I'm sure UK PLC could do with some home grown tourism'

But there are other alternatives. Actually you are right, support UK PLC

[greygoose]

stripy7 said:

Efbe said:

johnxjsc1985 said:

are there delays in the Mainland Europe border crossings?.

Yes

Quite a few people have said so!

This is more interesting- surely a contravention of Schengen?

No as states can reintroduce controls for security reasons.

[PositronicRay]

Robertj21a said:

Whether it's deliberate, or security related, I think most people on here have already highlighted the solution - simply don't go to France !
There's nothing new about the French - lazy, incompetent, militant, arrogant etc etc. It was the same 20-30-40 years ago and nothing's changed.

My trips to France ended decades ago, there's far better places to go in the world.

Well I travel in France frequently. I generally find the French hospitable, pleasant and helpful.

This crossing thing seems like an unfortunate hiccup. I've experienced slightly longer times (30-40mins) at border controls this year, and thats about it.

Any transport system can have nightmare potential, whether planes, trains, automobiles (or boats)

[stripy7]

greygoose said:

stripy7 said:

Efbe said:

johnxjsc1985 said:

are there delays in the Mainland Europe border crossings?.

Yes

Quite a few people have said so!

This is more interesting- surely a contravention of Schengen?

No as states can reintroduce controls for security reasons.

Gotcha, thanks.

[cptsideways]

Just avoid the mass transport hubs & you dodge most of the bother.

[gizlaroc]

Sharted said:

I wish that the little Englanders would stay in Benidorm or Barbados for their holidays, the worst thing about France is the English.

It is funny how it has changed, we used to go down to St. Tropez, and Port Grimaud, Le Guarde Freinet, Fréjus etc. etc. but it was all getting a bit 'Yarmouth'.

So we now go to Spain, Xábia to be precise, which is only about 25 miles from Benidorm, but feels more like the South Of France from 25 years ago.

Unless you are in rural France (where they can still be pretty polite and not filled with venom, as long as you speak French) it seems to have very little appeal left.