French/Belgian borders.
Discussion
Iva Barchetta said:
I'm planning a trip to Brussels during my Christmas break and have watched this thread with interest.
Looking at alternative routes from Dunkirk,looks like heading to Lille then up to Gent only adds 1/2 hour to the journey.
Can't be doing with 3 hour hold ups.
There are checkpoints on the Belgian/French border between Lille and Gent. In fact all the major roads on the border will have checkpoints.Looking at alternative routes from Dunkirk,looks like heading to Lille then up to Gent only adds 1/2 hour to the journey.
Can't be doing with 3 hour hold ups.
gtidriver said:
The coast road added about 10 minutes each way to my trip last Saturday.If the D601/N39 are busy/shut try theD60/N386.
That's virtually on the beach!Anyway, I'm crossing early Friday morning so I'll update, thanks for everyone's info.
There'll be 4 of us in the car including an Asian Muslim, a Turkish Cypriot and a Romanian so we could possibly be in for a bit of attention!
If your travelling by boat the police are checking most car boots at the french passport control,leave plenty of time for the outward bound boot as its very slow through the passport check,if TAP is on best not to do Jubilee way as its always backed up by trucks trying to jump the queue. Head for the castle and come out by the town, then head for the port.
We went over last weekend catching a 5pmish boat over on the Friday night. We were staying near Poperinge in Belgium and headed straight there.
We crossed the French/Belgian boarder on the D948/N38 without sight of a single Le Plod on the way into Belgium and no sign on the other side of the road.
As it happened a trukie mate ended up swapping a load with another driver and found himself at the truck stop at that boarder (on the French side) for the weekend. This meant that we crossed that boarder about 6 times in the space of 2 days. There were never any check going out of France. Going back into France the longest wait was when we were joking with the CRS chap that it was the third time he'd seen us that day and that we were trying to work out if we preferred the French or Belgian side of the line
In fact we all remarked that it was the first time any of us could recall seeing a member of the CRS with a smile on their face, let alone enjoy a joke in a bit of broken Franglaise.
We crossed the French/Belgian boarder on the D948/N38 without sight of a single Le Plod on the way into Belgium and no sign on the other side of the road.
As it happened a trukie mate ended up swapping a load with another driver and found himself at the truck stop at that boarder (on the French side) for the weekend. This meant that we crossed that boarder about 6 times in the space of 2 days. There were never any check going out of France. Going back into France the longest wait was when we were joking with the CRS chap that it was the third time he'd seen us that day and that we were trying to work out if we preferred the French or Belgian side of the line
In fact we all remarked that it was the first time any of us could recall seeing a member of the CRS with a smile on their face, let alone enjoy a joke in a bit of broken Franglaise.
Went over last Sunday to stock up on booze for Christmas. All was fine, although I didn't realise how massive 'the jungle' was until we drove past it (same road as that Hungarian lorry driver video). Before we'd reached the camp, we were actually wondering why there were police vans every 100m or so on the hard shoulder. The border checks at the ferry terminal were fine really, the boot of the car and our passports got checked, but nothing too bad.
George7 said:
The border checks at the ferry terminal were fine really, the boot of the car and our passports got checked, but nothing too bad.
Honestly? That was the one ball ache for us. We arrived there about 14:10 to get a 15:25 boat and it took us longer to get through the now two separate check points 100m apart, with boot checks by each side, than it has ever taken us to get through on Mad Monday after LM.
We are meeting some friends in Bruges tomorrow and I sent them a link to this thread. Their reply following a crossing mid afternoon:
"Came off at Jn 62 then went D601, then D60 and into Belgium with no stop at border. Looked over fields at A16 and it was gridlocked - very satisfying! Thanks to Mr Pistonhead"
I will try to post tomorrow as intending to be in the square for breakfast so going for an early one.
"Came off at Jn 62 then went D601, then D60 and into Belgium with no stop at border. Looked over fields at A16 and it was gridlocked - very satisfying! Thanks to Mr Pistonhead"
I will try to post tomorrow as intending to be in the square for breakfast so going for an early one.
celestequattro said:
"Came off at Jn 62 then went D601, then D60 and into Belgium with no stop at border. Looked over fields at A16 and it was gridlocked - very satisfying! Thanks to Mr Pistonhead"
Did exactly this yesterday morning, no problem, maybe a ten minute slowdown. In a pub in Bruges looking forward to a good Saturday night drink!
Traffic on A16 not so bad after all , 15/20 delay to come off at the jct just before frontier ,then back on again without stopping the return trip much the same
Then you get to Eurotunnel terminal and the problems really start
Expect over an hour from check in to clearing UK border controls ,chaotic at best ,the area is devoid of any organization ,pushing and shoving cutting in lane swapping,and I understand the port is much the same.
We arrived at about 5pm and were given a 1807 departure and eventually got on the shuttle at 1835
Then you get to Eurotunnel terminal and the problems really start
Expect over an hour from check in to clearing UK border controls ,chaotic at best ,the area is devoid of any organization ,pushing and shoving cutting in lane swapping,and I understand the port is much the same.
We arrived at about 5pm and were given a 1807 departure and eventually got on the shuttle at 1835
Adenauer,
I drove back over to Blighty the weekend - using the Tunnel - and crossed the border in/out France/Belgium near Tournai/Lille on the E42. It was fine.
There are roadworks on that stretch of the E42 in Belgium (years overdue, so a good thing!) and there are police/army on the border, both sides, with 1 lane in either direction. There wasn't a delay really either on Thu morning or yesterday evening.
I guess if you were to head Aachen, Liege, and west all the way on the E42 (there are other roadworks on there in Belgium, but again, not an issue really) it would be OK for you?
I drove back over to Blighty the weekend - using the Tunnel - and crossed the border in/out France/Belgium near Tournai/Lille on the E42. It was fine.
There are roadworks on that stretch of the E42 in Belgium (years overdue, so a good thing!) and there are police/army on the border, both sides, with 1 lane in either direction. There wasn't a delay really either on Thu morning or yesterday evening.
I guess if you were to head Aachen, Liege, and west all the way on the E42 (there are other roadworks on there in Belgium, but again, not an issue really) it would be OK for you?
Gassing Station | Holidays & Travel | Top of Page | What's New | My Stuff