Train or Ferry? Given migrant/refugee issues
Discussion
Hi Le Sarthe goers,
So after a 4 year gap I have decided to return to Le Mans after going for 4 years on the trot. I am touching 30, so it is something to relive my youth.
On the previous years I always went Dover-Dunkirk with Norfolkline as I always went with a group and booking the same ferry was easy and cheap for the group.
This year I plan to go early doors (departing England at 0600 Thursday) but I need to return on Sunday evening for work on Monday.
So I am looking at Le Shuttle as it is (in theory) a much quicker crossing. I was planning around a 2100 train back to blighty, leaving the race just before the end. This means I can get back to Wiltshire around 2230-2300.
My concern is an obvious one. The possibility of major delays due to 'tunnel issues.' So what do we think is less likely to be affected, train or ferry? Do we think by June the issue will have got any better?
I will opt for a fixed outgoing ticket, but a flexible return in case of toll traffic etc. Both train and ferry look around £115. So the allure of the hour faster crossing is hard to ignore. Train tickets look cheap at the moment, perhaps because of the well publicised problems.
What are you doing?
Regards,
Jon
So after a 4 year gap I have decided to return to Le Mans after going for 4 years on the trot. I am touching 30, so it is something to relive my youth.
On the previous years I always went Dover-Dunkirk with Norfolkline as I always went with a group and booking the same ferry was easy and cheap for the group.
This year I plan to go early doors (departing England at 0600 Thursday) but I need to return on Sunday evening for work on Monday.
So I am looking at Le Shuttle as it is (in theory) a much quicker crossing. I was planning around a 2100 train back to blighty, leaving the race just before the end. This means I can get back to Wiltshire around 2230-2300.
My concern is an obvious one. The possibility of major delays due to 'tunnel issues.' So what do we think is less likely to be affected, train or ferry? Do we think by June the issue will have got any better?
I will opt for a fixed outgoing ticket, but a flexible return in case of toll traffic etc. Both train and ferry look around £115. So the allure of the hour faster crossing is hard to ignore. Train tickets look cheap at the moment, perhaps because of the well publicised problems.
What are you doing?
Regards,
Jon
Even before the migrant issues there have on some years been delays with return tunnel especially Sunday evening, due to business and if they have any kind of problem (technical etc) it has a knock on effect.
Having said that we've got the sunday evening tunnel the last few years without problem. You do need to leave slightly before the end of the race or we move our cars to mulsanne village and watch the last hour there, then use a route out to the East side of the circuit. Cruise on a steady 130k and we make Calais by around 20:30-21:00
Having said that we've got the sunday evening tunnel the last few years without problem. You do need to leave slightly before the end of the race or we move our cars to mulsanne village and watch the last hour there, then use a route out to the East side of the circuit. Cruise on a steady 130k and we make Calais by around 20:30-21:00
Tunnel has been known to queue back onto the motorway some years and other times you're on a train in minutes. My mate always gets the tunnel both ways and most of the time the delays aren't too bad but he returns Monday mid to late afternoon.
England play in Euro 2016 on the Monday night in France so there could be a lot of people heading for France via the tunnel on Sunday evening as it's an easy enough drive to St Etienne (near Lyon) on the autoroutes. Hopefully this will mean that more trains will be returning to England, although the tunnel always looks like it's running at half the capacity whenever you travel.
We're in a motorhome and we'll probably get the tunnel there and the ferry back to give us a break from driving.
Enjoy
England play in Euro 2016 on the Monday night in France so there could be a lot of people heading for France via the tunnel on Sunday evening as it's an easy enough drive to St Etienne (near Lyon) on the autoroutes. Hopefully this will mean that more trains will be returning to England, although the tunnel always looks like it's running at half the capacity whenever you travel.
We're in a motorhome and we'll probably get the tunnel there and the ferry back to give us a break from driving.
Enjoy
I always enjoy the break on the ferry otherwise it feels like even more time in the car. Usually when we use the tunnel we have to stop just after the tunnel for a proper break. The last few times I have used the tunnel we are ushered straight on without a chance to use the pre boarding services.
With a 2 hour drive in the UK I would use the ferry. Also look at Portsmouth le Harve and Caen.
With a 2 hour drive in the UK I would use the ferry. Also look at Portsmouth le Harve and Caen.
ClaphamGT3 said:
Five tunnel crossings in 2015 (including one during Op Stack) and onlymhad to get out of the car once. "Migrant issues" exist only in the warped minds of the Daily Mail editorial team
Sorry Fella but you are talking b
ks! I experienced it first hand returning from Le mans Last year on My Motorbike with my son, we had to swerve in and out of the f
kers standing in the middle of the road trying to stop any unsuspecting Van or Lorry.I even wrote to Eurotunnel telling them I hope they can lobby the Government to do something to stop the harassment of travelers and will not be using their services until the crisis is over....That might be a few years!
Dunkirk was Slightly better than Calais in May but getting down to Dover and the que to the port was dreadful.
I will now be using the Normandy Ports, Sadly more expensive but so far the b
ds seem to be not hanging around those ports as much. OH and I don't read the Daily Mail 
Edited by fatboy18 on Tuesday 5th January 20:00
2 Years ago, we were delayed for 3 hours leaving the UK as there migrants in the tunnel. It happens a little more frequently than might get into the papers.
Prices are the same as last year, and in line with previous years. They do not appear to be much cheaper due to any publicity of the migrants attempts to cross to the UK.
I have booked today, as I need to be back for work on the Monday, and I could see the later crossings are already fully booked for the Sunday night back. This appears to be a little earlier than previous years.
Prices are the same as last year, and in line with previous years. They do not appear to be much cheaper due to any publicity of the migrants attempts to cross to the UK.
I have booked today, as I need to be back for work on the Monday, and I could see the later crossings are already fully booked for the Sunday night back. This appears to be a little earlier than previous years.
I have always used the ferry, usually P and O Dover Calais, although did use Newhaven - Dieppe when crossing times where more reasonable because the break from driving was good, and it was a chance to have food, breakfast on the way out and not a BBQ on way back.
Last year I thought I had booked the ferry semi-flexible in January. The night before departure it turned out I hadn't. Some panicked booking later saw me on a fixed ferry for only £20 more, and had I been quicker the train was about same price too.
Last year I thought I had booked the ferry semi-flexible in January. The night before departure it turned out I hadn't. Some panicked booking later saw me on a fixed ferry for only £20 more, and had I been quicker the train was about same price too.
When I travel to France on my summer holiday I use the Newhaven to Dieppe route, the benefit of the cabins and more direct routing is great.
When I checked the prices for Le Mans 2016, the prices were similar to the tunnel, but there were no cabins left. This is why I selected the Tunnel.
The benefit of the flexibility of the tunnel, turning up and getting an earlier train as well as if you miss your crossing, they allow up to 2 hours after makes it much more friendly in case of delays on the roads.
I agree that the Dieppe port has no signs of any Immigrants, and when I went to Le Mans in 2015, I saw for the first time people milling around the woodland and grassy areas, something I had never seen in my Calais crossings in the past.
When I checked the prices for Le Mans 2016, the prices were similar to the tunnel, but there were no cabins left. This is why I selected the Tunnel.
The benefit of the flexibility of the tunnel, turning up and getting an earlier train as well as if you miss your crossing, they allow up to 2 hours after makes it much more friendly in case of delays on the roads.
I agree that the Dieppe port has no signs of any Immigrants, and when I went to Le Mans in 2015, I saw for the first time people milling around the woodland and grassy areas, something I had never seen in my Calais crossings in the past.
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