Driving to France – Tunnel vs Ferry
- Jen
- Jan 28, 2024
- 5 min read
We have driven to France a few times with the kids now and have used both the Euro Tunnel and P&O Ferries. Both have their pros and cons.
With two young children we like to travel through the night, the thought of two kids being stuck in the car for hours, awake and bored fills me with dread and the amount of toilet stops we would need to make would be ridiculous, so for us driving through the night is much more convenient. We put the Zippy girls to bed as normal, like it’s any other night. We wake them up around midnight and put them into the car in their PJs all snuggled in with blankets, they fall back to sleep pretty much straight away. We then make our way down to Folkstone which takes a fair few hours from where we live in England, usually arriving for the first ferry or train of the day.
The Ferry
Travelling from Dover to Calais prices start from £126 return for one car with up to 9 people in. If you have a roof box, trailer, or caravan it is more expensive. The crossing takes about 2 and half hours from driving onto the boat to being back on the road the other side.
The positives
It’s cheap – depending on where you are travelling to or staying, they sometimes include Ferry crossing in on their package deals. I know that when we have booked through Disney in the past the holiday came with free ferry crossing.
It’s a nice rest – the long journey out of the car, breaks up the day and gives enough time for whoever did the first leg of the driving time to catch up on some sleep.
The onboard facilities – Once on board, you can go to the restaurant and get a nice hot meal. We usually go for a full English breakfast as it’s first thing in the morning. There's enough space for some little legs to let off some energy. There are toilets and changing facilities if you have very young ones with you. This is great if like us, your little ones travelled in their PJs, there’s a nice space you can take the kids to get them changed into their clothes for the day. You can also do a bit of duty free shopping on board too.
The negatives
Travel time - It takes nearly 3 hours from one port to another, adding to an already long day, especially if you have a few hours ahead of you when you get to France.
The weather – this can really impact your journey, if the weather is windy and raining don’t expect smooth sailing.
Sea sickness – if you suffer from any kind of motion sickness you might not enjoy the ferry. I don’t get travel sick but there were times when I felt a little grim on the boat. If I kept myself busy whilst on board, I was fine. Walking from one end of the ship to the other was another story. If you’re prone to being travel sick ensure you have some medication with you and have taken it in time for the Ferry.
The Tunnel
Travelling from Folkstone to Calais in standard car, prices start from £60 one way, again when travelling with LeShuttel the price is based on one car with up to 9 people. For a standard return it’s £115 each way. So, the tunnel is much more expensive than the ferry. When we’ve travelled by the tunnel, we have never booked the standard return, we always book their Flexiplus tickets which are pricey (I’ll explain why when I talk about the pros). Flexiplus comes in around £214 each way so is similar to some flight prices. Flexiplus offers the freedom to turn up and board at anytime on your travel day, you’re first on and off the train and have access to an exclusive lounge. I think the prices vary if you have roof boxes and caravans.
The positives
Travel time – from port to port it’s about an hour. It literally takes no time at all with the actual crossing only being 35 minutes, so it doesn’t eat into your day.
The facilities/experience – we’ve only ever booked Flexiplus but it’s worth it. With Flexiplus you skip all of the queues and when you see the queues it’s a good feeling driving past knowing you don’t have to sit in them. The use of the exclusive lounge, it’s literally like a first-class lounge, it’s incredibly quiet, there are nice changing facilities and toilets, complimentary Starbucks and food. Depending on the time of day that you travel depends what is on offer, but first thing in the morning, there are a range of fresh pastries, cereals, and hot porridge. There are sandwiches, crisps, cakes, biscuits, cans of popular brands of pop, bottles of water, cartons of juice, fresh fruit, there is literally something for everyone. When you enter, they give you a brown paper bag each to fill. We always grab a little something for breakfast and then make a packed lunch for in the car when we are in France. The best part is that all of that is included in the price of your ticket.
The weather – it doesn’t matter what time of year your travel or what the weather is doing you are sure to have a smooth ride, great if you are prone to travel sickness, you can’t really feel the train move.
The negatives
No time to rest – it’s so quick there’s not enough time to catch a few z’s before you’re in France. If you’re taking it in turns to drive with someone else, now is the time to swap!
You’re stuck in your car – once you’ve stretched your legs at duty free and the lounge, you’re back in your car. Once on the train, it’s engines off and windows down for ventilation, so this can be quite noisy. You can get out of your car to go to the toilet (I’ve never done this) but there’s not a lot of room around the cars and you can’t pass between the cars for safety reasons. It can feel a little claustrophobic but it’s literally half an hour and you’re driving off again.
The price – it is expensive and more than the ferry, but you are paying for the quick smooth journey.
Which is better?
Well, it depends on the reason for travel, who you are travelling with and how long you’re going for. If it’s a quick trip to Disneyland in Autumn/Winter with children over the age of 5, I would do the tunnel every time. I would spend the extra money on Flexiplus to shorten the travel time and have more time at Disney. If it was a summer trip to Disney I would probably consider flying because you wouldn’t need to take as much stuff. If it was a different type of French holiday where the trip was over a weeklong, or if I was travelling with babies or toddlers, or with a large group I think I would take the more leisurely way on the Ferry. All in all, they both have their positives and negatives, and you need to research what’s right for you and your travel buddies.
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