Channel Tunnel Questions

Moto GBR

Moto GBR

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Hi All,

I am planning to use the train crossing on Monday 11th March with an early'ish time of around 08.00 across to France then heading down to the Costa Blanca. I have never done this and seeking some advise. I have read through various posts with different opinions and views on some of the topics.

I have a Flexi ticket and was wondering if I changed it to a day earlier (Sunday) it would help avoid any congestion? I am travelling down from the North East so would take me the best part of the day to reach Folkstone. Would It be best to get an evening crossing then pitching up in France or pitch up in or near Folkstone for and early crossing? I am also looking for advise on travelling avoiding tolls in France and noticed a few of you use the Western route. I have 3 or 4 days to cover the distance. What sort of towns / cities should I be aiming for on the route down?

TA Steve
 
As regards the tunnel - we come down from York. We generally stop around Peterborough for the night at a pub stopover and have a train booking for the following mid afternoon.
We then get the train and stop off at Gravelines before heading out the following day.
We take it slow as we have the dogs to think about.

As for congestion Indint think it makes alot of difference. You have a booking just turn up
 
Sat and up until about 1pm Sunday all heavies are banned from the roads on the continent unless carrying fresh foods so the weekend is a very good time to make good progress down through France
 
I usually get a late crossing,10pm ish Friday night ,then drive to Montruiel sur Mer aire for the night

Then I have Saturday and Sunday with quiet roads.
If you only have 3/4 days,I personally would use toll motorways. The money you save going non tolls is taken away with extra time and diesel you would use up going through all the towns and villages that slow you down. If you had a week to get south it would be a different matter.

I don’t know if you have seen Tonka’s western route,but here it is.

www.motorhomefun.co.uk

Tonka's Western route to Spain

My often used, mostly toll free, route into Spain and to Benidorm in particular.
www.motorhomefun.co.uk www.motorhomefun.co.uk

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treblid said:
Trucks are not allowed on the road on Sundays in Germany.
Click to expand...
Pretty sure I have seen them and just looking it up it seems certain ones are.

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644AB0E3-863E-48A6-9613-CC2F8063546E.jpeg
 
We leave Scotland (West coast, south of Glasgow) first thing in the morning and drive to Canterbury. Overnight at the Park & Ride then early train across the Channel usually Sunday morning.
Cant really advise on route as we haven’t been to Spain yet.

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Grianan said:
We leave Scotland (West coast, south of Glasgow) first thing in the morning and drive to Canterbury. Overnight at the Park & Ride then early train across the Channel usually Sunday morning.
Cant really advise on route as we haven’t been to Spain yet.
Click to expand...
That’s a big old drive
 
We stop near the Dover terminal the night before and catch the early trains across. Then get about an hour out of Calais before our first stop for breakfast and coffee.
 
Last few trips over we have taken the tunnel around 8-30pm driven to Gravelines then that gets you in a good place to head off earlyish on Sunday when roads are fairly quiet can then have a big drive and get 300+ miles South.
 
If you want to avoid tolls then the easiest thing it to use Google maps and set options to 'no tolls'. There will be some sections where it is worth paying if you want to make progress as some bits are very slow going off the toll road. It all depends how you are going to approach it. Do you just want to get to Spain or are you going to enjoy then journey down through France? If the latter taking a fair bit of time would make sense.
 
Moto GBR said:
Hi All,

I am planning to use the train crossing on Monday 11th March with an early'ish time of around 08.00 across to France then heading down to the Costa Blanca. I have never done this and seeking some advise. I have read through various posts with different opinions and views on some of the topics.

I have a Flexi ticket and was wondering if I changed it to a day earlier (Sunday) it would help avoid any congestion? I am travelling down from the North East so would take me the best part of the day to reach Folkstone. Would It be best to get an evening crossing then pitching up in France or pitch up in or near Folkstone for and early crossing? I am also looking for advise on travelling avoiding tolls in France and noticed a few of you use the Western route. I have 3 or 4 days to cover the distance. What sort of towns / cities should I be aiming for on the route down?

TA Steve
Click to expand...
We did the tunnel on Wenesday.
Last few times we have taken the morning to drive down from Cheshire, jumped on a train 2pm ish (if you get there earlier you get the option of going on the next one, we were an hour early so go a 1 hour earlier train free of extra charge.
On the other side we drove 30 Ks to Graveline Aire, got stuck on the wet grass.
Left in the morning for a full day to Honfleur then onto Nantes where we are now.
leaving in an hour for Pau.
PS we we 1 of only 4 vehicles on the whole train.

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I would be more worried about avoiding heavy traffic in UK than France. down though UK on a Saturday and top part of France on the Sunday is probably the ideal.
Canterbury is a good stop but its a bit of a faff to get to the tunnel from it. If you like pub stops there are several of them easy enough for the tunnel. There are several easy stops on the French side if you re ok with your 90 days.

Have a good look at you r route through Rouen, as somehow people get it wrong.

Have you considered tolls? Via Michelin will give you an idea, I usually do a mix. Don't make the mistake of putting your satnav on avoid tolls and blindly following at as some of the tolls are short and reasonable to avoid the traffic, The one around bayonne in particular.
 
bobnick said:
PS we we 1 of only 4 vehicles on the whole train.
Click to expand...
I don't think that's unusual from our past experience. They used to run 4 trains an hour now its 1 empty one. Wonder if the days of the tunnel are coming to an end as it can't be commercially viable to run it like that.
 
We always used to try and travel on a Sunday but now it doesn’t seem to to make a lot difference, UK.
It does help in France as others have said as Lorries are grounded on Sundays!
 
We have booked a ferry pitch at Black Horse Farm which is about the closest to Folkestone and you can come and go any time. So we're aiming to get there after work on a Friday night, and early train on Saturday morning.
 
VXman said:
If you want to avoid tolls then the easiest thing it to use Google maps and set options to 'no tolls'. There will be some sections where it is worth paying if you want to make progress as some bits are very slow going off the toll road. It all depends how you are going to approach it. Do you just want to get to Spain or are you going to enjoy then journey down through France? If the latter taking a fair bit of time would make sense.
Click to expand...
Morning,

I think I just want to get down into Spain but trying to avoid the dearer tolls on the way down, do not mind doing a few though. Do you have a rough idea of a route I could take?

TA Steve

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Moto GBR said:
Morning,

I think I just want to get down into Spain but trying to avoid the dearer tolls on the way down, do not mind doing a few though. Do you have a rough idea of a route I could take?

TA Steve
Click to expand...
No idea what classe you are but The most expensive one for us (3) is the A28 between Rouen and Alencon

www.viamichelin.co.uk

Rouen - Alençon driving directions - journey, distance, time and costs – ViaMichelin

Rouen Alençon driving directions. Distance, cost (tolls, fuel, cost per passenger) and journey time, based on traffic conditions
www.viamichelin.co.uk www.viamichelin.co.uk

I avoid it by taking A13 and NI54 and depending on where Im going either turn right at Nonancourt and use the N12 to Alencon or carry on down to Orleans and jump on the A20.
 
Try about-France.com an excellent website that gives you routes and place to visit all over France, you can specify tolls or no tolls and the guy who writes it tells you the most economical routes using a combo of toll and non toll roads. Worth getting a motorway pay tag for your windscreen too!
 
jongood said:
No idea what classe you are but The most expensive one for us (3) is the A28 between Rouen and Alencon

www.viamichelin.co.uk

Rouen - Alençon driving directions - journey, distance, time and costs – ViaMichelin

Rouen Alençon driving directions. Distance, cost (tolls, fuel, cost per passenger) and journey time, based on traffic conditions
www.viamichelin.co.uk www.viamichelin.co.uk

I avoid it by taking A13 and NI54 and depending on where Im going either turn right at Nonancourt and use the N12 to Alencon or carry on down to Orleans and jump on the A20.
Click to expand...

Moto GBR above is really good advice, I've attached our costs to Spain last September avoiding the section jongood suggests IMV the rest of the tolls are worth the time and fatigue saving.

Your looking at the 2nd and 3rd September.

Screenshot_20240302-112732_Drive.jpg


Cheers
Red
 
Moto GBR said:
Morning,

I think I just want to get down into Spain but trying to avoid the dearer tolls on the way down, do not mind doing a few though. Do you have a rough idea of a route I could take?

TA Steve
Click to expand...

Sorry - My wife usually does the planning/navigating as we go along.
 
We recently did Dieppe, to La Jonquera (Spain) in 3 x days, via Nonancourt, Orleans, and Clermont-Ferrand. It was non toll Autoroutes/Dual N Routes most of the way. The only tolls we paid were the Millau Bridge, (shan't be doing that again at €33 a pop), and the short stretch of the A9 to avoid driving through Perpignan.

I'm the only driver, and plated at 6850Kgs, my maximum speeds ranged from 80 to 110Kph, ( 50 - 70Mph). Had I been solo, I could easily have made Valencia in 3 x days, or Alicante in 4 x days............non toll. (y)
From Eurotunnel at Cocquelles, it's only a couple of hours more driving.

Cheers,

Jock. :)

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Last edited:
Moto GBR said:
Hi All,

I am planning to use the train crossing on Monday 11th March with an early'ish time of around 08.00 across to France then heading down to the Costa Blanca. I have never done this and seeking some advise. I have read through various posts with different opinions and views on some of the topics.

I have a Flexi ticket and was wondering if I changed it to a day earlier (Sunday) it would help avoid any congestion? I am travelling down from the North East so would take me the best part of the day to reach Folkstone. Would It be best to get an evening crossing then pitching up in France or pitch up in or near Folkstone for and early crossing? I am also looking for advise on travelling avoiding tolls in France and noticed a few of you use the Western route. I have 3 or 4 days to cover the distance. What sort of towns / cities should I be aiming for on the route down?

TA Steve
Click to expand...
We travelled down from the North East 12 days ago, now in Spain near Sitges. We stayed at Black Horse Farm near Folkestone, 10 minutes the following morning to reach the tunnel and were straight onto an earlier crossing than booked.
In France we headed straight for Champagne and stayed overnight at a Domaine in Ambonnay a great free stopover. From there we travelled to a camping car parks aire in Ville Morgan, Beaujolais and then onto an overnight stay at a Farm shop near Livron sur Drome (Grane). Both excellent, €12 and €5. Then onto Roses in Spain and now in Vilanova I La Geltru.
We had a rough plan but with the aires in France and apps such as Camping Car Parks and Search for Sites, it’s so easy to change as you travel.
I do like the ability to top up the CCP card on line and then just swipe in when you arrive.
The longest journey so far was from the NE to Folkestone which took 6 hours instead of just over 4 due to traffic delays and in particular the bridge works on the A1 before Doncaster. On the way back I’ll turn off the A1 and onto the A19 via Selby and York to avoid the 5 mile tailbacks on the bridge works.
 
Jimbohorlicks said:
The Canterbury aire is 30 mins from the tunnel. Stay the night before and catch an early train ( plus 1 hr in the eu) and then your daylight driving. (y)
Click to expand...
Yes that has been our practice. It has worked well. If you can make Canterbury on Saturday before the car park closes you can get well on your way into France before the HGVs
 
Moto GBR said:
Hi All,

I am planning to use the train crossing on Monday 11th March with an early'ish time of around 08.00 across to France then heading down to the Costa Blanca. I have never done this and seeking some advise. I have read through various posts with different opinions and views on some of the topics.

I have a Flexi ticket and was wondering if I changed it to a day earlier (Sunday) it would help avoid any congestion? I am travelling down from the North East so would take me the best part of the day to reach Folkstone. Would It be best to get an evening crossing then pitching up in France or pitch up in or near Folkstone for and early crossing? I am also looking for advise on travelling avoiding tolls in France and noticed a few of you use the Western route. I have 3 or 4 days to cover the distance. What sort of towns / cities should I be aiming for on the route down?

TA Steve
Click to expand...
We stayed in the CAM site 4miles from tunnel lovely site with a pub opp and shop It took 5mins to get the tunnel. We took the 7am crossing no congestion and a super easy process for it being our first time !
 

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