Eurotunnel vs the Ferry which is the best?

We're regular tunnel users, probably doing three to four return trips a year, even through lockdown as we have French residency and were still able to travel.

We've also travelled via Portsmouth Le Havre a few times as well as Newhaven Dieppe as both Portsmouth and Newhaven are far closer to Worthing, our home in the UK, unlike Dover, but they don't offer the flexibility of times so much, and crossings are longer, plus Portsmouth dog cabins do get booked up way in advance! Which is why, if you have dogs, going via P&O Ferries with their dog lounge is a great option.

Timing flexibility can be more important on the return leg if driving back you have to build a buffer in case there are traffic travel issues as missing the crossing means you'll have a long wait till the next one, hence the tunnel and Dover ferry options can be better.

Obviously travelling in a car via the tunnel can be better, as if you turn up early then, outside of peak season you could get on an earlier one, though in a van, classed as a high sided vehicle that is often not the case.

And, of course, there's the crossing time, tunnel vs ferry, the ferry is 90mins versus tunnel 35mins and loading/unloading times are faster. However, if you're prepared to pay, you can cut these down.

Eurotunnel Flexiplus is an expensive option but at peak times can well be worth it.

And, of course, if the weather is rough then the tunnel again is obviously the best option.

Also in choosing your modus operandi much will depend on your travelling strategy and time of year, especially in or out of the holiday high season.

I know many people who prefer to drive in a more comfortable sedate way, maybe even doing an overnight near Dover, then taking a later crossing after lunch and stopping overnight again or instead in France around Reims / Troyes.

If doing the above then the ferry is the obvious choice as you are not in a mad rush and if repeating the process for the return journey then, again, you're not beholden to the pressures of travelling at peak time.

We usually drive direct from Worthing to Serre Chevalier in one hit with only one or two brief stops for dogs' comfort breaks and petrol in around nine hours. So leaving Calais at 10:00 local time we then rock up around 19:00, weather traffic conditions being OK.

I should also add that we do not travel at weekends in the high season, and over the years we've found that out of high season travelling on a Sunday is a good option as truck numbers are greatly reduced.

However, leaving Calais at 10:00 involves turning up at Folkestone/Dover at circa 07:00 for a 08:00 departure, which in turn usually means leaving Worthing 05:15 so an early start. By 12:30 passing Reims my wife often takes over the driving for a couple of hours I have a nap.

And that's how it's been for many a year, along with similar tactics on the return leg leaving Serre Chevalier at 06:00 for a departure around 17:00, remembering, of course, that the dogs, who have French passports, need to visit the local vet for tapeworm treatment and fitness sign off between 1 and 5 days before returning.

As I mentioned, we have done the Newhaven Dieppe ferry but always found that their departure times, along with a four-hour crossing are not conducive to driving down in one hit.

Portsmouth Le Havre is good as you arrive fresh after an overnight ferry but, especially with dogs, this gets very booked up, so it's not too flexible as you have to plan a long time in advance. Then if you have a major storm, your travel plans can be somewhat curtailed.

Again, it comes down to being flexible, I recently travelled after a storm but looked at the forecast before deciding on which route to take. Sometimes it seems that there's no advantage financially to booking a return journey, so one option, if the weather is suspect, is to book the tunnel on the outward date and then wait and see what the weather is like for the return leg before deciding.

WHICH IS CHEAPER, FERRY OR EUROTUNNEL? 

This is a real 'how long is a piece of string?' question. 

So flexibility is the key to crossing the channel be it by ferry or Eurotunnel, the most reliable due to weather and border control being probably more key than the cost..

Last time I decided on the ferry, and decided to use the travel time to eat breakfast and chill, so booked the Club Lounge as well as Priority Boarding.

My round trip on the ferry with the above was £289 the Eurotunnel was nigh on a £100 more*. If I added Flexiplus to the tunnel booking it increased to £652.

*My round trip was Calais/Folkestone and Folkestone/Calais

FERRY CLUB LOUNGE AND PRIORITY BOOKING V FLEXIPLUS ON EUROTUNNEL

As you can see from the above figures there is a heavy premium to travelling Flexiplus on the Tunnel, but is it worth it?

With new checks including biometric controls and finger print ID as a result of Brexit at the tunnel, the Flexiplus lanes are undoubtedly a major advantage, that's of course if they are open.  And being able to board the next train is great.

I have yet to test the ferry priority boarding in anger as when I used it the terminal was not busy. Plus I do not know if it would enable me to get through check-in any faster and then on to the queues for Border Control.

The new Ferry Terminal at Calais is massive, but the signage needs to be a lot better, especially when it's quiet as there was no other traffic to follow and I found myself going in the direction of the old terminal. I was told that I was not the first to have done this.

What I do know is that I was first on to the ferry and first off and for the return leg, Dover/Calais I did show up within an hour and there was no real waiting, though again I was travelling early and well out of peak times.

Once onboard, the Club Lounge comes into its own.

On the return leg, I left Worthing at 05:00 and it only took 1hr 45min to Dover, so I fuelled up and went through check-in and was on board with Priority Boarding (costing £12) at 07:20 for a 07:50 crossing.

In the Club Lounge, there were only five others, so I nestled down and had a good nap, far better than the short one I have while sitting in the van on the tunnel, as I was able to lie down on a sofa in the lounge and pull my down jacket hood over my head.

With 45 mins to go, I hit the breakfast bar and had a bacon and then a sausage roll, two cappuccinos and an orange smoothie. I took two sandwiches for my trip along with another smoothie because, yep, all food and drink are included in the Club Lounge fee of £24. 

By the time I disembarked I was feeling very fresh and stayed that way during the journey. The local time was 10:25 when I hit the road and I was able to drive down with only one 10 minute stop for a petrol/rest break taking well under nine hours from Calais.

Concluding then, for future travel I think the ferry will now be the weapon of choice, though dependent on the weather forecast.

It's the Club Lounge that is the huge advantage over the tunnel, and meant I didn't even eat the Ginsters Pasties that I smuggled into France :)

TAKING A DOG TO FRANCE - WHICH IS BEST FERRY OR EUROTUNNEL?

Going via Eurotunnel Le Shuttle with a dog(s) means driving to the Pet Reception (follow the paw signs) on either side of the Tunnel, which is before the check-in booths. Here the microchips and paperwork/passports are checked. It's all relatively simple so long as you have the correct dates and vet signatures, but you'd be surprised how many cries of despair we've heard from pet owners who have been turned away because of a technicality.

You, also, have to pay more per dog on Eurotunnel (see below).

We have now started going on the P&O Ferry from Dover/Calais simply because of the dog-friendly service. The pet docs are seen by the P&O staff at the check-in booth as you arrive for the ferry. They make sure the passports or Animal Health Certificates are in order and then pass you the chip detector to brandish over your dog's head. Once this didn't work on one of our Jack Russells but we were amiably waved through anyway.

This is way less faff for us than Eurotunnel but, maybe, more annoying because of the time it takes, for those cars in the check-in queue behind us.

But, even better, from a travel-in-comfort view, there is the 'luxurious' (P&O's description) Pet Lounge 'exclusively' for dogs - well, owners are allowed of course, but no cats or rabbits or any other dog-bait for obvious reasons. This is an amazingly and, yes, comparatively-speaking luxurious and peaceful area, comparative, that is, to the normal family spaces on a ferry with screaming kids running around.

So rather than sit in your vehicle going through the Tunnel, on the ferry you can take your dog for a  leg-stretching stroll on the enclosed outside area where there are even poles for them to pee against (and a hose for you to clean the deck afterwards).

Then settle yourself and your hound in a partitioned booth overlooking the sea, grab a (free) coffee and chill for the 90 minute crossing. There are, also, free cold beverages, WiFi, charging points, TV and water for the dog.

It costs a bargain £12 each way, so almost worth borrowing a dog for the journey.

For Eurotunnel Dover to Calais with our van and three dogs in September, 2024 it's £232; while for P&O, the total cost, is £162 including Pet Lounge, That's £70 less with three dogs on the ferry - or, to put it another way, if you're in a hurry it'll cost £70 more to go via the Tunnel.

AND THE TRAIN OPTION

Low-carbon travel is growing and the good news for ski holidays by train in winter 2023/24, especially if you don’t want to take the car, is that packages now go to resorts in Austria, Switzerland and Italy.

You can now ski by train in far more resorts than was previously possible, “Taking the train through France has the lowest possible carbon footprint, because France has the highest percentage of nuclear electricity in the world,” comments Richard Sinclair of ski holiday specialist SNO.” 

Just like driving there in your car, there’s also no baggage weight restrictions or charge for ski/snowboard carriage on the train.

Note that dogs are not allowed on Eurostar trains to and from London between Brussels and Lille, or on the Eurostar Sun and Snow routes.