Experiences with Dover-Calais ferry

[alex397]

I’d quite like a last minute trip to the mainland in the next few weeks. Probably not the best era to do affordable last minute trips, and Eurostar and flights are understandably expensive. But it seems as a foot passenger you can still get £30 single tickets from Dover to Calais.

I’m just wondering if anyone has any recent experiences of such a trip, and any recommendations at all.

I realise Calais is a bit downtrodden, but is it particularly unsafe at all? I’ve heard it can be, but usually from the sort of people who say London is a no go zone, so I take such reports with a pinch of salt. More importantly, is it easy to get from the ferry terminal to the town as a foot passenger?

Despite being rather close to northern France, I’ve never really explored it, so I’d quite like to do that. I’m sure there are plenty of war-related sights to see. And there is the possibility of trips to Dunkirk and Boulogne.

I suppose, as usual, I’m just looking for a bit of reassurance. And any tips of things I may not be aware of.

 

[Alfonso]

I've no recent first hand experience but other threads state there's nothing to worry about from a safety point of view, but the new ferry terminal is further from the centre, you are first on the ferry and last off, and only a few services allow foot passengers. I'd have thought either taking a bike, which opens up more options, or taking the more passenger friendly Newhaven to dieppe ferry are better bets.

 

[357]

Drove through Calais at the start of last month and it was a ghost town. Lots of very high metal fencing stopping anyone going off the road/pavement onto grass verges, under over bridges etc in an effort to (I presume) stop people setting up camp there.

 

[paul1609]

Calais town is perfectly safe if uninspiring. If you can fit around ferry times and length of sailing Dieppe is so much much better.

 

[Sir Felix Pole]

There is a walking route, if a little bleak, from the P&O terminal in Calais to the town - on exiting the terminal building there is a walkway / ramp immediately to the right. There is a bus service to the town ( and Ville station) but it is not specifically timed to connect with the ferries. At the Dover end you also have the pain of getting from Priory Station - the bus service has long gone. All in all, Newhaven - Dieppe is a much better experience!

 

[185143]

There is a walking route, if a little bleak, from the P&O terminal in Calais to the town - on exiting the terminal building there is a walkway / ramp immediately to the right. There is a bus service to the town ( and Ville station) but it is not specifically timed to connect with the ferries. At the Dover end you also have the pain of getting from Priory Station - the bus service has long gone. All in all, Newhaven - Dieppe is a much better experience!

Plenty would say the biggest downside being that you have to use P&O, as neither DFDS nor Irish Ferries take foot passengers between Dover and Calais.

 

[Taunton]

The long ramp for foot passengers from the Calais P&O terminal towards the town is quite new, probably built about 15 years ago, and makes it much more worthwhile to do this route. About 20 minute walk into town.

We have done it a couple of times with visitors who want to just see France. Down to Dover, over on the ferry, back same day. Calais has the architecturally spectacular City Hall (visible from the cliffs at Dover on a good day), with Rodin's classic Burghers of Calais sculpture in front. Find a good café in the main street and you can have a most enjoyable French lunch.

 

[Medicy]

Used to do Calais as a foot passenger regularly pre-Covid and it's a lovely little day trip. Try the Lace Museum and the Museum of Fine Arts, go up the town hall belfry, have lunch in the town square, and see the white cliffs from the other side (on a clear day)!

 

[357]

£30 single

To be fair during COVID I wasn't paying much more for London to Brussels on Flixbus

 

[nwales58]

There is a town bus to the ferry docks. Can be difficult to navigate the usual french cute acronyms: the operator is SITAC, Calais town services are called imag'in, the ferry route is called Balad'in or route B.

Imag'in Calais Opale Bus

Imag'in, Calais Opale Bus est le site des Transports Urbains de Calais, filiale du groupe Transdev

www.sitac-calais-opale-bus.fr

Runs Monday-Saturday only every 22 or 11 minutes. I don't know how the foot arrangements work noawadays but there is a stop near the big roundabout at the new-new end where I guess the P&O terminal pushes you out and another at the town end of Av Cdt Cousteau by the older buildings.

Town buses in Calais were free in 2022 so probably still are.

 

[Bletchleyite]

Foot passenger on the ferry is a grim experience involving lots of waiting around and being treated like an illegal immigrant at inbound customs and immigration (as a British citizen I've never been asked so many stupid questions entering the UK). Did it once, very unlikely to do it again. I'd suggest one of the routes more geared up to foot passengers e.g. Brittany Ferries or booking by way of a coach journey.

 

[johncrossley]

The one redeeming feature of this service is that it is the cheapest fixed price way of crossing the Channel without a bike. If you go by coach you have to go at least as far as Lille, which is quite a diversion if you actually want to go to Calais, Dunkerque or Boulogne, and last minute Flixbus fares from London to Lille can be much more than £30. However if you actually want to go to Lille or beyond then the ferry is rarely cheaper than the coach if you can book at least a day ahead and would take much longer, plus you may use the Tunnel instead.

 

[Flandrian]

I've spent some time in Calais this year, and can confirm that all of the bus services in the town are still free, including those going out to Pont d'Ardres and Guines. Also free is the weekend-only 'Majest'in' boat that operates out to Coulogne, where you can start a pleasant walk to Guines or Pont d'Ardres.

The town is not wealthy by any stretch, but the area of Calais Nord (rue Royale, Place d'Armes etc) is perfectly civilised, and there are some good places to eat. Boulevard Jacquard, from the station out to the theatre, has a reasonable array of shops. Possibly the best feature is the very well spruced-up seafront, very popular with all ages, with tons of play and sports equipment. The two chip kiosks do a brisk trade, and the ice-cream kiosks are good value for very decent ice cream.

There is a bus service (ligne 427) which runs along the coast from Calais to Boulogne via Cap Blanc Nez, Wissant and Wimereux. It's not free but is, I think, very reasonably priced. Service 426 also goes to Boulogne but is routed inland.

 

[AY1975]

I've no recent first hand experience but other threads state there's nothing to worry about from a safety point of view, but the new ferry terminal is further from the centre, you are first on the ferry and last off, and only a few services allow foot passengers. I'd have thought either taking a bike, which opens up more options, or taking the more passenger friendly Newhaven to dieppe ferry are better bets.

Do all crossings on the Newhaven-Dieppe route still allow foot passengers?

Foot passenger on the ferry is a grim experience involving lots of waiting around and being treated like an illegal immigrant at inbound customs and immigration (as a British citizen I've never been asked so many stupid questions entering the UK). Did it once, very unlikely to do it again. I'd suggest one of the routes more geared up to foot passengers e.g. Brittany Ferries or booking by way of a coach journey.

Do all Brittany Ferries routes still allow foot passengers? Which of their route(s) would you say is/are the best for foot passengers?

 

[paul1609]

Do all crossings on the Newhaven-Dieppe route still allow foot passengers?

Yes, but it's only 2 crossings per day in winter, 3 in summer. It has lots more foot passengers than Dover Calais.

 

[Bletchleyite]

Do all Brittany Ferries routes still allow foot passengers?

Most seem to, Le Havre doesn't appear to though. You can check it on their booking site.

Which of their route(s) would you say is/are the best for foot passengers?

I've only done Caen which was fine apart from a taxi being the only onward transport from the port because the buses finish too early (would be fine for the overnight crossing though).

 

[30907]

I've only done Caen which was fine apart from a taxi being the only onward transport from the port because the buses finish too early (would be fine for the overnight crossing though).

The others are all in relatively central locations for their towns (except Bilbao) but Cherbourg is a bit far from the station (and not brilliant for buses, it seemsfrom Googlemaps).

Edit: there is a station at Roscoff but the service is bustituted as Alfonso points out

 

[rvdborgt]

The others are all in relatively central locations for their towns (except Bilbao)

The staff at the Bilbao ferry terminal called a taxi for us, which arrived after only a few minutes and brought us to Santurtzi station (Cercanías) for €15.

 

[Alfonso]

Personally I like the "Pont Aven" more than the other Brittany Ferries ships, but not by much, they are all much nicer than short straits ships but you are on them for much longer. Portsmouth and Plymoutj are both easily accessible. There's a bus from Roscoff to the nearest rail connected town but the village itself is quite nice, too. The ferry to Caen actually goes to Ouistreham, with a generally good bus service to Caen, except off the last arrival of the day. Timetables all available online. Newhaven to Dieppe is likely to be much cheaper though, unless you can take advantage of Britain's Ferries £24 day return offer, which actually allows for up to 27 hours ashore and allows mixing and matching of routes. Availability is apparently low or non existent at peak times when they can fill ships with passengers paying proper fares.

 

[Bletchleyite]

PThe ferry to Caen actually goes to Ouistreham, with a generally good bus service to Caen, except off the last arrival of the day.

Do note that there are only two, the overnight and the day boat, and the day boat misses the bus!

Correction: there appears now to be a morning sailing arriving mid afternoon.

We used to do the overnight for family holidays but I wouldn't recommend it, the journey is too short for a decent kip, and that assumes you sleep well on boats. Whereas the 6ish hour crossing is quite enjoyable for a day journey - long enough to relax, short enough not to be boring.

 

[Alfonso]

Portsmouth to St Malo is probably the nicest overnight crossing if you sleep well on ferries. St Malo is also a nice place

 

[Cloud Strife]

(as a British citizen I've never been asked so many stupid questions entering the UK).

Same experience here. I remember we turned up the worse for wear after a 'wine tasting' trip, and their questions were bordering on the ridiculous. The best one was 'where are you planning to go in the UK?'. To which I answered 'to bed'. Another trip involved a fairly lengthy discussion about why a bunch of students would be on a daytrip to Calais, despite the obvious answer being 'cheap booze'.

It didn't bother me because I'm interested in borders and border issues, but I can see how it would have been intimidating for others.

What is the process now for foot passengers in Calais? I assume that the new terminal building there doesn't have a departure lounge for foot passengers like the old one did? It was a grim and depressing experience, as once you cleared French and UK border controls, there was just an empty room with nothing except toilets.

The town is not wealthy by any stretch, but the area of Calais Nord (rue Royale, Place d'Armes etc) is perfectly civilised, and there are some good places to eat.

Yes, agreed. Calais has several very good pubs as well, and the cultural life of the city is surprisingly vibrant.

 

[Bletchleyite]

The best one was 'where are you planning to go in the UK?'. To which I answered 'to bed'.

I got that, and my answer was "home, because I live here".

Lord knows why that wasn't utterly obvious on presentation of a British passport with a British address written in the back of it by someone who obviously has an English accent. It's like they are deliberately awkward there. I've entered via Luton Airport arrivals about 100 times and don't recall ever once having been asked such stupid and pointless questions.

Don't know about the Calais departure hall, it was a while ago I did it. I seem to recall they weren't actually using the departure hall but instead had me wait "landside" for a bus that went in via the same process as if you were travelling in a coach.

 

[johnnydoe]

The others are all in relatively central locations for their towns (except Bilbao) but Cherbourg is a bit far from the station (and not brilliant for buses, it seemsfrom Googlemaps).

Edit: there is a station at Roscoff but the service is bustituted as Alfonso points out

Google Maps is pretty poor for public transport.

Cherbourg now has a Monday to Saturday bus between the ferry terminal and the railway station that runs from 04:35 until 21:13 (depending upon where you start from). At least it's running until the 3rd of September anyway.

 

[30907]

Google Maps is pretty poor for public transport.

Cherbourg now has a Monday to Saturday bus between the ferry terminal and the railway station that runs from 04:35 until 21:13 (depending upon where you start from). At least it's running until the 3rd of September anyway.

That's what I was referring to. A bus about once an hour is "not brilliant" in my book.

 

[johnnydoe]

It's much better than before, which was no bus.

 

[rvdborgt]

I got that, and my answer was "home, because I live here".

A friend of mine (Dutch) was asked similar questions, sometime in the 90s, I believe when he got off Eurostar. From memory, it went like this:

Where are you going?
- I'll be leaving London as soon as possible.
I see. Where are you going in England?
- I'll be leaving England as soon as possible.
Where are you going then?
- To Scotland.

 

[duesselmartin]

at Heathrow I once had a chatty border guard. My passport would not work at the machine. In the end I realised I told hin my whole travel plans without realising it. Well done!

 

[AY1975]

Most seem to, Le Havre doesn't appear to though. You can check it on their booking site.

I thought the Le Havre service had been withdrawn or made freight only at the start of the pandemic and never been reinstated for passengers, foot or car. Or has it now been reintroduced but for car passengers only?

 

[30907]

I thought the Le Havre service had been withdrawn or made freight only at the start of the pandemic and never been reinstated for passengers, foot or car. Or has it now been reintroduced but for car passengers only?

Looks like it. The Spanish routes were car-only a couple of winters ago but on a quick check seem to take foot pax all year now.