England to France by ferry?

[gonefishie]

Does anyone have experience going between these two countries by ferry? I'm going to be in London for 10 days at the end of August. I was thinking that since I'm already in Europe and France is not that far away, I'm going to take the opportunity to hops over and looks around a little. I thought it would be cool to take a ferry instead of flying or a train. What is the best route to go from London to Paris? what would you recommend as far as ferry company, departure/arrival port? Thanks.

 

[Haut Medoc]

Re: England to France by ferry?

The Eurostar (train)will get you to Paris in 2 1/2 hours.....
Since you only have ten days, that's what I would do.....
I don't know how the ferry system works time-wise, but I do know that cars ain't cheap to rent in England.......
I'd wager you'd kill a whole day getting to Paris on the ferry.....
I would imagine that Dover to Calais would be the quickest.....​

 

[Mark42]

Re: England to France by ferry?

I did the trip on a hovercraft. Drive the car on, then go upstairs to a seating area, and about 45 minutes later (it was high winds and rough water) you are there.

I had a great time on the ride. Be even better in nice weather.

 

[cmyers_uk]

Re: England to France by ferry?

Because you are in London, the Train is really the quickest simplest and possibly cheapest option especially to Paris. If you want ferry you can get a train from london to Dover or coach or its 70 miles by road (approx). Then you have a choice of Ferry , hovercraft , Hydrofoil.

Enjoy your stay.

 

[RPJS]

Re: England to France by ferry?

Two reasons to take the train.

If you have rented a car in the UK they will not be to happy with you taking it across the channel.

There are no longer any hovercraft crossings as they have been taken out of service, the hydrofoil is very very expensive, a standard ferry crossing will take about 4 hours with a further 4 hour drive to Paris when you get to France.

Take the train to Paris (the Eurostar is like no train you have ever been on), when you get there you will find the public transport system very good, also most of the main sights are within a very short distance of each other (with the exception of the Eiffel tower), a great way to get around is to hop on one of the water taxies that run up and down the Sien all day and most of the night.

An alternative would be to jump on the train up to Birmingham and I could take you fishing, you will love the big Barbel in the river Severn.

 

[rolmops]

Re: England to France by ferry?

Two reasons to take the train.

If you have rented a car in the UK they will not be to happy with you taking it across the channel.

There are no longer any hovercraft crossings as they have been taken out of service, the hydrofoil is very very expensive, a standard ferry crossing will take about 4 hours with a further 4 hour drive to Paris when you get to France.

Take the train to Paris (the Eurostar is like no train you have ever been on), when you get there you will find the public transport system very good, also most of the main sights are within a very short distance of each other (with the exception of the Eiffel tower), a great way to get around is to hop on one of the water taxies that run up and down the Sien all day and most of the night.

An alternative would be to jump on the train up to Birmingham and I could take you fishing, you will love the big Barbel in the river Severn.

Birmingham????,the Midlands????,Eating pork pie?????A pint of something maybe..
But why If he can go to Paris in spring,would he want to go to Birmingham instead???

 

[RPJS]

Re: England to France by ferry?

Birmingham????,the Midlands????,Eating pork pie?????A pint of something maybe..
But why If he can go to Paris in spring,would he want to go to Birmingham instead???

Fishing!

The reason Frank didn't write a song about it was because he wanted to keep his best fishing hole a secret.

 

[gonefishie]

Re: England to France by ferry?

Two reasons to take the train.

If you have rented a car in the UK they will not be to happy with you taking it across the channel.

There are no longer any hovercraft crossings as they have been taken out of service, the hydrofoil is very very expensive, a standard ferry crossing will take about 4 hours with a further 4 hour drive to Paris when you get to France.

Take the train to Paris (the Eurostar is like no train you have ever been on), when you get there you will find the public transport system very good, also most of the main sights are within a very short distance of each other (with the exception of the Eiffel tower), a great way to get around is to hop on one of the water taxies that run up and down the Sien all day and most of the night.

An alternative would be to jump on the train up to Birmingham and I could take you fishing, you will love the big Barbel in the river Severn.

Uummm....FISHING! Doggone...fishing or spend a day in Paris with the girlfriend???....you got me all torn up now. I have to think about this one long and hard. After googling around it seem like it would be best to take the eurostar to Dover, get on a ferry to Calais, and then take the eurostar to Paris. That wouldn't take too much time right? Do I needs to make advance reservation for any of this stuff or do I just needs to know the departure time, show up, buy ticket and go?

 

[Kiwi Phil]

Re: England to France by ferry?

What's to think about.
Girlfriends come, girlfriends go.
Take the fishing mate. A lifetime or really good memories
Cheers
Phillip

 

[Haut Medoc]

Re: England to France by ferry?

Why not do both?.....
If you have a shot at Paris, I would not miss it.....
I forget if it was the TGV or the Eurostar that you needed reservations for, maybe both.....
http://www.raileurope.com/us/index.htm?souce=Google_raileurope&ref=

​

 

[RPJS]

Re: England to France by ferry?

I would strongly recomend making reservations on both trains and the ferry, you will be traveling at the busiest time of year in the UK (Summer Bank Holiday) you may well be disapointed if you don't book early. IMO do not book the economy tickets unless you enjoy pain and discomfort.