As a 'chunnel virgin' I would appreciate some advice about travelling to France using the channel tunnel.
1, Do we have to book in advance and is there any benefit financial or otherwise in doing so, e.g reservation times/queue avoidance etc.,
2, What's the cost of using the chunnel. we are travelling saturday 1st September
3, How does the system work with bikes, I understand its a fairly short journey
4, Any other uselful info would be appreciated
Thanks in advance for any help :yes:
the chunnel is the best thing since sliced bread :smiley: best to book, you get a hour window time. if you get there much earlier and there's room, they will put you on rightway. its costing me £64.00 return in august for a 11.00 to midday window. you ride on and stay with your bike, it's approx 30 min crossing theres no need to secure your bike either, the train is so smooth you don't know it's moving untill you get out of the tunnel :smiley:
Roger Hi
Done the chunnel many times, answers as follows:
Book in advance I have always found it to be better value, book direct not via an agent, generally you can book a time band and choose upon arrival at least one time slot either side of your booking, this does depend upon how busy the chunnel is.
Cost again is dependant upon time and day of the week, and varies drastically.
With a bike you just ride on and they get you to park at a slight diagonal with the side stand down (Not main stand) they also encourage you to sit on the bike for safety. Total time 35mins.
Don't forget your breathalisers, Hi Viz jackets etc, (For France) strictly not law until November/December, but they will stop you and advise you of the new laws.
Don't forget any device that has speed camera locations on it is now illegal in france, including Sat Navs.
Have fun
Cheers
thats's great guys ..thanks....any more advice is welcome :smiley: :smiley: :smiley:
always found the chunnel tunnel one of the best customer orientated organisations going, I always get there early and they let me board. One the way back from france a few weeks ago my schedule was going to get me in early. I went on their website , put in my booking reference and changed my booking to an earlier slot, paid the £5 difference and got on early. I could have done this at the crossing but it was busy.
Once on a trip I lost my return ticket, no problem for the staff, they just took my name and postcode and i was on.
cant praise it enough, why anyone would use the ferry now is beyond me.. The bestest bestest thing is once you disembark, they open the train door and you are gone, no customs or passport control. On the ferry you still have to queue a long time to clear customs
use this link to check prices for the date you want :smiley:
http://www.eurotunnel.com/uk/home/?utm_source=Google&utm_medium=cpc&utm_term=channel_tunnel&utm_campaign=Brand_Alternatives_-_Exact
Can you book more than one bike at a time on the Chunnel?
From an initial quick look it seems not, really good if there is a few of you going and you want to go as a group.
Alan
Each ticket is a single transaction, so you just book a ticket for each bike separately.
The attendants are very helpful and give clear instructions on what to do.
Takes about 30 minutes plus 10 minutes to get out the other end.
Park the bike nose in diagonally, in first gear on sidestand.
It's a doddle.
Just go and have a great time.
Chris
If you don't book and pay in advance they rip you off something major.
I made that mistake the first timeI ever tried the Chunnel from Calais and instead of £40 which it would have cost me if I had booked the night before they charged me €110 at the station.
It's one way in, so you can't turn around and they can charge you whatever they like. :hang:
Good business for them but also a good way to loose potential customers for ever.
I hate to get ripped off - so for me that means I won't use them ever again!
The ferry is cheaper most of the time anyway.
I was planning a trip to go across to the continent last Saturday and they wanted £60 - the ferry would have been only £35.
Went to France via tunnel for first time last Saturday and returned today. Can't believe how quick it was compared to the ferry. All the previous advice is good but we stayed in Normandy and its a hell of of a drive down. For Belgium Luxembourg and northern Europe it's a real timesaver but travelling south then it's still le havre for me.
Quote from: BigAlan on July 23, 2012, 09:24:16 PM
Can you book more than one bike at a time on the Chunnel?
From an initial quick look it seems not, really good if there is a few of you going and you want to go as a group.
Alan
as long as you all book for the same time slot and arrive together you will board together. The staff hold all the bikes back and all the bikes are put into a single carriage usually at the back for safety, in the event of a shunt they know the bikers have the least protection so put you at the rear of the train, even on your own you will be with all the other bikers
I found the Channel Tunnel awesome, but its far cheaper to travel Dover to Calais with P&O Ferries, and you get to have 1 1/2 hours rest.
If you are happy to travel at very early or very late the cost each way can be as little as £11. As I am only 2hrs away I leave 3.30 am for a 5-6 am crossing, gets me on the Continent for a full days riding. If you are tavelling a distance in the UK first, I would book a cheap Travelodge/Premier Inn around Dover and get an early train
Coman
Quote from: deb3km on July 23, 2012, 10:17:54 PM
I found the Channel Tunnel awesome, but its far cheaper to travel Dover to Calais with P&O Ferries, and you get to have 1 1/2 hours rest.
i crossed on a saturday am about 9, it was £35 which was a tad cheaper than the ferry. Plus with the train you pay for the vehicle so all passengers go free, so me and my pillion went for technically £17.50 each
hi all can anyone tell me how to get the speed camera notifcation stuff of my tom tom rider 2 then :ohplease:
Quote from: stoketim on July 24, 2012, 09:38:40 AM
hi all can anyone tell me how to get the speed camera notifcation stuff of my tom tom rider 2 then :ohplease:
I think you can delete the audible warning, but I'm not sure about being able to remove any visual warnings as they are part of the mapping
Don't cue with cars, go round, you will be placed in a holding lane with other bikes.
On the way out often,but not always, bikes are loaded last.
On the way back you can get off the train before you get on :banana:, time zone difference.
Tunnel is good, but definitely not the cheapest.
Cheapest used to be Norfolkline Dover-Dunkerque but that's now DFDS and consequently more expensive (£29 each way, was £22 each way). They also charge the same for a bike+2 as for a car+9.
Dover-Calais is about the same. A bit more £££ with P&O.
On the Tunnel the bike will cost about the same (£22 to £31 each way) but a car is MUCH more expensive at £44+ each way.
If you like a break, a chance to stretch yer legs and do a bit of shopping/reading/eating then take the ferry.
If you want to get a move on, take the Tunnel but take yer own drinks and snacks.
Ferry (Dover-Calais) = Arrive 40mins early, 90 mins crossing, 15-30 mins queueing for French passport/customs = 2½hrs
Tunnel (Folkestone-Coquelles) = Arrive 30 mins early, 35 mins crossing time = 1hr5 mins.
thanks for the responses and detail, which will help us with our planning :yes:
Best to decide what times you wish to travel and weigh up the costs with all of them... :grin:
I always look it like this... What I save in getting from Uk to France goes to putting fuel in the bike... An extra hour crossing is far better for me.. :grin:
The only thing I dont like about going by ferry is having to strap the bike down over the seat esp when I paid £500 for it.. :no:
Quote from: deb3km on July 24, 2012, 07:49:22 PM
Best to decide what times you wish to travel and weigh up the costs with all of them... :grin:
I always look it like this... What I save in getting from Uk to France goes to putting fuel in the bike... An extra hour crossing is far better for me.. :grin:
The only thing I dont like about going by ferry is having to strap the bike down over the seat esp when I paid £500 for it.. :no:
Absolutely right Deb, no matter how careful you are the straps will leave a mark
I'll be travelling with a mate from Northern Ireland, to meet others in France, so we've decided to book the 1500 hrs tunnel crossing which will give us enough time to get to the terminal
Quote from: olde coney on July 24, 2012, 08:36:43 PM
Absolutely right Deb, no matter how careful you are the straps will leave a mark
I'll be travelling with a mate from Northern Ireland, to meet others in France, so we've decided to book the 1500 hrs tunnel crossing which will give us enough time to get to the terminal
Dont forget not to arrive at the terminal more than 2 hours before... If you do get there within the 2 hours and there is space on an earlier train, they will put you on it if you are happy with that.. They did that for me and it was good to just get going instead of hanging around.. :grin:
good point Deb...thanks... we have got a 'self check in guide' which is available when you book on line.
It seems to be quite well sorted, and better organised than the ferries I've used in the past