Holyhead to Dover in 8hrs 20mins in vw camper?

captain_d0nkey

Hi Guys,

Me and my mates are going to Holland this June in my 1971 vw camper, our boat lands in Holyhead at 11.50 and the Dover boat leaves at 9.10.

Assuming it takes 30 minutes to disembark and we need to be in Dover 30 minutes before departure this gives us 8hrs 20 mins to do 373 miles in a bus that has a cruising speed of 55mph.

It's started to dawn on us that this might be a big ask, can anyone who has done the journey before let me know if this is doable. And given the speed we can go can anyone recommend a route?

The plan would be to go non stop and only stop for fuel which should be once.

Thanks,
Shea.

MidlandsM

Would you not sail from Harwich?

captain_d0nkey

Everything has been booked a few months now, when we were pricing up the boats and travel time to get to Holland, Dover to Calais was cheaper and quicker if I remember correctly.

Red Kev

You're forgetting that you pass the M56/M6 junction, that you pass Birmingham and London as well. If you're going to lose time it'll be there.

I'd look at taking an earlier ferry over, or a later one from Dover, there's plenty going all night, so maybe look into taking a later one from Dover.

Best route is to stay on the motorways, so M56-M6-M1-M25-M2 (or M26) is what I normally do. Keep tuned to motorway traffic news as well so you can try to avoid any serious gridlock.

EDIT: You'd do it on a free run, but considering you'll get traffic somewhere I wouldn't bet on making it. Best of luck anyway.

captain_d0nkey

Just to add it's 11.50am we get into Holyhead and 9.10 pm just in case that might impact journey times or the best route to take

MidlandsM

HH to Dover Over 6 hours

HH to Harwich 5Hrs 30 mins

I'd have booked Harwich, thus avoiding the m25 volume of traffic you'll face.

Seve OB

Well I guess what you do have going for you is motorway. As soon as you are out of the port in Holyhead within about a minute you will be on dual cabbageway and that goes all the way past London. Sorry but I cant remember what its like between London and Dover.

If I were you, I would go all the way out to Warrington.... don't be tempted for what looks like a short cut across to Crew - - it's not!

So A55 to Chester then M56 to Warrington then M6 - I think this brings you all the way to London M25, then M20 to Dover.

Depends on time of day, but M6 gets busy at rush hours, M25 could be a bottleneck, and you gotta watch out for roadworks. If you could get your hands on a UK Sim (to avoid roaming charges) and use google maps to keep you updated with traffic information.

If you swap drivers to cut down on rest breaks and only stop for fuel.... I think you can make it

captain_d0nkey

MidlandsM wrote: »

HH to Dover Over 6 hours

HH to Harwich 5Hrs 30 mins

I'd have booked Harwich, thus avoiding the m25 volume of traffic you'll face.

It only takes an hour from dover to calais though and then 3hrs 30 to get to Amsterdam from there.

Harwick to Hook takes 6.5 hours and then an extra hours drive to Amsterdam and was 4x more expensive for our dates.

Probably would have been less stressful on ourselves and the bus though, it was really the price that put us off.

CiniO

captain_d0nkey wrote: »

Hi Guys,

Me and my mates are going to Holland this June in my 1971 vw camper, our boat lands in Holyhead at 11.50 and the Dover boat leaves at 9.10.

Assuming it takes 30 minutes to disembark and we need to be in Dover 30 minutes before departure this gives us 8hrs 20 mins to do 373 miles in a bus that has a cruising speed of 55mph.

It's started to dawn on us that this might be a big ask, can anyone who has done the journey before let me know if this is doable. And given the speed we can go can anyone recommend a route?

The plan would be to go non stop and only stop for fuel which should be once.

Thanks,
Shea.

Best route to take is this one:
https://maps.google.com/maps?saddr=Holyhead,+UK&daddr=Dover,+United+Kingdom&hl=en&ll=52.109879,-1.636963&spn=2.925026,7.13562&sll=53.309441,-4.633038&sspn=0.044463,0.111494&geocode=FQFwLQMdMk65_yntDxxstjRkSDFvI_uM0JyOJA%3BFUQmDAMdewoUACn_MjNV0aTeRzFRSNdah1x4Mg&oq=dover&t=h&mra=ls&z=8

It's 374 miles, so at 55mph constant speed it's going to take you about 7 hours. But you have no guarantee you will be able to cruise at 55mph at all times...


It's not impossible, but you can't be certain if you make it as well.
Hopefully it will take you less than 30 minutes to disembark the boat in Holyhead.
Also if you are lucky, you might arrive later than 30 minutes before departure in Dover, and they still might let you go.

But still this gives you about 1.5h extra to accomodate for refueling, traffic jams, etc...

Perfectly possible, but bit risky.

Can you vehicle not travel at higher speed?

I do this route twice a year for the last 5 years in a car.

The longest it took me from Holyhead to Dover was 9 hours - I was stock in two big traffic jams.
The quickest I made it was just over 5 hours. I was lucky then as I disembarked boat in Dover as one of the first, and had 5 hours and 10 minutes to departure time of ferry in Holyhead. I tried hard and made it.
I arrived about 5 minutes before departure, and they still let me in the boat. Literally they closed the ship gate just after I drove in - I was the last one to enter the ship.

But assuming reasonably, in most cases travelling in car, you need about 7hours for this route. So in your slower vehicle, you might need more.
As well if you get stock in some traffic jam, delays will be bigger.

The thing is though, that even if you are late in Dover, they might let you on later ferry without any charge.
For future, probably better to book later ferry, and if you arrive early, they usually let you go in earlier ferry for free. Less risky solution.

captain_d0nkey

stevieob wrote: »

Well I guess what you do have going for you is motorway. As soon as you are out of the port in Holyhead within about a minute you will be on dual cabbageway and that goes all the way past London. Sorry but I cant remember what its like between London and Dover.

If I were you, I would go all the way out to Warrington.... don't be tempted for what looks like a short cut across to Crew - - it's not!

So A55 to Chester then M56 to Warrington then M6 - I think this brings you all the way to London M25, then M20 to Dover.

Depends on time of day, but M6 gets busy at rush hours, M25 could be a bottleneck, and you gotta watch out for roadworks. If you could get your hands on a UK Sim (to avoid roaming charges) and use google maps to keep you updated with traffic information.

If you swap drivers to cut down on rest breaks and only stop for fuel.... I think you can make it

Thanks for the directions. We're all from Derry so no problems with having a sim. The plan would be to stop for one tank of fuel. I think the problem is it will be tight so it's things like roadworks and crashes that will make or break us. Does anyone have any idea what the ferrys policy is if you miss one, are they pretty sound and put you on the next ferry or do you have to pay again, pay a fee?

When I missed my ferry from Liverpool to Belfast the guys put me on the ferry for the following day and didn't charge any extra.

munchkin_utd

to add to the last poster
* London - Dover is a breeze. Theres a section nearer London which has variable limits and cameras, but beyond that is 3 lanes for a lot of the way and a great road before it turns to dual for the last bit and then a couple of miles along the seafront to the port. 80mph most of the way is no problem.
* regarding tracking traffic, firstly have a good normal proper road atlas. Set the radio to pick up traffic announcements (TA should be lit). Tuning to BBC station is also a help as it'll flick to any other bbc station, even local, when theres a traffic alert. And will do it even if you are listening to an mp3 player or whatever.
Also- you dont need a uk sim to have traffic alerts on your map. If you have a satnav with TMC it'll bring up the traffic info automatically. In the uk thats a paid for service so you may need to get it activated. Its free though in France and Belgium and Gemany in case you need it on the continent.
* traveling through England, you'd want to be aware of the few parallel routes down the country but dont get too tempted to make cross country diversions (as mentioned previously). Also have a think (as in be aware of its existance) about the M6 toll which is a saucy enough price but may save you a heap of time if traffic is snarled around Birmingham on the normal M6 - and would pay for itsself if its the difference in making the ferry or not.

ballsymchugh

i live in maidstone, it's about 40 mins from dover.
through trial and error, the best way to travel is M56 to M6 to M42 to M40 to M25 to M26 to M20.

i've driven 6 times in the last year and the only place where i was held up was in slow but steady moving traffic north of birmingham.
the m40 is like a deserted road compared to the m1.
the m25 is a conundrum. no matter which option you take there are road works which have a 50mph speed limit. the locals will be sticking to this, as it's average speed checks between cameras, but there's always a foreign reg that flies past them.

edit: with a norn iron plate, you'll be sticking to 50mph too!!

IngazZagni

Are you leaving on a weekday? If so departing Hollyhead just after midday and you will be hitting the M25 around London during rush hour. NOT nice!

Of course it's possible though but you need things to go your way. A simple fender bender somewhere could be the difference. I hate driving under time pressure personally. But good luck anyway!

DoraDelite

I've done Holyhead to the M6/M1 junction couple of times in the last three months. It has taken me about 3/3.5 hours @ 70-80mph (no stops, no traffic and not including ferry disembark) What everyone says above A55/M56/M6 is correct, straight forward all dual carriageway/motorway. M6 outside Birmingham is all roadworks at the moment and 50mph speed cameras everywhere, to avoid this take the M6 toll, worth the few quid especially if you are in a rush. Roadworks also around M6/M1 junction on-going for the next few weeks 50mph also with average speed cameras. I can't add any info about M1 to Dover!

captain_d0nkey

Thanks for the great response everyone. There's a lot of things that can go right and a lot that can go wrong and I suppose it'll be determined on the day. I think I'm going to chance making it in time and hope we can get the later ferry if we're late. I'll make sure to get a road atlas and have a half decent sat nav and have the passengers on the mobile keeping an eye on traffic.

I can probably max out at 65 mph but the engine and fuel wouldn't last too long. 55mph is the recommended cruising speed, just a thought but would it not be an option to avoid the risky motorways as I won't be able to make use of the higher speed limit.

I forget but do ferrys work on a first in first out basis? just thinking if I'm really early to the ferry in Dublin I might cut a valuable 20 minutes off the disembark time

P.S. yes it's a weekday , 26th june

Red Kev

I'd just take a second look at the departure time in Dover and book a later ferry, it will save you a lot of stress.

A T2 camper will sit at 55mph, anything above it just isn't the best for it. If it's a hot day it'll run the risk of overheating. So try to get a ferry nearer midnight and enjoy the spin down.

MidlandsM

captain_d0nkey wrote: »

I forget but do ferrys work on a first in first out basis? just thinking if I'm really early to the ferry in Dublin I might cut a valuable 20 minutes off the disembark time

P.S. yes it's a weekday , 26th june

it depends, like if border police in HH wanted to direct you into a shed, they'd hold you up for 30 mins talking to you, and pulling your van apart....so you never know.

keithclancy

Take it handy, if you turn up late they'll stick you on the next one.

If you turn up early they'll stick you on the earlier one.

I didn't pay anything extra anyway

Avoid the M25 at rush hour.

Calais is very quick, only an hour and very cheap due to competition between DFDS and P&O / Eurostar

Marcusm

I thought the ferries on the pas de Calais route had adopted the same travel rules as Le Shuttle, ie travel on any crossing 2 hours either side of what you've booked for no difference in fare. You should check the rules of your ticket. Given the loading of your camper, I'd be surprised if you could do it without an extra hour or so. Do you have breakdown cover suitable for a 40 year old vehicle?

dr.fuzzenstein

Red Kev wrote: »

I'd just take a second look at the departure time in Dover and book a later ferry, it will save you a lot of stress.

A T2 camper will sit at 55mph, anything above it just isn't the best for it. If it's a hot day it'll run the risk of overheating. So try to get a ferry nearer midnight and enjoy the spin down.

Do a TDI conversion on it!

Careful_now!

Maybe you could pay a little extra for a priority exit from the ship. I got that a couple if years ago when I took irish ferries to France. It was only €10 and we got off the boat about an hour before the last car got off.

If you don't have the speedy exit, there is no way to know how long it would take to get off

dmc17

dr.fuzzenstein wrote: »

Do a TDI conversion on it!

And then paint it primer grey to suck the last of the character out of it

CiniO

Marcusm wrote: »

I thought the ferries on the pas de Calais route had adopted the same travel rules as Le Shuttle, ie travel on any crossing 2 hours either side of what you've booked for no difference in fare. ?

Is this official rules of eurotunnel.
I remember once I arrived 7 hours before departure and they let me go without extra charge, while other time I arrived 3hours early, and the earliest they offered was 0.5 an hour before original departuere time so I had to wait for 2.5 hours or pay some crazy price.

captain_d0nkey

On second thoughts I'll take the advice on here and pay the £20 to change to a later ferry at 12.15 and if I arrive in time for the earlier ferry I'll try and get on that. I made sure my insurance came with European insurance and breakdown cover but I'm gonna ring up and find out how extensive it is.

There's a guy caddy who rebuilds vw engines in armagh, I got mines rebuilt last week for piece of mind on the trip. But he has a tdi conversion on his an audi daysul with a five speed gearbox. Sits at 80 on the motorway and returns 40 + mpg he says.

Shameless plug of the camper when it was in california:

dr.fuzzenstein

dmc17 wrote: »

And then paint it primer grey to suck the last of the character out of it

OK, a no go then. :P
How about a Porsche conversion? It would definitely make it on time then:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5ddx5rXXRQw

munchkin_utd

not sure who you are travelling with.
DFDS allows you to take the ferry before or after for free
http://www.dfdsseaways.co.uk/Documents/DFDS-Seaways-Booking-Terms-and-Conditions-01-04-2014.pdf

P+O is plus or minus 2 hours without having to pay fare difference but not sure if they charge an admin fee or not. The page is a little corrupted, and it looks like there may be a 20euro charge, which still and all isnt the end of the world (especially compared to what you'd pay if a group of you were late for a plane!)

Seve OB

munchkin_utd wrote: »

If you have a satnav with TMC it'll bring up the traffic info automatically. In the uk thats a paid for service so you may need to get it activated. Its free though in France and Belgium and Gemany in case you need it on the continent.

Are you sure? I have a UK car, (imported to Ireland) but whenever I am in UK I get the TMC announcements and am given diversion options for the likes of heavy traffic and crashes. I don't pay anything to anyone. It's brilliant. Only wish they used it here..... :rolleyes:

captain_d0nkey wrote: »

just a thought but would it not be an option to avoid the risky motorways as I won't be able to make use of the higher speed limit.

NO. you'll only get stuck at bloody traffic lights or in a trafic jam

captain_d0nkey wrote: »

I forget but do ferrys work on a first in first out basis? just thinking if I'm really early to the ferry in Dublin I might cut a valuable 20 minutes off the disembark time

it depends..... usually yea it is first on first off, but i've seen them do mad things. I've been near to last on sometimes and driven off one of the first. Also, depends on the height of your vehicle. Vans will probably be in a different lane to cars, so quite likely you would be on the lower deck and given an earlier exit... pot luck in my experience.

munchkin_utd

stevieob wrote: »

Are you sure? I have a UK car, (imported to Ireland) but whenever I am in UK I get the TMC announcements and am given diversion options for the likes of heavy traffic and crashes. I don't pay anything to anyone. It's brilliant. Only wish they used it here..... :rolleyes:

its a pay service in some countries, like the UK

Within the United Kingdom TMC services are offered as pay services

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Traffic_message_channel#United_Kingdom

its only a one off payment or licence fee so cheapo sat navs wont have it but you can have it added with a software upgrade or whatever - or you might be fortunate enough to have it already on the device like yourself.

101sean

Just a word on the M6 Toll, use it, it's worth it!

Couple of months ago I was heading up to Holyhead at night, thought old M6 would be quiet at 10pm so ignored the toll route. Big mistake, the M6 was shut at Wolverhampton and took 2 hours to get round. No advance warning before the two M6's split other than toll route was clear. Ended up driving like a loon across Wales to reach the ferry on time.

I've done the route in old Land Rovers several times and you should make it in time but you're better off leaving some slack. I split my time between Tipp and Kent, the M25 can very hit and miss, good run through one day, nightmare the next. Once on the M20 or M2 you usually have a clear run to Dover

Yakuza

I drive from HH to Portsmouth and back once a year, as said above, the M6 Toll is great for avoiding traffic. I've no experience with the M25 as I get off the M40 to join the A34.

I just noticed you've rebooked for a later ferry, probably for the best. You can take your time, not put the van under too much strain and have an extra pee stop or two on the way down. Enjoy the trip!

Del2005

CiniO wrote: »

Is this official rules of eurotunnel.
I remember once I arrived 7 hours before departure and they let me go without extra charge, while other time I arrived 3hours early, and the earliest they offered was 0.5 an hour before original departuere time so I had to wait for 2.5 hours or pay some crazy price.

A couple of years ago a mate turned up a day early on the way back from France for the tunnel and was let on no problem, he was on a bike, IIRC he was several hours early on the way over and also got straight on.

Marcusm

CiniO wrote: »

Is this official rules of eurotunnel.
I remember once I arrived 7 hours before departure and they let me go without extra charge, while other time I arrived 3hours early, and the earliest they offered was 0.5 an hour before original departuere time so I had to wait for 2.5 hours or pay some crazy price.

It's still a space available change so it might have been a busy day; you get put on the next available train within that timeslot. It's in the Ts & Cs.

toyotaavensis

OP myself and a few friends are going driving to Budapest in the first week of June. We are landig in Hollyhead at 1600 and were going to try and make the 2340 train to Calais. - We had this booked.

We decided to push this back to the following morning. With the eurotunnell there is no charges for booking a different train. We had to pay £10 extra as the train itself is more but that was it.

Hope this helps. FYI we are going to stay in maidstone and get the 0940 train the morning of day 2.