France Ferry & Campsite info (use Search function) mod warning post 1

Newonhere · 27-11-2020 3:23pm

ElJeffe wrote: »

I sent them an email this morning and they have replied already informing me that the service will have some capacity for non freight customers. I think this will a good option for those looking to head to Germany, Switzerland etc... if the price is right. They said they will be updating their website within the next few days to non freight clients. I'll be keeping an eye on it as will be heading to the black forest region on the motorbike at some stage next spring.

That’s certainly good news, I often visit friends in Belgium on my way down to Provence so this route would be ideal for me.....

the_amazing_raisin · 27-11-2020 5:27pm

josip wrote: »

Does depend on price.
It will be competing with Landbridge which gets you to Dunkirk from Dublin in 13 hours or less (sans Brexit) for around €700 incl fuel, peak season

I would imagine that for tourists the land bridge will still be worthwhile as it'll mostly be freight affected by new border checks. The biggest issue would be tailbacks on the way to the port and hopefully they'll have enough traffic management in place to deal with that

First Up · 27-11-2020 5:56pm

cruisey1987 wrote: »

I would imagine that for tourists the land bridge will still be worthwhile as it'll mostly be freight affected by new border checks. The biggest issue would be tailbacks on the way to the port and hopefully they'll have enough traffic management in place to deal with that

The only appeal of the landbridge is speed. Its a tedious drive and not something I want to do again if I don't have to. The speed advantage is now under threat from port congestion and I wouldn't want to rely on traffic management to get me to my ferry on time.

Rosslare - Dunkirk is aimed at freight trucks and I doubt the ship will have much to offer families. 24 hours at sea sounds long but it might be only a few hours longer than the landbridge and Dunkirk is well placed for the auto-route to Paris and elsewhere. Plus the drivers will also start fresh on arrival and thus be able to cover a longer distance before resting.

SusanC10 · 27-11-2020 6:11pm

We did Landbridge once and I would only do it again if there was no other choice tbh.

First Up · 27-11-2020 6:35pm

SusanC10 wrote:

We did Landbridge once and I would only do it again if there was no other choice tbh.

Me too. It's a tough way to start - and especially finish - a holiday.

yiddo59 · 27-11-2020 9:15pm

DFDS Rosslare to Dunkirk schedule https://www.dfds.com/en/freight-shipping/routes-and-schedules/rosslare-dunkirk

Probably wont be much holiday traffic demand but as already posted its another option for those heading east and of course if the price is right some may think it worthwhile!

the_amazing_raisin · 27-11-2020 10:02pm

SusanC10 wrote: »

We did Landbridge once and I would only do it again if there was no other choice tbh.

Yeah I'd probably only consider it if we were going to stay a day to two in England as well, which kind of negates any speed advantage

Fann Linn · 28-11-2020 1:22am

Just looking at the BF run down to Bilbao. Has anyone on here done it and can they recommend any sites or locations in the Costa Verde northern Spain location?
Thanks.

MorganIRL · 03-12-2020 7:40am

1st time booking in August and having difficulty marrying up the ferry with sites. Is this normal? Sites were looking at only hi sat to sat, ferry gets in on Fri or sun..

Peckham · 03-12-2020 9:39am

MorganIRL wrote: »

1st time booking in August and having difficulty marrying up the ferry with sites. Is this normal? Sites were looking at only hi sat to sat, ferry gets in on Fri or sun..

Many sites in August seem to be either Sat to Sat or Sun to Sun and need to be booked in 7 day blocks. It's a pain!

Look around. Some of them are more flexible.

54and56 · 03-12-2020 9:40am

MorganIRL wrote: »

1st time booking in August and having difficulty marrying up the ferry with sites. Is this normal? Sites were looking at only hi sat to sat, ferry gets in on Fri or sun..

Common enough problem.

Options are either lose a day by paying for the 1st Saturday and arrive Sunday which I've done several times or arrive Friday, stay in a hotel (lot's of good value family friendly functional options) and arrive onsite nice and early on the Saturday.

If travelling a good distance e.g. to SW France near the Spanish border (as we do) or further afield to the Mediterranean coast, as a few hard core members of this thread have done in the past, arriving into Cherbourg/Roscoff on Friday and splitting the journey over 2 days to arrive Saturday afternoon actually works perfectly.

MorganIRL · 03-12-2020 4:04pm

54and56 wrote: »

Common enough problem.

Options are either lose a day by paying for the 1st Saturday and arrive Sunday which I've done several times or arrive Friday, stay in a hotel (lot's of good value family friendly functional options) and arrive onsite nice and early on the Saturday.

If travelling a good distance e.g. to SW France near the Spanish border (as we do) or further afield to the Mediterranean coast, as a few hard core members of this thread have done in the past, arriving into Cherbourg/Roscoff on Friday and splitting the journey over 2 days to arrive Saturday afternoon actually works perfectly.

Done the SW of France a few years ago. Worst thing we cud have done with 2 under 4 at the time :-( Broke it up into 2 days but not advisable with those age of kids. But still one of the best areas we have been to over the last 7 years.

I think we'll do the extra night in the hotel, any excuse to extend the holiday. Thks for the I do.

54and56 · 04-12-2020 9:41am

MorganIRL wrote: »

Done the SW of France a few years ago. Worst thing we cud have done with 2 under 4 at the time :-( Broke it up into 2 days but not advisable with those age of kids. But still one of the best areas we have been to over the last 7 years.

I think we'll do the extra night in the hotel, any excuse to extend the holiday. Thks for the I do.

The first time we went to La Reserve (kids were 15 and 11) we overnighted along the way and found it to be more of a hassle than it was worth. Had a nice meal and scout around Niort which we'd otherwise never had stopped in and got to LA Reserve in good time on the Saturday but we've never done it since. Now we are off the ferry circa 10:30am and usually get to La Reserve around 20:00 with 2-3 stops along the way for food and to stretch the legs. Thankfully my wife and I share the driving so we do 2-3 hour stints then stop, swap and nap until we stop again. It's a long day but with music, podcasts and a comfy car it's very doable. Don't think I'd try doing 780km in one go if I was doing all the driving though.

Gavlor · 04-12-2020 10:05am

MorganIRL wrote: »

Done the SW of France a few years ago. Worst thing we cud have done with 2 under 4 at the time :-( Broke it up into 2 days but not advisable with those age of kids. But still one of the best areas we have been to over the last 7 years.

I think we'll do the extra night in the hotel, any excuse to extend the holiday. Thks for the I do.

Driving to SW makes no sense to me to be honest!

If folk are planning on going to Languedoc-Roussillon then why not fly to Perpignan or Toulouse?? Far less hassle!
The likes of argeles, st Cyprian etc are within 25 minutes of Perpignan airport so you wouldn’t even need to rent a car.

MorganIRL · 04-12-2020 10:23am

Gavlor wrote: »

Driving to SW makes no sense to me to be honest!

If folk are planning on going to Languedoc-Roussillon then why not fly to Perpignan or Toulouse?? Far less hassle!
The likes of argeles, st Cyprian etc are within 25 minutes of Perpignan airport so you wouldn’t even need to rent a car.

I'd probably fly again unless we were staying for an extended period. It seemed like a good adventure to see France but all I saw was motorway.. coming back was cool, route brought us by some WW2 sites. But it is nice to have ur own car instead of a basic hire car..as long as we can get away next year I'll go in any form of transport..

Gavlor · 04-12-2020 10:36am

MorganIRL wrote: »

I'd probably fly again unless we were staying for an extended period. It seemed like a good adventure to see France but all I saw was motorway.. coming back was cool, route brought us by some WW2 sites. But it is nice to have ur own car instead of a basic hire car..as long as we can get away next year I'll go in any form of transport..

Hear! Hear!

54and56 · 04-12-2020 10:39am

Gavlor wrote: »

Driving to SW makes no sense to me to be honest!

If folk are planning on going to Languedoc-Roussillon then why not fly to Perpignan or Toulouse?? Far less hassle!
The likes of argeles, st Cyprian etc are within 25 minutes of Perpignan airport so you wouldn’t even need to rent a car.

We go for three weeks and like to do a lot of cycling whilst there so bring our own bikes etc which makes the long drive worthwhile. Also much prefer my own car to a rental and of course we can bring (and bring home) a lot more than will fit in suitcase.

If we were going for 1-2 weeks I don't think we'd drive.

Was lucky enough to get to Malta when it was (very temporarily) added to the green list in the summer (as we cancelled France this year) and I found the flying experience a right pain in the ar$e to be honest but it's definitely the way to go for 1-2 week holidays or where the destination is too far to drive. I'm at my absolute max driving distance in La Reserve (near Mimizan about 1.5 hours south of Bordeaux), anything further south than that we'd definitely fly.

SusanC10 · 04-12-2020 11:37am

We go for 3-4 weeks when going to France and like bringing the Car for the Bikes and also to bring home decent quantities of Wine !

We have driven Cherbourg to the Dordogne twice in the one day. Over 700km. My Husband does all the driving for that trip. 2 short stops and arrival just before 9pm both times.

We are hoping to make it to Spain (after the Dordogne) next Summer.

54and56 · 04-12-2020 11:38am

SusanC10 wrote: »

We go for 3-4 weeks when going to France and like bringing the Car for the Bikes and also to bring home decent quantities of Wine !

We have driven Cherbourg to the Dordogne twice in the one day. Over 700km. My Husband does all the driving for that trip. 2 short stops and arrival just before 9pm both times.

We are hoping to make it to Spain (after the Dordogne) next Summer.

Fair play :P

SusanC10 · 04-12-2020 12:07pm

54and56 wrote: »

Fair play :P

I worded that badly, didn't I ?!!

Two different times !

Drumpot · 04-12-2020 2:08pm

Anybody got any suggestions with following, we are staying in our usual park just outside la sables d’olonne on the west coast. But we have kept 5 days after the stay to try something else.

The plan is to maybe drive a little further north towards Cherbourg (where we get ferry) and do some other stuff. We have children so I’m thinking maybe air BnB for 5 days somewhere is better then moving around all the time. Was thinking it would be nice to maybe drive around and see some war stuff (one of my children loves that stuff) and sort of cultural things, with some children stuff thrown in (even one beach visit etc.).

I might even rent a very nice house and chill out but it would be nice to have options to visit Some places. Has anybody ever been on that penninsula where Barbatre is located? Was looking at some places there but have no clue if there’s much to do there or how nice it is.

josip · 04-12-2020 2:22pm

We drive a bit further, but long drives aren't for everyone, they're marmite.
We waited until our youngest was 5 before driving, flew before that.
It's nice to have room for lots of 'stuff'

We've had more bad locations than bad driving legs.
Booked the ferry last week, starting to get excited again.

Fann Linn · 04-12-2020 3:16pm

Drumpot wrote: »

Anybody got any suggestions with following, we are staying in our usual park just outside la sables d’olonne on the west coast. But we have kept 5 days after the stay to try something else.

The plan is to maybe drive a little further north towards Cherbourg (where we get ferry) and do some other stuff. We have children so I’m thinking maybe air BnB for 5 days somewhere is better then moving around all the time. Was thinking it would be nice to maybe drive around and see some war stuff (one of my children loves that stuff) and sort of cultural things, with some children stuff thrown in (even one beach visit etc.).

I might even rent a very nice house and chill out but it would be nice to have options to visit Some places. Has anybody ever been on that penninsula where Barbatre is located? Was looking at some places there but have no clue if there’s much to do there or how nice it is.

Go into Normandy and visit all of the landing areas, graveyards, beaches etc. Plenty of underground bunkers, forward observation posts overlooking the sea, artillery pieces, tanks museums etc. The kids will have a ball. For the adults you have the famous Bayeux tapestry and museum plus lots of galleries , cathedrals etc.

Baybay · 04-12-2020 4:33pm

Drumpot wrote: »

...Was thinking it would be nice to maybe drive around and see some war stuff (one of my children loves that stuff) and sort of cultural things, with some children stuff thrown in (even one beach visit etc.).

Comsider Arras. It’s a lovely town & has a quarry to visit that was used as a base during both wars. Our then 11 year old really got a lot out of it in terms of it’s ambience, secrecy etc

Peckham · 04-12-2020 6:02pm

Similar situation to above. We are likely leaving our campsite near La Rochelle on Thursday, but ferry from Cherbourg is on Sunday. Not mad about heading to another campsite somewhere else, as we'll already have done two campsites on the trip.

Considering going up towards Paris and renting an AirBnB somewhere west of the city for 3 nights. Do two day trips into Paris by train, and then drive to Cherbourg on Sunday morning.

Anyone done similar? Any tips.

Both myself and my wife have been to Paris a few times, so it would be more for the kids - 9, 7, 4.

CelticRambler · 04-12-2020 8:20pm

cruisey1987 wrote: »

I would imagine that for tourists the land bridge will still be worthwhile as it'll mostly be freight affected by new border checks.

Not quite true. If you're bringing a pet, you'll be subject to the new (much tougher) rules unless you can successfully convince the French that you didn't get out of the car since leaving Holyhead; if you're bringing meat or dairy products (e.g. in a camper), these should be disposed of before you cross the Channel (or the Irish Sea, coming back); if you're bringing alcohol, you'll have to declare it twice - once coming into GB, then again coming from GB into Ireland.

Updated rules and regs published on Wednesday:https://ec.europa.eu/info/sites/info/files/brexit_files/info_site/travelling_en_3.pdf

Note: some of this info (e.g. relating to pets) is based on the optimistic scenario of the British agreeing to reciprocal arrangements. It all relates to personal travel - nothing to do with the trade deal currently being negotiated and associated commercial movements.

josip · 04-12-2020 9:17pm

CelticRambler wrote: »

Not quite true. If you're bringing a pet, you'll be subject to the new (much tougher) rules unless you can successfully convince the French that you didn't get out of the car since leaving Holyhead; if you're bringing meat or dairy products (e.g. in a camper), these should be disposed of before you cross the Channel (or the Irish Sea, coming back); if you're bringing alcohol, you'll have to declare it twice - once coming into GB, then again coming from GB into Ireland.

Updated rules and regs published on Wednesday:https://ec.europa.eu/info/sites/info/files/brexit_files/info_site/travelling_en_3.pdf

Note: some of this info (e.g. relating to pets) is based on the optimistic scenario of the British agreeing to reciprocal arrangements. It all relates to personal travel - nothing to do with the trade deal currently being negotiated and associated commercial movements.

What do you mean by "much tougher" ?
From reading the link you sent, the only thing I can see is that they'll check if you're compliant (with the rabies vacc)
I would imagine that this will be a dedicated building/kiosk on the Folkestone side of the tunnel for example.
Am I missing something?

5.1.2.Non-commercial movements into the EU or Northern Ireland of pets accompanying a pet owner resident in the EU or Northern Ireland and returning from Great Britain after a temporary movement to Great Britain

Pets moved into the EU or Northern Ireland, after a temporary movement from the EU or Northern Ireland to Great Britain,will have to be accompanied by a duly filled-in EU pet passport. This passport must attest a valid anti-rabies vaccination.

In addition, prior to entry into Finland, Ireland, Northern Ireland70or Malta, pet dogs will have to be treated against Echinococcus multilocularis and this treatment must be attested by the administering veterinarian in the pet passport.71In addition, pets entering the EUor Northern Ireland after the end of the transition period will have to be presented to a designated travellers’ point of entry72in order to undergo the necessary compliance checks

CelticRambler · 04-12-2020 9:43pm

josip wrote: »

What do you mean by "much tougher" ?
From reading the link you sent, the only thing I can see is that they'll check if you're compliant (with the rabies vacc)
I would imagine that this will be a dedicated building/kiosk on the Folkestone side of the tunnel for example.
Am I missing something?

Firstly, these rules assume that the UK will apply to be a "listed" third country; so far, they have shown no willingness to do so, which means these relatively light regulations are not necessarily the ones that will come into force in four weeks.

Secondly, it will be up to the (French) agents doing the check to decide whether or not they accept just the rabies vaccination cert as proof of a "valid anti-rabies vaccination" - it's the word "valid" that will be the subject of much grief and delay, as it's possible we'll return to the original version of the passport scheme (still in operation for many third country pets coming into the EU) where the vaccine must be shown to have been effective by a blood test carried out 30 days after first vaccination.

Thirdly, as GB is now outside the EU, dogs will have to be certified as treated for the Echinococcus tapeworm in the 24-120 hour window prior to re-entering Ireland. This is (will be) the same requirement as for entering GB, but timing will be critical, if it's done too soon in France, and there's any delay in getting to the port in Wales, then the dog might have to be re-treated in the UK before boarding the ferry to Ireland. Previously, there was no requirement for Echinococcus treatment for dogs moving between Ireland and GB.

josip · 04-12-2020 11:07pm

CelticRambler wrote: »

...

Thirdly, as GB is now outside the EU, dogs will have to be certified as treated for the Echinococcus tapeworm in the 24-120 hour window prior to re-entering Ireland. This is (will be) the same requirement as for entering GB, but timing will be critical, if it's done too soon in France, and there's any delay in getting to the port in Wales, then the dog might have to be re-treated in the UK before boarding the ferry to Ireland. Previously, there was no requirement for Echinococcus treatment for dogs moving between Ireland and GB.

But there is no difference with this since you would have needed it anyway coming back from Europe and we're discussing the UK as a Landbridge rather than the destination country?

https://www.agriculture.gov.ie/pets/bringingyourpetcatdogorferretintoireland/

CelticRambler · 04-12-2020 11:56pm

josip wrote: »

But there is no difference with this since you would have needed it anyway coming back from Europe and we're discussing the UK as a Landbridge rather than the destination country?

https://www.agriculture.gov.ie/pets/bringingyourpetcatdogorferretintoireland/

As regards the Echinococcus treatment, I see that they have singled out "UK (before Brexit)" so it remains to be seen whether or not the exemption stands. It will probably depend entirely on whether or not the UK seeks to be, and is, listed for the purposes of live animal movements.

But I see also that, when travelling from a non-EU country with a pet, you cannot arrive in Dublin Port - only Cork or Rosslare; and you have to give notice of your intention to bring them into the country.

If you are travelling from a non-EU country, you must provide advance notice of your intention to bring your pet into Ireland. Advance notice must be e-mailed to
Dublin airport petmove@agriculture.gov.ie

Shannon airport PetsShannon@agriculture.gov.ie

Cork airport corkpetmove@agriculture.gov.ie

Ringaskiddy port, Cork corkpetmove@agriculture.gov.ie

Rosslare ferry port rosslare.europort@agriculture.gov.ie

You must not leave the airport or port before compliance checks are carried out.

Common sense would suggest that the DAFM would extend their EU-like treatment to GB, but if Westminster is determined to refuse to commit to EU-like animal health, then there's no guarantee.

Sure we'll find out in a few weeks ... :rolleyes:

France Ferry & Campsite info (use Search function) mod warning post 1

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