Driving from England to France

You could always go as foot passengers on a cross channel ferry from Southampton, am pretty sure the dog would need to be down in the car hold, then rent a car in France. Would be less hassel…..

Try a dummy booking on say Hertz to see the costs, dependent on the size of vehicle required (automatic or manual?) and where you would be returning the car. Many hire companies won’t permit you to take a car abroad. I checked a 2 day hire returning to CDG in Paris and this was c £1,200.

I don’t know if car hire companies have restrictions on carrying dogs. I am allergic to them and wouldn’t appreciate hiring a car after a pooch has travelled in it.

Is the tunnel the best option for you or would a ferry from say Portsmouth get you closer to your final destination?

You need a car registration number to book the tunnel or a ferry, so you won’t be able to book in advance, which will be expensive. If you are travelling at a busy time, you may have quite a wait.

I know that returning a dog from France to England necessitates a visit to a vet within strict time limits before you travel so you need to check if this is an issue heading to France. I don’t know when you are travelling, but if it’s after March (Brexit) then the system may change.

Flights to France from Southampton or the London airports are short, so it’s much easier to get a flight than drive.

There are no cross channel ferries from Southampton, your closest option would be from Portsmouth to either Caen, Cherbourg or Le Havre. Getting to Portsmouth from Southampton can be achieved by train, coach, taxi or hire car however the one way drop off fee makes this the costliest option. If opting for taxi then book an airport service firm (or similar) rather than your average taxi.

This would be my preferred option rather than taking a rental car across to France. You can then pick up a car once in France.

This might makes your journey even more complicated, but the QE2 with kennels also sail from NYC to Hamburg. With a stopover in Southampton. You could probably train it down to France from Hamburg. The trip is 2 days longer. It might be an option.
I assume you've already researched the entrance requirements for pets for the various countries. The UK is more stringent than The Netherlands (where I am headed with my pooch). I don't know about Germany.

I would consider your final thought much more seriously.

Make sure that your rental allows you to travel with Eurotunnel. Booked well in advance a day trip Folkestone - Calais - Folkestone can be really cheap, as can Eurostar from Ebbsfleet International (one or two from Ashford International is even more convenient) to Lille (one hour drive from Calais). I bet that's much less than the drop charge. If you go with the drop charge you will be in the best position to investigate your planned rental returning to Ashford or Ebbsfleet versus returning to your French destination; you will need to ensure for that question again that they allow the Eurotunnel.

Using the Eurotunnel is really easy. Rock up an hour ahead, maybe taking the pooch requires a bit earlier check in - I don't know since I don't use it with a mutt - clear French and British border controls before driving onto the train, drive through the train until they stop you at the right position, stop the engine, first gear and windows halfway down and rest for 35 minutes. At the other side follow the parade of cars off the train and remember to drive on the opposite side. Note that French roads are in kilometres per hour and the car will be in miles per hour.

You could drop off pooch and spouse at the train station in Calais so they can meet you in Lille, then after you have had a break take the prebooked Eurotunnel train back, and drop off the car. Go into the terminal and get your prebooked Eurostar to Lille, and meet up for dinner.

That's what I'd do anyway...

Regular readers of this forum will not be surprised that The Man in Seat 61 knows the options, limited as they are.
https://www.seat61.com/dogs-by-train.htm#dog_or_pet_across_the_Channel

Updates for Eurotunnel travel -

I've checked and the charge for a woofer is £19 per leg (leg of the trip, silly, not for each leg of the pet!!

Check in for Pet Reception is much like normal check in - no less than 45 minutes before and no more than 2 hours.

A registration number (license plate number) is not required to make a booking so one can be made without as early as needed for a good fare. To quote the knowledge base of Eurotunnel:

Unless you have purchased Breakdown cover, the only vehicle details
that we need are the vehicle type (car/van/motorcycle), the height
(over or under 6ft/1.85metres) and confirmation that it is not
equipped with an LPG tank. If none of these things have changed we do
not need to make any changes to your booking.

Registration numbers are not yet mandatory but do speed up the
Check-in process. You can add or change a registration number at any
time before travel without penalty. Please call our Contact Centre.

Thank you so, so much! So much useful info so quick! Keep the advise coming...I love it!

First thing, I’m going to contact Cunard and see if my particular trip continues on to Hamburg (thank you, Kateja!) - that would probably be the easiest, especially since I’ve gotten so much useful information about dogs on trains once over the Channel. I love all the info about alternative dog-friendly ferries and trains too from “the Man in Seat 61” - amazing info! Probably, the best idea - time-wise - is just to rent the car, drive over via Euro Tunnel (love the “per leg” cost from Nigel 😂 - thanks for the extra research, Nigel!). Maybe we’ll stay in some dog-friendly place for a day or two to relax a bit, then I’ll return the car to England and go back to France via Eurostar.

This community is awesome!! I appreciate all of you so much!!

I like the look of the Man in Seat 61's suggestion of taking a cab to France through the tunnel.