We will be traveling in April 2022 from London to Calais to pick up our lease car. How do we get from London to Calais? It seems the train does not stop there and I can't tell if the ferries are taking walk-on passengers. This seems to be the hardest part of planning our 90 day journey to Europe.
Posted by
Northamptonshire, England
34005 posts
can your car be collected anywhere else more convenient, like Lille?
Pre-covid only a very few Eurostars stopped at Calais Frethun. Now none do. Maybe after the pandemic is over in a few years they will again.
Pre-pandemic only one ferry company,P&O, took foot passengers between anywhere and Calais, or anywhere on short Channel crossings.
This is the first month that foot passengers are welcomed onto a FEW Calais crossings. https://www.poferries.com/en/routes/dover-to-calais/travel-information/travelling-as-a-foot-passenger
It always has been a real faff to do that. Slow train from London Victoria or fast train from London St Pancras to Dover Priory station, then taxi to the ferry port. Check in minimum 90 minutes ahead. After the vehicles have loaded you get on a bus which takes you onto the ship. At the docking In Calais you go down stairs to the dock and are then processed for border control. Then if you are lucky you will be able to get a taxi to your destination.
It would be so very much easier in Lille. Easy to get in London, all border formalities are completed before you board, very fast (through the Channel Tunnel) and Lille Europe station has a shopping centre and hotels attached and indoor garages.