Tetchytyke
Veteran Member
So I finally got around to doing the Calais day trip yesterday, and it went really well.
I bought the tickets from Charing Cross the day before travel. There was an issue in that the ticket clerk wouldn't issue a Gold Card discount as I had said I would travel before 10am, and didn't seem to know about the easement for the Calais ticket. The only black mark was that he dismissed the printout I took from The Manual, which was very disappointing. However he did know how to issue the ticket straight away, including the control tickets, and sold me the ticket from Orpington rather than London Terminals as I had a zones 1-6 travelcard.
Going out I took the 0719 from London Bridge, which was a few minutes late into Dover Priory but I was still able to catch the bus in plenty of time. I checked in for the 1015 sailing with a few minutes to spare, and although there were a lot of foot passengers on the sailing- I heard the shuttle bus driver say 94- there wasn't an issue. Boarding the ferry was a bit of a faff, having to leave the shuttle bus to go through passport control and then, separately, for security but we were on the boat in plenty of time and it even sailed a few minutes early.
The boat was the Pride of Burgundy and it is starting to look very tired. It was clean and tidy, just old, but there was plenty of space outside. A coffee and an hour later and we were in Calais.
The signs as you leave the ferry port are good, but a bit misleading. The direction signs were good but the town centre is signed as 1.2km away. This is possibly true to the start of the town but to the main part of Calais, where the shops are, is just over two miles. It's still probably nicer to walk than take the shuttle bus though. I took the bus out to Cite Europe with my enormous rucksack, which got filled with Belgian beer and cheese at Carrefour hypermarche, before coming back and checking on to the 1715 return crossing.
The boat back was the Spirit of Britain, and I was really impressed by just how nice that boat is. There was an outside bar and seating area but it was full by the time I boarded, thanks to Calais port staff taking their sweet time. The inside bar was nice to sit in, and the prices were very reasonable, but the cafeteria was really impressive. The food was quite good, but the picture windows overlooking the bow of the ship were great to look out of while eating. The boat was about 15 minutes late arriving in Dover and there was yet more messing around, meaning I just missed the 1820 shuttle bus back to the station. I took a taxi instead, which was £5.10, and caught the 1845 HighSpeed service back to London.
I expected hassle- despite having confirmed it with the ticket office staff at Charing Cross and on Twitter- because my ticket was to Orpington but it was all absolutely fine. I'd bought the upgrade the day before- the return was cheaper than the single- and it was all good. I arrived in London at five to eight, had a cheeky cider in the Bree Louise and then came home.
I'll be doing it again, and probably taking t'missus too.
Two things other travellers might be interested to know: firstly, there's a free town bus in Calais which runs from the Place d'Armes, which is quite close to the ferry, saving about 2/3 of the walk to the shops. And secondly, signs at the station state P&O are pulling the shuttle bus from Priory station to the port at the end of the month. But as a cab is £5 and the bus is £2, it's only really an issue for lone travellers.
I bought the tickets from Charing Cross the day before travel. There was an issue in that the ticket clerk wouldn't issue a Gold Card discount as I had said I would travel before 10am, and didn't seem to know about the easement for the Calais ticket. The only black mark was that he dismissed the printout I took from The Manual, which was very disappointing. However he did know how to issue the ticket straight away, including the control tickets, and sold me the ticket from Orpington rather than London Terminals as I had a zones 1-6 travelcard.
Going out I took the 0719 from London Bridge, which was a few minutes late into Dover Priory but I was still able to catch the bus in plenty of time. I checked in for the 1015 sailing with a few minutes to spare, and although there were a lot of foot passengers on the sailing- I heard the shuttle bus driver say 94- there wasn't an issue. Boarding the ferry was a bit of a faff, having to leave the shuttle bus to go through passport control and then, separately, for security but we were on the boat in plenty of time and it even sailed a few minutes early.
The boat was the Pride of Burgundy and it is starting to look very tired. It was clean and tidy, just old, but there was plenty of space outside. A coffee and an hour later and we were in Calais.
The signs as you leave the ferry port are good, but a bit misleading. The direction signs were good but the town centre is signed as 1.2km away. This is possibly true to the start of the town but to the main part of Calais, where the shops are, is just over two miles. It's still probably nicer to walk than take the shuttle bus though. I took the bus out to Cite Europe with my enormous rucksack, which got filled with Belgian beer and cheese at Carrefour hypermarche, before coming back and checking on to the 1715 return crossing.
The boat back was the Spirit of Britain, and I was really impressed by just how nice that boat is. There was an outside bar and seating area but it was full by the time I boarded, thanks to Calais port staff taking their sweet time. The inside bar was nice to sit in, and the prices were very reasonable, but the cafeteria was really impressive. The food was quite good, but the picture windows overlooking the bow of the ship were great to look out of while eating. The boat was about 15 minutes late arriving in Dover and there was yet more messing around, meaning I just missed the 1820 shuttle bus back to the station. I took a taxi instead, which was £5.10, and caught the 1845 HighSpeed service back to London.
I expected hassle- despite having confirmed it with the ticket office staff at Charing Cross and on Twitter- because my ticket was to Orpington but it was all absolutely fine. I'd bought the upgrade the day before- the return was cheaper than the single- and it was all good. I arrived in London at five to eight, had a cheeky cider in the Bree Louise and then came home.
I'll be doing it again, and probably taking t'missus too.
Two things other travellers might be interested to know: firstly, there's a free town bus in Calais which runs from the Place d'Armes, which is quite close to the ferry, saving about 2/3 of the walk to the shops. And secondly, signs at the station state P&O are pulling the shuttle bus from Priory station to the port at the end of the month. But as a cab is £5 and the bus is £2, it's only really an issue for lone travellers.
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