1. Costs  Vs. Drive Time
  2. Comfort
  3. Frequency of sailings
  4. Reliability
  • Costs
First look at a map to check the distances from your home to the UK port and then from the French port to your destination.  In other words take a good look where you are coming from and where you are going to.
Then look at the price differences on the different crossings and weigh this up against the extra fuel and any motorway toll charges you may incur by choosing a particular port.  You can do this by using your customer area on our website (we use Google Maps) or many other public websites such as the AA or Viamichelin.
If you live a fair distance from the UK ports then consider first and foremost the Portsmouth, Poole and Plymouth sailings.  These are expensive in comparison to the short sea crossings, but with overnight ferries and fast craft options they can help break up a long journey.  It lets you get some sleep and eats up the miles with little effort.
If you live in Yorkshire, or on the East coast above the Wash, then take a look at the Hull – Zeebrugger sailings.  This can cut 3 to 4 hours off the drive down to Dover and means you get off to an early start on the other side.  However, I would only recommend this crossing for travel to lakes on the Eastern or central part of France, for example Roseau, Beaurepaire, Boux, Alder, Notaires etc.
If you are travelling to the South of France (on the western side) then another option is thePortsmouth/Plymouth to Bilboa/Santander ferries run by Brittany ferries.  These ports in Northern Spain can really reduce the overall drive time; the down side is that they are very expensive but the upside is they are really like a mini-cruise with swimming pool, cinema and entertainment on board, so you can view it as an extension to your holiday.  The ship also passes through the Bay of Biscay and this gives you a great opportunity for dolphin or whale watching.
If it’s speed you’re after then the tunnel is the one – just 35 mins to get across to France.  For those who hate the thought of ferries, Eurotunnel offers a very fast crossing which can give you a head start versus the ferries, which for a similar crossing are around an hour longer.  You can walk around inside the train, but there is no food or drinks onboard , so for comfort it wouldn’t come top.  However, the terminals either side do offer plenty of cafes and shops.
  • Comfort
Overnight ferries offer several comfort options from reclining seats to 2 and 4 berth cabins through to luxury cabins which have their own shower and toilet facilities.
The reclining seats are sited in what is known as a “quiet room”.  However, my own experience in these areas is not good because they’re only as ‘quiet ‘as the person who is snoring next to you, or the baby crying or kids giggling or arguing!  These seats are normally compulsory to book on overnight crossings if you don’t have a cabin but as an alternative to using them you can always just find a bench seat somewhere and settle down, just as long as you’re not blocking a fire exit etc.
All ferries offer coffee shops and a choice of restaurants on board.  Prices have come down in recent times and the food is probably of a higher standard than most would expect.   Duty free still exists and the shops on board also offer a last minute chance to buy the emergency stuff the French say you have to have when travelling in France, such as warning triangles, reflective jackets etc.
One other thing to mention here is the ferry size.  Over the past few years the tendency has been to build bigger, super ferries.  This has had the effect of reducing the overall number of sailings, but they offer many more facilities and because of their size they roll less in rough seas – a real positive if you are prone to sea-sickness.
  • Frequency of sailings
On all the routes the frequency of sailings vary throughout the year, but the Dover – Calais route always offer the most  with crossings every hour or so.  Eurotunnel can have up to three crossings an hour which makes them the most frequent.
If you miss a ferry or arrive earlier than your planned time, they do try to be flexible and will make every effort, subject to availability, to get you on the next available crossing.
The longer haul ferries fall down a bit here, as they run only 3 or 4 times in the day and at peak times have little spare capacity.  So catching your allotted ferry on these routes is much more important!  If you miss a Brittany ferry it may be possible to switch your crossing to another port, as they operate from several northern ports (Caen, Cherbourg, St Malo and Roscoff).
  • Reliability
In 10 years of booking ferries I can tell you that most offer an extremely reliable service.  They also have reciprocal arrangements with each other so that if a ferry company has an issue (strikes, bad weather or breakdown) you are issued with a voucher and another company would take you over.  This happened to me once when French unions blockaded the port.  Within 20 minutes I was heading along to Eurotunnel with my voucher and was over in no time.  It works the other way too, so if Eurotunnel have an issue then you get the option to cross via a ferry in the same way.
The weather factor can creep in at any time of year but it’s more common in winter so doesn’t affect most carp anglers.  The Fast Craft ferries (Portsmouth – Caen) are especially vulnerable to weather conditions as they are smaller ships and sometimes can be withdrawn.  In these cases they would put you on the nearest alternative.
If you book a crossing after September they can occasionally be prone to cancellation, as they won’t sail if it’s not cost effective.  However, to be fair they do give a good amount of notice and don’t just tell you when you arrive.
So to sum it up… take a few minutes to choose the right crossing and you can save money, time and stress.
Bridget Dawson