Hi,
I am considering using the Dover -Calais ferry route next year.
Does anyone have any tips or recommendations?
I am considering getting a flexi ticket and I will be towing a small caravan.
e,g do you have to book well in advance to guarantee a place?
DFDS or P&O?
Is there a particular day and time to avoid (thinking of leaving the 3rd week in July)?
Any advice would be great.
Many thanks.
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Third week in July is peak holiday season so book by Easter. Long delays likely at Dover for day time travel at weekends at that time of year. Quieter if you can travel mid week or overnight.
Dover / Calais is handy for the East and Central France but going to Brittany / Pays de la Loire / Novelle Aquitaine may be better served by longer more westerly crossing using Brittany Ferries.
Thanks for your replies.
We are heading to Dover-Calais as we have lost faith in Brittany Ferries crossings. For us they used to be part of the holiday because they provided lovely us with great food and service.
We are going to try Dover and a quick crossing, but it also opens up a lot more of France for us to explore. By reducing the cost of the ferry we have more money to use explore with when we get there.
------------- sueze
Don't forget to leave a review of the French and other European campsites you have visited!
We used to use the short crossings but it used to mean an overnight stop on the way to / from Calais so not much of a saving - plus had to contend with M25 / M! to get to family in Sheffield - plus going S in France normally quicker to do a big loop E or W of Paris so increased mileage.
We haven't found any deterioration in quality of overnight BF crossings over the years using Portsmouth / Caen or St Malo and vice versa.
I don't have much to offer apart from the advice to avoid weekends and particularly the 3rd week in July. That is when absolutely EVERYBODY goes and the road to Dover is horrendous. If there is one time of the year to avoid at all costs it's the weekend after the schools break up.
I assume you have kids if you are travelling in the 3rd week of July?
We travel BF from either Poole (although I believe that route ends this week) or Portsmouth, we did used to travel Dover to Calais but we got fed up of the M25, it might be worth you looking at Newhaven to Dieppe depending on time of day you are travelling etc, I can imagine that Dover will be an absolute mess next summer with the usual school holidays traffic and the eventual full roll out of EES.
Don't forget to leave a review of the French and other European campsites you have visited!
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Topic: Dover -Calais ferry crossings
via mobile 20/9/2026 at 11:54pm
