With the problems Eurotunnel has had over the last couple of days, with thousands of people statioary inside the tunnel (trains immobilised on the track due to hot air from one side meeting cold air from the other, creating enough condensation to short out the electrics!), with no information telling them what was going on for six hours apparently, and stuck a total of 16 hours underground, the spare water carried on the trains ran out, and zero facilities on the vehicle carraiges other than what your vehicle contains you can be a bit stuck. When its working well the underground bit is usually a tiny and quickly forgotton part of the trip.

Coming back from the Le Mans 24hrs race a few years back the trains did come to a stop due to a convoy of Ferraris, having headed home as fast as (ahem) legally possible, entering the same train at the same time, the fire warning system detected all this hot Italian exotica and decided all the carraiges were on fire! Everything stopped and it took hours for Eurotunnel staff to persuade things to reset having backed the cars out again!

Today Eurostar chief executive Richard Brown asked people not to travel unless it is essential.
He said: "When we resume service it's going to be very busy, we're not going to be able to carry everyone who's booked yesterday, today and during this week."
No services at all today either while they continue to investigate.


I prefer a ferry, it does take a bit longer but is an enjoyable part of the trip even with choppy seas! You have a number of boats available rather than if one train stops the lot stops. You can snooze, or have a last fry-up before entering the Eurozone, or enjoy the breeze hoping for dolphins

That wouldn't have helped this weekend though, since on top of the Eurotunnel problems, weather and road conditions in Calais meant they closed the port too. No one in or out, if you were on a boat in the harbour you stayed there! This backed up roads both sides of the channel, delaying things further when they did open up again.

Booking before hand is always cheaper, Eurotunnel in particular can have offers well worth taking, but you need to check their site often. Early morning crossings are usually cheapest, but watching the white cliffs disappear and France creep up out of the horizon in day light is alway nice

You can have open returns, and if you miss the one you're booked on you can usually be shunted to the next one for no or minimal charge, but rules vary, depending what you've booked of course. Book with a credit card.

St Malo, Le Harve, Plymouth and Poole are all lovely places to spend a few days, if you have a high mpg vehicle depending on your route, the longer crossings with a cabin can end up being cheaper. You could go via Jersey etc too.

Remember fuel is usually cheaper in France, and heading north toward Calais the last autoroute fuel is a fair distance before the port. Theres a lot of shopping oppertunities just south of Calais, but driving around Calais itself is not well signposted or too worthwhile IMHO. The French police like catching British holiday makers speeding to get their ferry, some days more than others (see above), and I suppose the British plod do the same? In France you just hand over hundreds of Euros though, no licence points yet!