Calais to Dover

CALAIS TO DOVER

Calais to Dover is the shortest cross-channel route from France to England.

On a clear day you can just make out the white cliffs of Dover from the ship moored at Calais.

And in a one hour fifteen minute journey there is still time to enjoy the bars restaurants games rooms and shops that are all part of the trip from Calais to Dover.

CALAIS TO DOVER PRICES

It’s quite impossible to summarise the prices on offer. There are seasonal packages, group prices, children student and pensioner discounts and other deals. But prices are always low, for the shipping lines fear the threat of Eurotunnel and a trip by train. Calais to Dover should always - in their book - be by boat!

And in my opinion you should always go to the shipping desk and ask. Visit them all - be honest - and you will find surprising reductions in the fares initially stipulated as ‘norm’. I have frequently done this - always with considerable success.

A WORD ON TRAINS

Though the train travels not form Calais to Dover but from Calais to Folkestone it is well worth considering. Fares - which include a comfortable ride for you and your car - are very reasonable - starting at about £98. And a £10 day trip is offered if you spend over £85 in Perfume House or £120 in Beauty Unlimited or Euroshop. And there's no chance of seasickness!

THE APPROACH FROM CALAIS TO DOVER

Dover is a port you approach with something like awe. Sentimental I may be but I always seem to hear the strains of Vera Lynn singing “There’ll be blue birds over the white cliffs of Dover” and see imaginary Home Guards ready to fight the foe! As we approach the port the cliffs do rise - magnificent and truly white - over the grey sea and the old town.

And in that journey from Calais to Dover you realise - perhaps for the first time - that England is definitely worth a visit.

Reference: http://trial.which.co.uk

Peter Sylvester is a seasoned UK journalist (NUJ 020267) who has worked with BBC Radios 4 and 5 Live, World Service, The Natural History Programme, Today, The Afternoon Shift, Farming Today, On This Day, and more. He produced "Class Five" for Sybil Ruscoe for three years. Mr. Sylvester has written for such magazines as The Field, My Weekly, The Woodworker, and Radio Times. In previous successful careers, he has been an actor, teacher, and trader of gold, silver, and precious stones. He lives near Evesham in Cleeve Prior.