We took the tunnel coming back this time, mostly due to only the awkward crossings being available in the west.
On retirement, we decided that we won’t be travelling in a hurry so we stopped in Doncaster last night and Berck tonight.
Doncaster is a bit grim but the hotel was quite pleasant and we had an amazing Nepalese curry.
Tomorrow is the schlep back to Vienne, which we might do in one day or we might just stop again
The night crossings are usually 5 hours - occasionally 6 depending on the tides. Day crossings are 4 hours. Dieppe to home is just over 5 hours plus a brief break or two.
The two ships on the route have recently been refurbished and provide a comfortable crossing, with our without a cabin. Why not give it a try? You might find you like it without teachers looming over you at every turn. But I’ll admit, it wouldn’t be my choice for a day trip!
Ditto - Portsmouth-Caen is just long enough to get 4-5 hours kip, which is not great but it makes a huge difference compared with none at all. Also, I only need to use the A84 which is toll-free so landing at Dieppe not only adds time and distance (so petrol ££) it adds toll fees as well.
This is great news ford me as the crossing wont be so busy and cabins will be available, so keep it up folks.
Yes, I’m a Chunnel man myself. It’s painless.
My rule of thumb with Newhaven Dieppe (total day travel times, based on literally decades of using them, and now living only 25 minutes from Dieppe) is 5.5-6 hours..
1-1.5 hours to check in (ie wait time), 4 hours of the actual crossing, then up to 1 hour for exiting the ferry. Delighted to hear that the new exit system at Dieppe is working smoothly.
I love the small scale intimacy of Dieppe and Newhaven, just like travel used to be. Generally a pleasure, unlike larger, more industrial scale ports.
Longest wait from leaving t be ship pretty much last to leaving Newhaven was 45mins. Average about 20 mins, no sign of any improvements there but Dieppe with potential 5 lanes has been much quicker with average wait of 15 mins before exiting, (avoid large groups travelling in a minibus) like Billy, the 4 ish hours of sleep definitely help and a 5am docking means clearing Rouen before it gets busy. On a good run I can be at the house by 10am, somehow I used to so that by 9am years ago.
Doing a day trip in October to try and get the biometrics done for the ESS Dover Calais £45 return compared to the Tunnel at £208!!
I did like the way we were given the key card for our cabins when checking in at Newhaven, rather than having to queue at the purser’s desk, when we travelled in the spring this year. Unfortunately our crossing back was 5 hours in daytime, not 4, and it all got a bit uncomfy by the end.
This last couple of times the tunnel just worked out better for us, but I’m sure we’ll use the boat again.
You got me harking back to a lifetime ago, when we’d take the car on a £10 day-return- trip UK to Calais by boat.
We’d go as early as possible, returning as late as possible and get our £10 back through the savings in the Duty Free shop. 
Its a birthday trip as well but friends will fill up the car with their goodies
My favourite crossing used to bePoole/Cherbourg until they moved the times - I used to be able the get to it from the UK end in time for the midday sailing and the one back was in the evening. Then they moved both to 8am and the overnight is far too short to be feasible for me.
The best crossing of all is Portsmouth St Malo - can get 8-9 hours sleep on that one - BUT you almost need to take out a mortgage to afford it…
Agreed (they’ve got to pay for the new boats somehow 
). I’ve only done St Malo to Portsmouth. It’s a good crossing though, you can board early, get cabin sorted, have a few 
and a meal, and get a good night’s sleep too.
Unfortunately BF are suing or trying to sue DFDS as they get a subsidy. Baring in mind the locations are different, the journey times are different I hope they lose.
Yes, that’s the best for us as well but, apart from the cost as you note, the 8:30 departure from Portsmouth would mean taking half a day’s extra leave from work as it is too tight to leave work at 5 and get to the port by 7:45.
I used to like the high speed crossings - at least on the Normandie Vitesse, the Condor Liberation was quite a disappointment in comparison - but BF isn’t running a fast service this year and I’m not sure they have plans to restart,
That’s what’s handy about Newhaven, when I was working I could leave work, drive to Newhaven and get the overnight with some sleep.
I like the tunnel in terms of the actual crossing itself but (as I’m sure we’ve discussed in previous threads!) it depends where you are going to / coming from!
On a trip to Charente or Vienne from Surrey the tunnel involves a detour east to Folkestone then a drive back west through Northern France. Time-wise it might not be all that different from taking a ferry from Newhaven or Portsmouth, but it involves more hours on the road.
Going to somewhere like the Champagne region or eastern France it makes more sense, or if you are coming down to the Channel from Scotland or Eastern England.
ETA: as an academic exercise I just used Google Maps to calculate the difference between Chunnelling and DFDS-ing from Guildford to (say) Ruffec in Charente and surprisingly it’s only 90 miles further to drive! The total journey time is potentially shorter since it’s a quicker crossing. Also much more frequent crossings are a bonus.
So next time I shall price up the Chunnel and see how it pans out. There would be more autoroute tolls to pay probably, unless you decide to wiggle about on N and D roads. And one other potential drawback, at least at first, might be the titting about required at Folkestone for the new border controls, which are bound to be quicker at Newhaven.
90 mins more drive, more fuel and tolls and guessing the tunnel at twice the price. Hmm.
I would use Dieppe to Newhaven like a shot as it is only 20-25 minutes drive to my UK house about 4 miles north of Lewes but……the last twice I have used it, I had to wait an hour and a half while they unloaded all the trucks and trailers so they could lower the ramps to allow cars to exit the upper vehicle decks. Customs and passport checks were also glacially slow. It was well over 2 hours from arriving in Newhaven to driving out of the dock gate. Ho Humm back to the now super expensive (this coming Monday) Tunnel.
Indeed, it makes very little sense for me when visiting Brittany. An hour’s more driving in the UK and another two in France - 210 extra miles and tolls.
The door to door time is about the same but it means being on the road 100% of the journey rather than being able to relax or sleep for a big chunk of it.
For me the biggest improvement BF could make is to replicate the Le Touquet arrangements for the western ports.
Yes those are the main drawbacks I suspect!
I like chilling out on the ferry on the way back to UK after having driven for several hours, with just an hour or less to drive or ride on the UK side, but going out from Newhaven it’s not so much fun. I don’t enjoy the overnight crossing - I never get much sleep and booking a cabin puts the price up plus I would probably still not get more than a couple of hours kip. And then you are kicked off the boat at the crack of dawn!
Once I have my own place in France that won’t be so bad as I will be able to just whizz down and then get some top-up sleep on arrival, but currently when I visit I stay in gites where you can’t check in before 3pm or 5pm so I have to waste time on the journey south so as not to arrive too early!
The other Newhaven-Dieppe option is the 8.30am boat but that gets in mid-afternoon so then I’ve either got a late arrival (after having got up at 5am to get to the ferry in time) at or need to book a night in a hotel somewhere.