Kent to Calais/Boulogne Day Return

[BluePenguin]

My friend has come to visit me from Liverpool. Whilst he is down we are planning to spend the day in France one day next week. As neither of us drive and due to the Eurostar from Ashford being ridiculously expensive, we will be getting the ferry over to Calais from Dover.

Having been to France many times over the years with my family, I know there is not a lot to do in Calais although Boulogne is much better and there is a lot more to see and do. We went there on a day trip for my birthday last year and had a very nice day out. However I have never been across as a foot passenger before as in the past we have always been by car/coach either by taking the ferry or Eurotunnel over so this will be my first time.

So my question is, does anyone have any advice on getting there and back? I have had a look on a few websites and found that there is a bus which takes 37 minutes called OuiBus which costs €3. There is also a train which takes 20 minutes and costs €18 for a return. What are both of these options like in terms of reliability? Does this bus stop in the town centre and is the station near?

Also does anyone have any suggestions for places to visit?

Thanks in advance everyone!

 

[InterCity:125]

Ouibus or train are both fine. Ouibus will drop you by the first lock in the river.

Try this website: https://www.rome2rio.com/map/Calais/Boulogne-Tintellerie

 

[BluePenguin]

Excellent! Thank you for that. I had a look at the link you have and the bus looks like a good option.

 

[Mag_seven]

You will need to consider how you get from Calais port (Maritime) to the town centre. Back in the pre-tunnel days there used to be a bus service but I'm not sure that runs now?

 

[BluePenguin]

You will need to consider how you get from Calais port (Maritime) to the town centre. Back in the pre-tunnel days there used to be a bus service but I'm not sure that runs now?

Ahh that is a point. I had assumed that the Oui Bus was the bus service you mentioned.

 

[Please Explain]

It's about a fifteen to twenty minute walk from la Gare Maritime to le Centre Ville / Gare de Calais Ville. A nice, easy walk too down Avenue du Commandant Cousteau, Rue Lamy, across the Place d'Armes -(stop and admire the belfry and the statue of the de Gaulle's! Madame Yvonne de Gaulle was a native Calaisien!!), then down Rue Royale -(aka "thirsty street", due to the high number of fine drinking establishments there!) And you will come to la Gare.
If you have time before your train / boat, drop into "LES PIRATES"! Directly across the road from the Gare, you can't miss it, a life sized Pirate greets you at the door! Michel et Sandrine are fantastic hosts, every Friday is kareoke night and many more crazy themed nights often take place!!
A real Calaisien experience guarenteed!!! :.

The train is an AGC unit, but the line to Boulogne-sur-Mer is really quite nice with some good scenery and good views of the NPdC coastline in places too. Don't take the bus...

In Boulogne, You can get off at Tintelleries pour le Centre Ville, its a lot closer than Boulogne-Ville despite the name. If your into trains though and want to see some classic SNCF diesel traction in action while you still can -(units are on the way to replace them imminently..) then stay on to Boulogne-Ville and you can see and hear a BB 67400 or two on Corail Intercités to and from Paris Nord. This service is the last bastion of the classic boat trains that used to run to/from Calais Maritime and Boulogne Maritime to connect with Sealink ferries to/from Dover Western Docks in those pre channel tunnel days.
The BB 67400 diesels run to/from Amiens where a BB 22200 electric takes over for the run down to Paris. There are five train pares Monday-Saturday. How I will miss these when they finally go...
Again, if railway stuff is your thing, go and have a look around the old Gare Maritime in Boulogne, -(provided no Securité is around! I was there a couple of months ago and the front gates were open and the place deserted.) Worth a look, a surreal experience, the platforms and some of the tracks are still in situ albeit now cut off from the mainline due to the trackbed to/from the station having been built on in the last twenty years of disuse..
The Speed Ferries catamaran service to Dover ended in 2009, so demolition seems like the only future for the site now...

So plenty to do and see in both Calais et Boulogne-sur-Mer!
Calais has sadly got some bad press in recent years with the migrant issues but see past that and give the town a chance and you'll be pleased you did!!
I've not mentioned Cité Europe in
Coquelles, the French Resistance museum, l'Hôtel de Ville and the beach! Plus loads more fun bars and excellent restaurants serving up some dirt cheap favorites from both sides of the channel!

-Btw, are you aware of the "Calais Daytripper ticket"? Offered by Southeastern for around £40 return from any station south of the river to Calais and back in a day -(it includes P&O) it's by far the cheapest way and better than buying separate train and ferry tickets. It can be obtained from any Southeastern ticket office, but expect the staff never to have heard of it! Don't ask me why Southeastern does not advertise this ticket in any way!!

Enjoy your Transmanche day trip and if you need any more recommendations feel free to post here or PM me!

Bon voyage!!

 

[STEVIEBOY1]

Reading this reminds of the "Go French" day trips offered in the 1970s, they were really good as they allowed you to use the special boat trains as well as regular services, plus the choice of the sealink ferry or seaspeed hovercraft, you also had the choice of going via either Dover eastern or western docks or Folkestone, including the harbour branch and going to Calais or Boulogne, many permutations were possible and I did several versions. They also included any bus connections between town centres/stations/docks as were required. I must say, I preferred Boulogne, also not far from Calais is a little town called St. Omer which is a pleasant destination for a few hours if bus or rail connections work out conveniently.

 

[ooo]

View attachment 49854 View attachment 49855 Ouibus or train are both fine. Ouibus will drop you by the first lock in the river.

Try this website: https://www.rome2rio.com/map/Calais/Boulogne-Tintellerie

Excellent! Thank you for that. I had a look at the link you have and the bus looks like a good option.

It is worth noting that the Ouibus only seems to operate once a day (at 1705 from Calais so not ideal for a day trip )

 

[TheSeeker]

I would recommend "The Vole Hole" cafe for a beer in Boulogne, up in the old town. Also in the same street are several very good places serving something called a "Welsh". A French version of cheese on toast. Very odd to see this on the menu the first time if (like me) you are Welsh.

 

[BluePenguin]

It's about a fifteen to twenty minute walk from le Gare Maritime to le Centre Ville / Gare de Calais Ville. A nice, easy walk too down Avenue du Commandant Cousteau, Rue Lamy, across the Place d'Armes -(stop and admire the belfry and the statue of the de Gaulle's! Madame Yvonne de Gaulle was a native Calaisien!!), then strait down Rue Royale -(aka "thirsty street", due to the high number of fine drinking establishments there!) And you will come to le Gare.
If you have time before your train / boat, drop into "LES PIRATES"! Directly across the road from the Gare, you can't miss it, a life sized Pirate greets you at the door! Michel et Sandrine are fantastic hosts, every Friday is kareoke night and many more crazy themed nights often take place!!
A real Calaisien experience guarenteed!!! :.

The train is an AGC unit, but the line to Boulogne-sur-Mer is really quite nice with some good scenery and good views of the NPdC coastline in places too. Don't take the bus...

In Boulogne, You can get off at Tintelleries pour le Centre Ville, its a lot closer than Boulogne-Ville despite the name. If your into trains though and want to see some classic SNCF diesel traction in action while you still can -(units are on the way to replace them imminently..) then stay on to Boulogne-Ville and you can see and hear a BB 67400 or two on Corail Intercités to and from Paris Nord. This service is the last bastion of the classic boat trains that used to run to/from Calais Maritime and Boulogne Maritime to connect with Sealink ferries to/from Dover Western Docks in those pre channel tunnel days.
The BB 67400 diesels run to/from Amiens where a BB 22200 electric takes over for the run down to Paris. There are five train pares Monday-Saturday. How I will miss these when they finally go...
Again, if railway stuff is your thing, go and have a look around the old Gare Maritime in Boulogne, -(provided no Securité is around! I was there a couple of months ago and the front gates were open and the place deserted.) Worth a look, a surreal experience, the platforms and some of the tracks are still in situ albeit now cut off from the mainline due to the trackbed to/from the station having been built on in the last twenty years of disuse..
The Speed Ferries catamaran service to Dover ended in 2009, so demolition seems like the only future for the site now...

So plenty to do and see in both Calais et Boulogne-sur-Mer!
Calais has sadly got some bad press in recent years with the migrant issues but see past that and give the town a chance and you'll be pleased you did!!
I've not mentioned Cité Europe in
Coquelles, the French Resistance museum, le Hôtel de Ville and the beach! Plus loads more fun bars and excellent restaurants serving up some dirt cheap favorites from both sides of the channel!

-Btw, are you aware of the "Calais Daytripper ticket"? Offered by Southeastern for around £40 return from any station south of the river to Calais and back in a day -(it includes P&O) it's by far the cheapest way and better than buying separate train and ferry tickets. It can be obtained from any Southeastern ticket office, but expect the staff never to have heard of it! Don't ask me why Southeastern does not advertise this ticket in any way!!

Enjoy your Transmanche day trip and if you need any more recommendations feel free to post here or PM me!

Bon voyage!!

Bonjour! Merci for your detailed post about places to visit which will come in very handy today. We will definitely try to visit some of these places

 

[BluePenguin]

It is worth noting that the Ouibus only seems to operate once a day (at 1705 from Calais so not ideal for a day trip )

I noticed that. It is a shame really as it would have been useful. We are getting on the train to Boulogne instead. Had we not needed to be back by 17:00 in time for the carnival we could have got the 17:05 and got back at 20:00

 

[BluePenguin]

We are finally home! After very eventful day we finally got home at 23:00. I started writing this when we got in but was exhausted and could not concentrate so finished writing it today. I got a bit carried away writing a novels worth of a trip report. It turned out to be a very adventurous day and I had a lot on my mind to say. For those of you who are not interested in hearing about our day and cannot be bothered to read it all, I will summarise:

Basically our Calais Day Tripper tickets were accepted both ways. However we were not allowed to check in for a ferry less than 1 hour before the departure time which was a huge pain, especially in the evening when we were tired and wanted to go home and had to sit around waiting because of the delays. Calais port is not at all passenger friendly and you must use a special fly over to exit the port unless you fancy a walk down the motorway as all of the roads have barbed wire fences separating them. Is it worth it? Yes definitely, if you have a day off from work or have free weekend and fancy a day trip it is certainly work considering. Although only if you can leave early in the morning and allows extra time for delays either side. Boulogne was great, Calais was not too bad and not a clandestine in sight let alone the Jungle.

Following on from my previous post: The shuttle bus collected us from the ferry terminal. The lady checked our passports before boarding the bus who swiped the bar codes on her scanner. The bus took us round on a loop out of the terminal and through a special lane next to the car check in lanes. We got off the bus and were instructed to put all of our personal belongings onto the conveyor belt and to walk through the scanner. As soon as we sat back down on the bus, it was time to get off again! This time we queued to have our passports stamped. However not everyone's passports were stamped including ours. In fact the only few people who did have theirs stamped were the families and those who looked foreign whilst the rest of us were wave through after merely holding up our passports as we walked past the man at the desk. Afterwards the bus went up a ramp and took on straight onto the ferry where we all got up and went up the stairs.

The journey was very pleasant actually. Our ship was the Burgendy. We went for a walk around the Duty Free and bought a few bars of Toblerone. We walked around the ship and went up onto the deck to enjoy the lovely views of the English Channel. After lots of listening to screaming children and staring out of the window, we arrived into Calais and it was time to get off the ship. We stood by the foot passenger exit waiting area with a few other people to get off. We boarded another shuttle bus and were taken to the front of Calais ferry terminal. Surprisingly the number of people on the bus was much less than the other side and a group of random French boys were on board. The foreign families whose children made a racket back in the waiting area in Dover had disappeared into thin air.

We got off the bus and began to make our way out of the port. However we reached the exit and found that the motorways was only road possible to walk onto which of course was far from ideal and not heading towards the town centre at all. There were lots of fences around the roads which made it incredibly difficult to work out how to get onto any of them without levitating over them! We walked back and asked a lady with children who advised us to go up a ramp which took us to a car park. Then we asked inside at the check in desk and a lovely French girl showed us the special ramp we needed to go up to get access the flyover to get across the fences.

The walk into Calais was easy enough. We followed an abandoned railway track along a few side streets which took us to Calais-Ville train station. We bought our tickets and waited for the train. We got on and found that the train had a second floor - it was literally a double decker bus on tracks! Around 30 minutes later after stopping at a few places we arrived at Boulogne-Ville. The walked into town was lovely. We walked along the path next to the river and went into a lovely restaurant. We had the Victorian thing and English Plate. A middle aged woman took a fancy to Adam and I .

After finishing our food we walked back to the station and waited for our train. Whilst we waited, a young French couple spoke to me about how they had no money and could not get home. We quietly made off for the platform. The journey back was very comfortable. The train was different to the one we were on this morning and was more spacious and comfortable. Our tickets were not checked in either direction. When we got back back to Calais we walked back to the port to check in the for the next ferry at 18:50. However when we walked up to the check in desk the lady said there were long delays due to delays in loading and unloading freight. We asked to be booked onto the 18:50 although apparently this was not possible as the ferry was already to leave. The girl stared blankly at our orange tickets and spoke to her two colleauges in French, presumably about how to check them. She tried to ask us if we were given anything else with them, presumably referring to the control tickets although she did photocopy our tickets and type our ticket numbers on the computer - how they could be used for anything I don't know.

We sat down and waited for 30 minutes waiting to be called to the shuttle bus which became much longer. I got bored and decided to call P&O customer services to get some answers. After waiting on hold the lady mentioned that the 18:50 had to my surprise still not left yet. I asked again why we booked onto the 19:50 which had a 55 minute delay and were not allowed instead to board it since it had not left and only a 25 minute delay, although she couldn't tell me. I was also told that the reason for the delays was because UK Boarder Agency were doing 100% checks on all vehicles. When I asked about it I was re-assured that we could claim for the delay which I will do later. I chatted to a young Australian couple for a bit about their day out and the delays to pass the time. There was nobody else waiting to board at all.

A few minutes after finishing my call and chatting to the couple, we were called to the shuttle bus and taken to a cabin to have our passports checked by French Frontiers. Then we went to another cabin where UK Boarder Agency did the same. Next we all went through the security scanner and put our bags through the machine. The bus finally took us to the foot of The Pride of France where we were given a blue boarding card and walked up the stairs to the ferry. We were the first inside the ship and had a look around. I had a quick walk around and found a full nappy on the floor! The girl and boy at the bar could not believe me at first. It was a hilarious start to the journey. The ship was much more comfortable than this morning and more modern too. We lay down on the massive bed sized lounger chairs and had a very comfortable journey.

We arrived back into Dover at 21:30 and bumped into the Australian couple we met in the waiting area in Calais who were talking to a boy with a Northern accent about getting to the train station and claiming for the delay. I explained to them how it works and then we got on the shuttle bus which took us back to where we waited to leave in the morning. Surprisingly, more people were on the bus than the number of people who had boarded back in France. The Austrailian couple disappeared without even saying goodbye whilst the Northern lad joined my friend and I in running to the station to catch our trains. He was heading for the 21:49 to St Pancras and had an advance ticket to Newark where someone was due to collect him to take him back to Mansfield. We on the other hand were hoping to get on the 21:42 which was delayed until the same time. Unfortunately we did not make it although did have a chat with him whilst we waited for the next train. It turned out that he was from Mansfield and had recently been mad redundant from Maplin and had been back packing around Europe for the last month and a half with the money him and his ex girlfriend had saved up for a deposit on a house. Realising he would not make it to Kings Cross in time for the last train back to Newark, he called his Dad to agreed to drive all the way down to Dover to collect him. Our train arrived promptly at 22:42 and we said our goodbyes and left the lad to begin the 3-4 hour wait for his Dad to arrive. I wondered whether they would ask him to leave when the station closed after the last train had departed and wondered where he could go and wait. I felt sorry for him having travelled all day and did think about inviting him back to mine for a little while and although decided against it, I did regret it when we got home.

My friend and I finally got back to my house at 23:00 and went straight to bed after an adventurous day. So, the question is, would I do it again? Yes, I would definitely travel to France for a day trip as a foot passenger again although would leave much more time either side for travelling and to allow for delays. For the price we paid, we certainly got our monies worth and cannot complain too much about the niggles we experienced. Unfortunately we got home much later than planned and sadly missed Deal Carnival.

 

[Ediswan]

Calais port is not at all passenger friendly and you must use a special fly over to exit the port unless you fancy a walk down the motorway as all of the roads have barbed wire fences separating them.

From what you say later, it looks like you were a victim of poor signage. That 'special fly over' is a pedestrian foot bridge, with ramps, that takes passengers from the terminal building, to the nearest road, by the shortest possible route. If you don't fancy the walk, there is a bus service to the town centre. I'm not sure what more they could do.

 

[eastwestdivide]

Thanks for the comprehensive report. We're coming back via Calais+ferry later this year, and I've been busy on google maps looking at the pedestrian accesses.

Can I ask what the "Victorian thing and English Plate" food actually was?!

 

[radamfi]

Thanks for the comprehensive report. We're coming back via Calais+ferry later this year, and I've been busy on google maps looking at the pedestrian accesses.

Can I ask what the "Victorian thing and English Plate" food actually was?!

The footbridge is easily seen in OpenStreetMap and is shown as a dotted red line south from where it says "Terminal Ferry".

https://www.openstreetmap.org/#map=17/50.96507/1.86176

 

[Brucey]

I don't understand the obsessions they currently have over putting foot passengers and their hand lugage through a security scanner and metal detector. They don't do the same with cars, which makes the check rather pointless.

It does seem like a palavour compared to a recent ferry I took between Tallinn and Helsinki. Arrived about 30 minutes before departure, scan ticket on a ticket gate and walk straight onto the ferry through a bridge. At other end, walk straight off, through "customs" and straight onto the tram. No bus in sight at either end and no pointless security scans. Of course there was no border control, but that could easily be moved inside the passenger terminals at Dover and Calais.

 

[eastwestdivide]

Not sure if Tallinn-Helsinki is comparable to Dover-Calais - the former are both capital cities, destinations in themselves, with the potential for large amounts of foot traffic, while the latter are more transit ports for cars en route to somewhere else.

 

[Wallsendmag]

How long has Mansfield been in the north lol

 

[paul1609]

From a Kent prospective (on topic) you start getting "Dartford Crossing" and "The North" on road signs from junction 3 of the M20.
This means that anything Essex and North therof is "The north"
From my house Paris is about the same distance to drive (and a lot quicker) than Stoke on Trent.

 

[ashworth]

How long has Mansfield been in the north lol

Interesting comment. Well, it’s certainly not in the south!
It’s difficult to draw a line where the north begins. I would say that Nottingham is in the Midlands and Sheffield is in the North. Mansfield is between the two. The counties of Nottinghamshire and Derbyshire are probably somewhere on the border between the two regions. Nottingham and Derby and the south of both counties do feel like the Midlands but once you get into the north of these counties places like Mansfield, Chesterfield, Worksop etc do all have more of a northern feel to them. Newark doesn’t to me feel like the north.
Nottingham and Derby receive East Midlands TV yet Mansfield and Chesterfield receive Yorkshire TV. Interesting subject.

 

[TubeMapCentral]

Can't help noticing that on Harwich/Hoek there are always security checks going out, and none whatsoever, EVER, going back, which makes a mockery of the whole process. They are ridiculous in either direction, what am I going to do, hijack the ferry and drive it into Westminster palace?

 

[Wallsendmag]

Interesting comment. Well, it’s certainly not in the south!
It’s difficult to draw a line where the north begins. I would say that Nottingham is in the Midlands and Sheffield is in the North. Mansfield is between the two. The counties of Nottinghamshire and Derbyshire are probably somewhere on the border between the two regions. Nottingham and Derby and the south of both counties do feel like the Midlands but once you get into the north of these counties places like Mansfield, Chesterfield, Worksop etc do all have more of a northern feel to them. Newark doesn’t to me feel like the north.
Nottingham and Derby receive East Midlands TV yet Mansfield and Chesterfield receive Yorkshire TV. Interesting subject.

It's a two and a half hour drive from home to Mansfield , that'll put if firmly in the midlands.

 

[island]

On the note of passports being stamped, only non-EU/EEA/Swiss passports are stamped by those countries.