Eurotunnel

[richw]

Driving across to France using the Eurotunnel as its prices are cheaper than the ferry for my dates.
Never used before, can anyone give any points or tips to make the journey enjoyable?
Are there any facilities on the trains, or do I just stay in my car
How straight forward is the check in procedures?

 

[stut]

Not much in the way of facilities - some toilets and some coffee machines, and you'll have to fight your way past all the people who decide to crowd the walkways. You're better off in the car.

Check-in is simple enough - they'll try to convince you to go to the shop, but it's not worth it. Then you drive over some security device and on to the train.

It's pretty simple, if a little tedious once you're underground.

 

[richw]

Its only 35mins, so not really long enough to get tedious i'd imagine.
Used to using the ferry, normally board the ferry, go and have a meal in the restaurant, and then its pretty much arriving in Calais time the meal is finished.

 

[20Man]

We use the tunnel several times a year. When making your booking if you give your car registration number they have cameras that read your number plate, and start the check in process for you, makes it quicker, when it's working ok. There are toilets onboard but we tend to use the ones in the terminal, cleaner and less queues. There are several food places at the terminal and a W.H.Smiths.

 

[jopsuk]

On board, the ambience is a bit like being in a lift with your car going sideways for half an hour or so.

Oddly, unless you go a strange route, using the tunnel means that you can holiday in France (or elsewhere in Europe) without once seeing the sea.

 

[brad465]

The last and only time I used the shuttle there were only toilets and maybe something else on the train, but as already said, the terminal centre has loads of facilities availiable. If you were travelling with a group of people, you might be able to talk business for at least almost all the time.

 

[Oracle]

In the terminal there's a fast food place that sells breakfasts, etc. You pay per item and can take away to eat in the car or train. However, expect to spend a lot of money! There's also a Burger King I think.

Most times it's a breeze to get on the train but cars and vans are selected in bunches for security checks before the passport controls. Sometimes there are no French Frontier Police on duty so you can drive through.

We found on the way back once that we had to wait for another train as we and several other vehicles got to thne bottom of the ramp down to the loading platform but the train doors were closed and we had to sit there waiting for an adjacent train to load. We never found out if it was because the train would otherwise be late or whether it was full. We were handed cards with a phone no/e mail address to complain to and after we did contact were sent a letter saying that we could have a 10% discount on a future trip provided we rang in..fat lot of use as we always book online.

 

[Gordon]

once that we had to wait for another train as we and several other vehicles got to thne bottom of the ramp down to the loading platform but the train doors were closed and we had to sit there waiting for an adjacent train to load. .

To clarify there are only toilets on board the trains (and cramped they are too) nothing else. I usually use the crossing to get 30 mins kip

I have been using the tunnel since before it opened to the general public (the 1994 'overture' service open to travel business employees etc) (having been in the tunnel also during construciton).

We have rarely had problems. On one occasion they appeared to genuinely let the wrong boarding queue go first to board a train when the queue I was in had been there longer. ON a more recent occasion we boarded the train along with all the other cars but then everyone had to drive back off due to a technical prioblem. That was fun as it gave us the chance to 'bash' some roads and ramps that are not usually used