Alternatives to using the Chunnel, if you live north of Watford

glenn2926

glenn2926

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We traveled Hull-Rotterdam by ferry this time. The difference in travel distance between Rotterdam and Calais to Chamonix is 40 km. The difference in the uk between Folkestone and Hull is 200 miles. As one gets further south the journey gets worse and worse. Too much traffic to many people and very poor roads. I’ll definitely not travel south again if at all possible . Far, far more pleasant journey to start and finish the trip.

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I have started you a fresh thread.

Richard
 
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I actually quite like the Rotterdam / Hull crossing. I have never used the tunnel on a bike. When we ride in UK it’s normally north of Hull anyway so even with the costs of ticket it’s nice to be able to start your tour straight from the ferry without having to worry about a long motorway ride from the south east…
 
grantmac said:
I actually quite like the Rotterdam / Hull crossing. I have never used the tunnel on a bike. When we ride in UK it’s normally north of Hull anyway so even with the costs of ticket it’s nice to be able to start your tour straight from the ferry without having to worry about a long motorway ride from the south east…
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Similar to our rides. We very rarely go south of the River Humber as the better riding is all North of there .
 
The only ferry crossing I dislike is the Newcastle one. I think I’ve already posted why but in a nutshell:
- Getting to Ferry in Ijmuiden
- Costs
- Crappy old ferries
- Too many pissed up people on a booze cruise and then stoned on the way home
- Departure and arrival times both sides
- dreadful food ( well it was last trip we did)
 
glenn2926 said:
We traveled Hull-Rotterdam by ferry this time. The difference in travel distance between Rotterdam and Calais to Chamonix is 40 km. The difference in the uk between Folkestone and Hull is 200 miles. As one gets further south the journey gets worse and worse. Too much traffic to many people and very poor roads. I’ll definitely not travel south again if at all possible . Far, far more pleasant journey to start and finish the trip.
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It's fucking horrendous down here. Takes an age to get anywhere by road.
We need mass repatriation and that'll resolve all our problems.
 
grantmac said:
The only ferry crossing I dislike is the Newcastle one. I think I’ve already posted why but in a nutshell:
- Getting to Ferry in Ijmuiden
- Costs
- Crappy old ferries
- Too many pissed up people on a booze cruise and then stoned on the way home
- Departure and arrival times both sides
- dreadful food ( well it was last trip we did)
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It’s been a few years, probably around 10, since I last used the North Shields (Newcastle) ferry. Agree with you about the food, never good. However there are some decent places to eat on the Fishquay in North Shields, about 5 minutes from the ferry terminal (by bike/car, not walkable), similarly there used to be a decent fish & chip place on the Dutch side at the entrance to the port.

I’ve never found getting to or from Ijmuiden a problem but that may have changed in the last 10 years.

Departure and arrival times are ideal, what’s not to like?

The ferries aren’t the best and being a Geordie probably means I’m used to the drunken hoards on board, can’t say they have ever bothered me.

When I first started using them 20 years ago the costs were reasonable, then they went silly, they seem more reasonable this year so I’ll be giving it a try again in a few weeks, see how they now compare to the Brittany Ferries crossings to Spain, I’ve been using mostly in the last 10 years.
 
Living in Aberdeenshire, the Newcastle ferry is my only real option if I'm on the bike.
Last year we used Hull in the summer because it was half the price of Newcastle but we were in the car and took a couple of touristy days to get down there.

A couple of years ago I rode with some mates to Cairnryan. Over to Northern Ireland on the morning boat followed by a day's riding in Ireland to catch the next day's ferry to Spain. Relatively cheap and wasted the same number of days as getting to Portsmouth. The problem was that the return ship docks at around 4pm and there's an 8 hour motorway slog to get back to N.I. for the morning boat the next day.
 
Price is a bit salty tho....a quick look at identical dates show £899 for the Hull Rotterdam incl cabin...or £200 Dover Calais. So add £100 each way for a hotel and Sarah, and an extra £60 for fuel and the convenience factor of not driving south is £400+
 
With an operation on my hand due in early August which should bugger me up for riding for 2 or 3 months 2 of us have just booked a long week somewhere in Europe in June ( the week before @Doc does Cochem 😬) Mate tried Hull/Rotterdam and with 30% offer it came to £904 return for us! cnuts. So we're giving the Harwich return a try at £270 each.
 
Tinytim said:
With an operation on my hand due in early August which should bugger me up for riding for 2 or 3 months 2 of us have just booked a long week somewhere in Europe in June ( the week before @Doc does Cochem 😬) Mate tried Hull/Rotterdam and with 30% offer it came to £904 return for us! cnuts. So we're giving the Harwich return a try at £270 each.
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Get to Cochem. I arrive Sunday 15th June.
£466 return outside cabin. Hull ferry in July
 
Doc said:
Get to Cochem. I arrive Sunday 15th June.
£466 return outside cabin. Hull ferry in July
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It's booked and paid for; the week before and for £270 return.
Bad Cochem trip last May. Got away the day before the floods. No more 😏🌧️☔. Had too many recent soakings in Germany. It's not fun. Dunno where were going from Rotterdam, hopefully follow the sun somewhere. 😬🌞🌞
 
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I've used Harwich to the Hook in the past, staying overnight near Cambridge. Daughter #2 has been doing a few car trips to Germany from south London and has been using that route too.
 
Tinytim said:
It's booked and paid for; the week before and for £270 return.
Bad Cochem trip last May. Got away the day before the floods. No more 😏🌧️☔. Had too many recent soakings in Germany. It's not fun. Dunno where were going from Rotterdam, hopefully follow the sun somewhere. 😬🌞🌞
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Sounds good.
I just can't be arsed to ride down South. Just under 90 miles to the ferry if I go direct. Although I will have to in September.
 
Even for someone living in the north or east of London, the Harwich / Hook crossing makes sense if Holland or roughly the northern part of Germany is your destination. Better in fact than the Chunnel.

The boats and cabins are all comfortable and the loading / unloading easy. I’m used it when meeting up with GrantMac.
 
Davey B said:
Price is a bit salty tho....a quick look at identical dates show £899 for the Hull Rotterdam incl cabin...or £200 Dover Calais. So add £100 each way for a hotel and Sarah, and an extra £60 for fuel and the convenience factor of not driving south is £400+
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I’m not sure where you got those prices from. The tunnel for our trip was over £300 tunnel and £645 Hull Rotterdam. This for a 7.4 m motorhome. The ferry includes both evening meal and breakfast both ways. £255 difference and the saving on fuel alone is getting on for that without an overnight each way, meals etc and we didn’t have to go south.
 
From P and O website...and the Dover Calais is P and O (we use Irish Ferries) No idea where 'Sarah' came from tho...and prices were for a normal car. Presumably cheaper the earlier you book like most things.
 
My Brother travelled from Manchester to Newhaven yesterday....9 Hours, 4 motorway closures! 270 miles.
Today he has done Dieppe to Bordeaux with a couple of sleeps in 11 hrs...Volvo estate and box trailer...500ish miles not using tolls.
He will slip into Spain tonight, get his head down and then be with us tomorrow afternoon.

It clearly shows just how fucked the UK really is.
 
glenn2926 said:
We traveled Hull-Rotterdam by ferry this time. The difference in travel distance between Rotterdam and Calais to Chamonix is 40 km. The difference in the uk between Folkestone and Hull is 200 miles. As one gets further south the journey gets worse and worse. Too much traffic to many people and very poor roads. I’ll definitely not travel south again if at all possible . Far, far more pleasant journey to start and finish the trip.

========

I have started you a fresh thread.

Richard
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That was the main reason we used Hull; a far more relaxed and pleasant experience;; we always used to stop at the bikers Loft when coming back from Spa ; Chimay or Gedinne but when they closed it was back onto the big boat from Hull;
 
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