Hotel close to Chunnel in France (or Belgium) for a Saturday night

loftylofterson

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Good evening All!

A mate and I are doing our first week long tour into Europe, Germany next week. Plans have had to change a tad and it now means we’ll be on a Saturday crossing very late afternoon / early evening ish. Which means we’ll need a stop over probably in France or Belgium (either is fine) for us and our bikes.
Does anyone have a suggestion?
We’re intending on making an early start Sunday and putting some miles on. So as long as it’s clean and the bikes are safe, we’re easy!
Cheers in advance,
Ian.


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Moved and title edited.

Richard
 
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my goto is the Ibis Budget in St Omer about 50km from the tunnel. Safe parking and a short walk into the town centre for beer/food.
https://maps.app.goo.gl/6sLeRBQYTaAm2JCu7
10 of us stayed there last month, dined in the 3 Caves restaurant which has a decent 3 course Flemish menu for under 28 euros.

In Bruges, Martin's Hotel in the centre has garage parking but a lot dearer than the Ibis.
 
wessie said:
my goto is the Ibis Budget in St Omer about 50km from the tunnel. Safe parking and a short walk into the town centre for beer/food.
https://maps.app.goo.gl/6sLeRBQYTaAm2JCu7
10 of us stayed there last month, dined in the 3 Caves restaurant which has a decent 3 course Flemish menu for under 28 euros.

In Bruges, Martin's Hotel in the centre has garage parking but a lot dearer than the Ibis.
Click to expand...

Definitely a good suggestion for a late afternoon or early evening crossing on a Saturday, when you consider the hour lost due to the time difference and the crossing time itself.

You can scoot straight down the motorway:


The motorway is tolled, don’t forget, but it’s not a fortune. You probably have time to buy and have delivered motorway blipper tag, which you may well find useful, especially if you plan to make more trips. I bought mine through SANEF / Emovis, who have a UK office and post the tags out from the UK. I’ve used it for years, without a problem.

www.emovis-tag.co.uk

Emovis Tag UK

Travel without stopping on European Motorways. Emovis Tag UK can provide UK customers with a tag for automatic payment of motorway tolls in France, Spain & Portugal.
www.emovis-tag.co.uk www.emovis-tag.co.uk

Or, if time permits, you can go cross country. It’s not much longer than taking the motorway, say 10 to 15 minutes if you don’t dawdle:


As it seems to be your first trip abroad, here’s one tip: Fill up when you get to St Omer. Both of the routes will take you past a filling station (two actually, one opposite the other, both 24/7) and it will save you time in the morning, when you want to crack on.

A second tip: Whilst it’s not the Wild West, do use a lock in the Ibis Budget’s car park and indeed anywhere else. Why? Well, it takes less than a minute to lock a bike up……but an awful lot longer to sort out if someone steals your bike, which may itself take a thief under a minute to pull off.

Enjoy you holiday!
 
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Wapping said:
Or, if time permits, you can go cross country. It’s not much longer than taking the motorway, say 10 to 15 minutes if you don’t dawdle:
Click to expand...

I do this and Eurotunnel makes it easy by having a road filtering off to the D roads just before the now closed petrol station. A very pleasant route across undulating terrain that is a gentle introduction to riding on the right for those new to the continent.
 
wessie said:
I do this and Eurotunnel makes it easy by having a road filtering off to the D roads just before the now closed petrol station. A very pleasant route across undulating terrain that is a gentle introduction to riding on the right for those new to the continent.
Click to expand...

Indeed, the little road (it’s easy to miss, if you don’t know it’s there) is quite useful, to cut the corner. There again, the motorway is free for the couple of hundred yards.

IMG_0405.jpeg

I missed it out for the OP, simply as the Boulevard de l’Europe road between the first roundabout and the second, can become blocked up with traffic, if they are in a rush. That said, early evening on a Saturday should be fine.

That aside, the cross country route, is indeed quite nice. It casts some doubt on the oft repeated “All the roads in north east France are crap, mate”.
 
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We used Hotel Les Frangins in Saint-Omer last year and we had use of a garage for the bikes.
 
trancey said:
We used Hotel Les Frangins in Saint-Omer last year and we had use of a garage for the bikes.
Click to expand...

Any good?

I only ask as I used the hotel in a hurry (the Chunnel had an huge technical problem) and it was, um…. Less than great.
 
Wapping said:
Any good?

I only ask as I used the hotel in a hurry (the Chunnel had an huge technical problem) and it was, um…. Less than great.
Click to expand...
I would say it was OK, but not fantastic. I arrived quite late andleft early, my travelling companions GSA broke the drive shaft en route. Secure parking is high on my list, so I was happy enough.
 
I have edited out and created a fresh thread to deal with the onwards German part of the OP's holiday.

Thread 'Off to Germany.... Baden Baden / B500 etc'

A mate and I are doing our first week long tour into Europe, Germany next week. Plans have had to change a tad and it now means we’ll be on a Saturday crossing very late afternoon / early evening (staying near Calais)

We’re intending on making an early start Sunday and putting some miles on.

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To save derailing your request for a hotel near Calais. I have created you a fresh thread in the German section,

Richard
  • Like

Richard
 
Ypres is an option perhaps, and hour from Calais - seeing the last post being played is great if you have never been before, but you need to be in the square ~7:30 to see it.

Or a bit further out in France;

www.logishotels.com

Logis Hôtel le Florence

The Logis Hôtel Le Florence invites you to enjoy a unique experience in the heart of Saint-Quentin, a charming town in the Hauts-de-France region renowned for its Art Deco heritage and gentle way of life. Just a few steps from the main square, this former convent with its elegant façade...
www.logishotels.com www.logishotels.com

Great value, nice clean rooms, secure parking and a few min walk from town square with some decent places ot eat and a funky cocktail bar, so good for a group wanting a bit of a night out.
 
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Hotel Florence is good but 180km not 50km like St Omer*

*as much as @Wapping has split the sub threads, we have conjoined them again :p

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Not for long.

Richard
 
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Wapping

Thread 'Tell us you favourite hotels / camping spots, within 30 miles of Calais'

A request for hotels in France within a striking distance of Calais, often comes up.

Let’s set the ball rolling at 30 miles (50 km). Why? That distance translates to roughly 30 minutes on a motorway and / or say, an hour on the lesser D roads, which might well fit in with bods’ plans, particularly if they have arrived late or only want a short hop back to the coast for their return to the UK.

IMG_1162.jpeg

The circle is drawn with a radius of 30 miles, centred on Calais. It comfortably embraces the popular town of St Omer.
 
Given the OP’s likely departure time from the UK (along with the hour lost) Ypres, doesn’t seem to make a whole heap of sense. Compared with the ease of getting to St Omer, along with what the town offers on a Saturday evening (let alone onwards towards the Black Forest) Ypres would seem to miss out.

They’ll need to be at the Menin Gate by 20:00 for the ceremony. Say a minimum of 45 minutes before that to arrive at the hotel is 19:15. An hour 15 minutes from Calais, gives rolling off the train at 18:00 latest. Remove the hour time difference is 17:00 UK time. Subtract crossing time of say, 40 minutes, gives 16:20. Less say, 40 minutes before for the arrival time at the Chunnel check in, gives 15:40.

I’m not convinced that 15:40 mates to well with:

…. Crossing very late afternoon / early evening ish….
Click to expand...

Miss the Menin Gate ceremony and Ypres is not the most exciting of places to spend an evening. St Omer’s Ibis Budget (or another hotel in the town) seems to win. Not least the Ibis Budget is close to fuel and is in the right direction for their early start the next day, along with very easy access to the motorway south, if they want to take it.

:beerjug:
 
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The OP should allow an extra half hour to get to the Tunnel as Operation Fucking Brock is on again.

It’s fantastic living in Kent. We have a motorway from the 1950s, and a motorway from the 1980s, guess which one they put road blocks on.

Oh yes, we have an international station, actually two, and they shut them too. So now we have to go all the way up to bloody St Pancras to get a train back past our house when going to the Continent.

Fuckwits.

Rant mode /off
 
Wapping said:
Given the OP’s likely departure time from the UK (along with the hour lost) Ypres, doesn’t seem to make a whole heap of sense. Compared with the ease of getting to St Omer, along with what the town offers on a Saturday evening (let alone onwards towards the Black Forest) Ypres would seem to miss out.

They’ll need to be at the Menin Gate by 20:00 for the ceremony. Say a minimum of 45 minutes before that to arrive at the hotel is 19:15. An hour 15 minutes from Calais, gives rolling off the train at 18:00 latest. Remove the hour time difference is 17:00 UK time. Subtract crossing time of say, 40 minutes, gives 16:20. Less say, 40 minutes before for the arrival time at the Chunnel check in, gives 15:40.

I’m not convinced that 15:40 mates to well with:



Miss the Menin Gate ceremony and Ypres is not the most exciting of places to spend an evening. St Omer’s Ibis Budget (or another hotel in the town) seems to win. Not least the Ibis Budget is close to fuel and is in the right direction for their early start the next day, along with very easy access to the motorway south, if they want to take it.

:beerjug:
Click to expand...

I don’t think we have a hope of getting Ypres on Saturday. As amazing as that would be. But heading back that way the following Friday would work I think. That’s tonight’s job, jig the route to see that I think would be a worth while stop off.


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