To go Portsmouth-Caen rather than Dover-Calais in July?

I've just returned from a trip to Belgium, using the Dover to Calais crossing, there was a bit of queuing at Dover but the French side was absolutely fine.

I haven’t been to France for 30 years but we went (to pre-erected campsites) through the 1990s and Newhaven-Dieppe was always our favourite route by far. It’s lovely to have a last early evening meal near the harbour before boarding, the crossing is a nice length, it’s an easy drive away when disembarking on the way out. Beats Calais by a very wide margin!

Dbro and SiL use that crossing about once a month!

We live in Staffordshire and regularly travel to Normandy on the Portsmouth to St Mall route . It is expensive but very comfortable in the night ferry. We travelled out in April this year. There were no checks and the BF staff did not know when they would be introduced.

We did the Dover - Dunkirk route on the Saturday of May half term, so when the queue and chaos hit the news. We were delayed by 2 hours in the end, so not the end of the world - and I say that with a moaning 3 and 6 year old in the car.

the amount of money we saved compared to Brittany ferries that we’ve used 4/5 times now was well worth the queue. And I like that the border is on this side, so when you drive off the boat you are ready to go and refreshed so you can get some good miles in on the journey

we tried the shuttle once but not for us - it’s much more expensive at peak times and doesn’t give the kids a chance for a runaround before being back on the road again

Having done Portsmouth-Caen many times, the thing that determines whether you breeze through security or sit in 2.5hr queues is really just how quickly they move you off the boat. I've been at the head of the queue and found it very fast, and at the back (despite having pre-booked "priority access") with children in the back losing the plot.

We are regulars at the Ouistreham McDonalds because it has a little play area and is next to a supermarket, so has become somewhere we can decompress if the 2.5 hour problem happens.

We did Portsmouth to Caen on the Saturday morning of bank holiday weekend. It was busy but a dream. We were through passport control and out on the road within 20 minutes while my family (who knew we were getting on a ferry but didn’t know from where) were sending panicked links to BBC News stories about the issues at Dover.

Never done Portsmouth to Caen but I'm doing Dover- Calais in a couple of weeks time so will bookmark this to and report back. We do a lot of trips to France and the best way to avoid queues has always been on the tunnel. Sunday night seems to be the most quiet time to travel.

My DS did Portsmouth-Caen this week - it took two and a half hours to disembark and to go through border control at the port in Caen.

It was a horrible experience he said with two grizzling toddlers and a dog who was desperate for some grass and a comfort break after 6 hours on the Ferry.
Never again he vowed.

Can you do Newhaven to Dieppe on DFDS? Not done it for a bit but both are very quiet ports. Normally cheaper too.

Did it two weeks ago. Quiet and quick. They were not following the new rules so all went smoothly.

We did Portsmouth-Caen on the Friday before the late May bank holiday. TWO HOURS to clear the port in Caen.

Done it dozens of times before without any issue, so can only assume it was due to the new requirements (although nothing additional for us, so we assume they eventually gave up on it due to the queues, as Eurotunnel reportedly did that weekend).

Not a peak times it isn’t. I’ve often waited for hours in high season

We have done the Portsmouth to Caen crossing dozens of times, but not for the last three years. We’re doing Dover to Calais
with DFDS this summer but I hadn’t seen anything about queues. Are they much worse than usual?

Is there still availability on the ferries?

Yeah just did it at May half term and no faster/slower than previous years. I don't believe they've even introduced to the new thing there, whatever it is (still something of a mystery to me as I've managed to go to France twice in the past 5 months without encountering it).

I would do the longer ferry crossing as I hate queues but quite enjoy being on a ferry - so even if it takes longer I would enjoy it more.

I was also going to mention the sleeper ferry though - a fun way to do it and no need for a hotel then.

The downside to the Brittany ferry routes is you go through immigration after arriving so can be delayed then whereas at Dover and the tunnel you go through French immigration before you board

We usually use the overnight ferry to Caen or st malo, means you don’t have to pay for a hotel though we do book a cabin

We did Le Shuttle today and there were no delays at Border control. By far the easiest way to cross the channel.

I’m on a Brittany ferries passenger Facebook group and there are def no big reports of delays. In fact I don’t think there is any EES checking at Caen (yet)

it will be more expensive and probably take longer. But I’d do it.

we’re taking the Brittany Ferries ferry to Brittany this summer

The tunnel is 30 mins……