Is it possible to transit through France on a British passport?

[RainyAfternoon]

We're really struggling to find information on this, so I thought I'd ask on here.

My husband wants to travel to his mother's funeral in the Netherlands on Thursday. He has a British passport. He has permission to enter the Netherlands for the funeral, but there are no direct flights at the moment, so he will need to travel by train and therefore pass through France.

It's really hard to find out from the French rules on relevant websites if he would be allowed permission to pass through France with a British passport to get to a funeral in a third country. The rules don't cover that circumstance.

I know the travel ban to France is only just in place, but I wondered if anyone had any ideas of where to find out whether this is possible at the moment. He will need to get a covid test tomorrow, so it would be great to get an answer before we do the test.

Thank you for any info anyone has.

are the ferries running?
newcastle-ijmunden
harwich-hoek van holland

Yes you can and lots of people are.
This should show everything you need to know with links to the French website with the forms he needs to fill in and carry with him. Travel to France from EU countries is discouraged but not banned www.gov.uk/foreign-travel-advice/france

thank you, but no. UK flights and ferries etc are all cancelled at the moment. It's just the Eurostar running.

Eurotunnel and the Dover-Calais/Dover-Dunkirk ferries are running too. They might be an option if he wants to drive. The same travel rules apply.

Thank you - yes driving probably better as you can keep to yourself more, but we just wondered about driving across France with a British passport. Fingers crossed it will be fine!

British Embassy in Paris have a very helpful Facebook page and they respond quickly to emails. You should check whether you'll still need to present a negative test and if any attestations are required.

Oh good idea Nomad I'll try that. He needs a negative test anyway for Holland so will have that, and we have the attestations to download, they just don't list transiting for special circumstances in a third country.

@RainyAfternoon , any progress? French borders are closed to non EU travellers so the only people I know arriving here from the UK are people who have applied for or already have French residency.

If you are on Eurostar, I didn't think you leave the train in France in any case. I've gone to Brussels on many occasions and the checks are there, not Lille.

@NomadNoMore thank you for asking! Yes, I spoke to the French embassy in London today. They were really helpful and said that as long as he has the permission to enter the Netherlands and relevant evidence and also neg Covid test, French attestation etc he will be allowed to pass through France. So that’s great. Of course now I’m wondering about the weather!
Irony is we were resident in france til last year... and also he is eligible for a Dutch passport as well as the British, just would never have made any difference before...
@peak2021 thanks for that point. I’ve only ever taken the Eurostar in France - I wasn’t sure where the border checks were.

That's good news! I'm in France, my daughter is in the Netherlands. Desperate to see her but can't see it happening soon.

Good luck with the weather!

If you go via the ferry to Dunkirk, you aren't in France for long before you hit Belgium.

My db regularly drives from Belgium to the Tunnel and comes over with all the correct paperwork to attend a medical facility in the UK.

I'm still travelling across Europe by train for work. Get the PCR test as late as you possibly can. There are loads of people stuck this weekend with snow-cancelled trains and expiring PCR tests desperately trying to find car shares. France & Belgium are checking paperwork when you get off the train, but there will probably be checks at St Pancras before you get on. The Dutch aren't checking anyone very enthusiastically apart from at Schiphol, but they might do if you're coming in on the Eurostar. The quarantine is still 10 days when you get here, even if you have a negative. There's an attestation needed for being out after curfew in both countries, and an international travel attestation for France.