Fit to travel PCR for France. Help me work it out?

[Sevensilverrings]

I am hopefully visiting France over Christmas. (V old relatives I’ve not seen for ages) but I can’t work out how to get PCR’d to travel. Ferry departs on a Monday morning, and I live near Plymouth.
I think that means I need tested on the Saturday or Sunday, (depending if rules are 24 or 48hrs), but I can’t find anywhere open on a weekend that will turn them around that quickly. I’m assuming none of the postal ones would either?
I’m so frustrated with it all I just want to cancel, but I’d be letting down people dear to me, so if possible I’d like to go…does anyone see a way to make it work? Thanks.

This website says you need either a PCR or lateral flow within 48 hrs of travel. So you could get a lateral flow on Saturday afternoon or Sunday.

uk.ambafrance.org/COVID-19-rules-for-travel-between-France-and-the-UK-28918

Have you tried Exeter Airport?

www.gpdq.co.uk/covid-19-booking/exeter-airport/

We used a company called Dam medical who I think are country wide. Test taken Sunday morning and results within a couple of hours .

It doesn’t need to be a PCR it can be an antigen (lateral flow test) which are much quicker to turn around - a couple of hours rather than a day or two I’m pretty sure they want a negative in past 24hrs. Do it means you testing in the Sunday.
We’ve used expresstest but live near an airport where their centres tend to be. But here’s a gov list of providers
www.gov.uk/government/publications/list-of-private-providers-of-coronavirus-testing/list-of-private-providers-of-coronavirus-testing

We are also going to France. They’ve announced this today… so it’s now 48 hours not 24. We are booking Lateral Flow tests as turnaround much faster.
From 4 December, fully vaccinated travellers (12 years old or more), and whatever their nationality, have to provide the result of a negative PCR or antigen test (in paper or digital format) carried out less than 48h hours prior to departure. Self-administred tests, whose results are not certified by a laboratory (e.g.: tests provided free of charge by the NHS) are not considered valid for travel.
The NHS indicates that it will not carry out tests for travel purposes. Private entities offering the same service must therefore be used.

Thanks for lots of good advice. The issue seems to be the places local to us are shut at weekends, or don’t guarantee lab will process at weekend. I thought it had to be pcr so that’s good news at least!
Best of luck to all of us hoping to get somewhere!

You can buy a home LFT pack in the uk, take it with you, do the test yourself and upload the result for verification, and they email you a certificate back within 12 hours. We did this. Stressful, but successful. Just don't bugger up the test or unload timings!

@AuntLucy

You can buy a home LFT pack in the uk, take it with you, do the test yourself and upload the result for verification, and they email you a certificate back within 12 hours. We did this. Stressful, but successful. Just don't bugger up the test or unload timings!

Please could I kindly ask which service you used for this?

@NotDonna

We are also going to France. They’ve announced this today… so it’s now 48 hours not 24. We are booking Lateral Flow tests as turnaround much faster. From 4 December, fully vaccinated travellers (12 years old or more), and whatever their nationality, have to provide the result of a negative PCR or antigen test (in paper or digital format) carried out less than 48h hours prior to departure. Self-administred tests, whose results are not certified by a laboratory (e.g.: tests provided free of charge by the NHS) are not considered valid for travel. The NHS indicates that it will not carry out tests for travel purposes. Private entities offering the same service must therefore be used.

I think the rule is 4am on the 7th of December not the 4th.