Can anyone help me planning a day trip to France?

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and its not to buy booze

want to takes the ds's to France for a day or two, we cant really afford much but they want to say they've been abroad

would drive to dover and probably take the ferry to calais, is that the cheapest way? we live in scotland

The area around Calais is depressingly boring. Honestly safe the money and go somewhere else

If you have more time, take the Eurostar to Brussels and change to Bruges. Spend 2-3 days there. Or fly from Scotland and take a train.

If you're driving, going through the tunnel is much, much cheaper than the ferry. And around Calais isn't boring! Within an hour's drive you have Boulogne and Le Touquet, for example, both of which are lovely.

A day trip to Calais from Scotland!!! Blimey. Tis not that exciting. Tell you what though, you can come stay with me for a couple of days if you want to get abroad and can't afford lots of accommodation. As in drive to Dover /Folkestone and stay over in premier inn or some such. Ferry/shuttle to Calais. We are 2 hours from there.

As long as it is at the weekend

Have you not investigated getting some cheap flights to somewhere in Europe. The cost of the petrol and ferry would surely be more expensive than some cheapie flights? I can't understand why you would want to do that kind of drive for a day or two.

Ryanair usually fly to the more interesting regional French airports.

thanks!

we'd be driving from scotland to london and having a couple of days there, then driving to dover to get a ferry... or the tunnel if its cheaper, hadnt thought of that! thanks for the offer porto, but wouldnt inflict my fighting kids on you !

I know this sounds crazy, but I costed the ferry at about £30-£40 each way, surely the tunnel isnt cheaper than that?

biwi, can you tell me more about Boulogne and Le Touquet? my kids are 12 and 15.

We went to Le Touquet for a golfing weekend about 3 weeks ago, and the tunnel was £58 return, for the car (i.e. not per person!)

Le Touquet is lovely, and right on the sea, so if the weather is nice then you can swim, etc. Lovely restaurants too.

I haven't stayed in Boulogne, but I think there are lots of lovely restaurants there as well.

that sounds lovely, I'll google it to see where it is..will try to check out the tunnel too x

I'd be very surprised if the tunnel is cheaper than the ferry. It is also very boring, dirty and smelly and you don't see the sea!

get the boat. Or perhaps a special deal on the Eurostar? Tunnel again but much more civilised.

Well, specialsubject, you can be very surprised

And it isn't dirty or smelly at all. Have you actually ever used it?

Above all, given that the OP is driving all the way from Scotland, the fact that it takes less than 45 minutes to get from the UK to France is a real advantage!

Le Touquet

could you not get the overnight ferry from newcastle to amsterdam?

my thinking is it would be exciting to sleep on a boat - and then you could have the day and one night in amsterdam or nearby and then get the boat back the following evening or even that evening.

Add to which the cost of petrol newcastle to dover and back again could be used towards paying for the overnight ferry.

and amsterdam is a lot nicer

Le Touquet looks lovely and there's a waterpark, they'd love that

am now thinking of driving to Hull, ferry to Zeebrugge, 2 nights in either Ostend or Brugge (anyone got any suggestions what to do here?), then drive into France and either 1 or 2 nights in or around either Bologne or Le Touquet (again any more suggestions of things to do would be very welcome).

then ferry to Dover from Calais, and drive up to London and a night there then drive home

what do you all think of that, any thoughts welcome!

You can use tesco points to pay for the eurotunnel.

thanks janek but I dont have enough

There's lots to see around the area. Le Touquet is nice, there's also a few interesting war museums.

Brugge is only 1.5 hours drive from Calais, get out of the town and turn left, keep going. I'm planning a weekend break there soon with the kids, I'm keeping it simple drink Belgium beer, visit some chocolate shops, eat frites.

where are you planning to stay Ianint?

I also recommend going to Dunkerque (an hour east of Calais). Beautiful old town, lovely beach, restaurants, and masses of history of course.

We use P&O for day trips, cost around £25 per car for a day return, and stay in one of the Canterbury Travelodges the night before and get an 8am sailing. DH refuses to go on the Shuttle as "the ferry makes it feel like a holiday abroad"

thanks, will check out Dunkerque too

Bruges is very pretty but Belgium is expensive compared to France, holland and UK. We were there a few weeks ago and I found the restaurants particularly family unfriendly but your children are older so it might not be problem for you. Calais itself isn't very nice but as others have said the coast between Calais up to and including the Baie de Somme is very nice. We use Eurotunnel several times a year, much quicker, easier and more comfortable than the ferry and often less expensive.

thats good to know, thanks

In my experience ferries are often cheaper than the tunnel, but will depend on your timings. If you are not in a hurry, I would advise going on the ferry - more to see than the tunnel (which we do use, but it is a functional a to b thing, and doesn't exactly add to your holiday). Our children definitely prefer the ferry and an hour or so for them to run around to break up a long car journey is a bonus. Take sandwiches though - the food is generally not v nice and rather expensive.

Generally the cost of Dover Calais ferries is much much smaller than other routes...if cost is a major factor, look at the costs of other options before getting too excited. Check out cheapferries.com website.

Boulogne is nice, Dieppe is nice (have spent weekends in both). Boulogne has a good aquarium.