Catching the Ferry, how congested around Dover?

[Peregrina]

Just that.

We will be catching the 8 am ferry from Dover in just under two weeks time, so just before the school holidays start. Hearing about the lorry congestion on the approaches to Dover, I wondered what it was like for cars.

Normally we are a three hour drive away. Should I allow extra and if so how much?

The lorries are parked up separately so normally by car it should be fine - however it doesn't seem to take much to cause a problem so I would definitely allow extra time especially as passport control is taking longer due to Brexit.

That's helpful thanks. Do they check your passport before you get on the ferry?
Years ago, before the Single Market I remember in some cases that the passport people were on the ferry itself.

We went during the May half term so it was pretty busy. And similar time as you. We arrived about an hour before departure and despite the queues and passport control it was plenty of time. You will get an email
a couple of days before to advise arrival timings. The cars have their own lanes.

There are 2 passport controls on route to the ferry the French and the UK border control and then the ferry operator booth where they check your ferry booking and give you the lane number. They wanted the actual booking number and not qr code with Irish ferries so have that handy and windows down as you get to booth if you have passengers in the back seats as they check faces..
have a lovely time away!

Which way will you come? It depends if operation brock is in play if you're travelling on the M20.

You can check here: nationalhighways.co.uk/travel-updates/operation-brock/

I imagine via the M20. The link looks very useful, so thanks all.