Cheapest way to get to France?

[Helloguvnor]

Looking to take the kids to Eurocamp (or similar) for a week this summer. I want to keep costs to a minimum. We'll be driving and I'm trying to work out the cheapest way to get a car over to France. Is a ferry cheaper than the Eurotunnel? And if so, is there a certain crossing that's cheaper than others? Don't mind driving to any of the ports along the south coast. Any advice gratefully appreciated.

Ferry can be cheaper than the tunnel for the short crossings but not the longer ones.

Travelling midweek rather than a Saturday in summer saves some money.

You used to be able to get tunnel tickets with Tesco vouchers, I don't know if that is still the case.

Don't forget to factor in your driving costs. There is no point in saving money on the ferry only to find you have €€€ to pay in tolls.

We usually use the tunnel for price and quick crossing with the dog. The tolls are expensive though, our journey is about €130 each way from Calais to just north of Bordeaux.

As a general rule of thumb, the Dover-Calais ferry will usually be the cheapest way to get to France, because that’s the shortest route with most capacity & most competition. The longer routes to Normandy & Brittany tend to be more expensive. Also, midweek travel will usually be cheaper than weekends, night sailings will be cheaper than daytime and term-time will be cheaper than the school holidays, because that is when demand is lower. Flexibility is key to keeping costs down. So shop around.

These are just generalisations, though, and if you want to travel at peak times, when everyone else also wants to go, the price will obviously reflect that.

If you go for the tunnel, it’s cheaper to book a set crossing but when we went in August, both times we were offered on earlier crossings as we got there early. It was so smooth!!

You don't have to pay tolls. You can take the Routes Nationales- the A roads- it just takes longer. The Via Michelin website is good for route planning, especially for the option to show a toll free route.