Cheap Ferry to France From Dover

Ferries from Dover to Dunkerque

I have been backwards and forwards over the English Channel more times than I can remember. In the olden days before I knew better I would use SeaFrance, but one day I turned up late and they tried to charge a huge surcharge which I wasn’t happy with. Another time I turned up at Calais desperate to get back to England and they quoted me something like 330€ as I hadn’t booked in advance.  Later I discovered Speedferries who I loved, but sadly went bust due to being forced out by the ‘giants of the channel’. So who does that leave? Well P&O usually get rated well, but always seem expensive. So then there is my favourite, Norfolkline who operate ferries from Dover to Dunkerque. I have always found them to be superb, if you turn up late they just book you on the next ferry, if you turn up early they will let you go on the ferry before.

Here’s what they say, “When taking a ferry to France Norfolkline provides an excellent service between Dover and Dunkirk. The ferry crossing takes approximately 2 hours to and from France and onboard you will experience award winning levels of service whilst benefiting from some of the best fares of any ferry service currently operating to France.  Taking a ferry to France with Norfolkline is a really enjoyable and relaxing experience due to our modern fleet of ferries. So why not take in some onboard shopping or a quiet meal in one of our delightful restaurants? Dover is renowned for its many ferries to France, whilst Dunkirk provides even better road links to many destinations than Calais. We are the only ferry operator currently offering ferries to France directly between Dover and Dunkirk. So why not get a quote now for your next channel crossing?”

In April 2010 the volcanic ash disruption meant that my parents were stuck in the French Alps and couldn’t get back to England. I was happy to come to their rescue, but everyone I spoke to said “you’ll never get a ferry it’s chaos at Dover”. Well the truth was that it was chaos at Calais rather than Dover. P&O and SeaFrance were hiking up their prices as their service became indispensable. For me though I just thought, “that’s OK, Norfolkline do ferries from Dover to Dunkerque, I’ll use them”. It was predictably no problem at all to go and get them and bring them back to England.

So there you go, you have a choice of ferries across the channel, but I’d say forget Calais, look at ferries from Dover to Dunkerque by Norfolkline.