Getting to England from France

[ilovethesun]

Hey all, I just moved to Arras, France from the states and I know most of you are from the UK so I thought I'd post this question here.

What's the best/cheapest way to cross the channel to get to the UK? We're thinking of a trip to London next week. Should we take a ferry? Which one? The chunnel is $$$!

Any advice would be great!

Thanks,
angie

 

[FiFi Rose]

Dover to Calais crossing with P&O is quick and cheap. We have always booked in advance on thier website.

 

[A Small World]

you can often get some good deals on the Eurotunnel (taking car not as passengers on eurostar) especially if you travel off peak

 

[ilovethesun]

Thanks! We found 89 pounds round trip on P&O. Does this sound decent?

Now, any suggestions of what our little family (2 daughters 2&4) could do for two days in London? Legoland? What are the major things to see for me and DH? DH has never been there and I was there about 15 years ago.

Thanks!!!

angie

 

[tennisfan]

Try Seafrance to as they sail from Calais. If you go with Seafrance make sure your crossing is on either the Rodin or Bertlioz (they are newer ferries) plus I think Seafrance is better then P&O but if P&O are cheaper then go with them, although their ferries are very old. They are due to replace 2 next year.

I'm pretty sure Legoland is shut for the winter, most if not all theme parks close during the winter over here. When were you looking at coming over? as 26th is also a holiday in the UK.

There is plenty to do in London, all the museums are free. There is the Tower of London, Buckingham Palace. Word of warning it is very likely to be busy in London & if you bring your car over then you may have to pay the congestion charge when in London. I know over Christmas & New Year they don't charge but am not sure when this comes into effect.

 

[ilovethesun]

We are actually thinking of possibly coming for the new year's parade. Is this a ridiculous idea? Will my kids enjoy it or will it just be too cold? What about the zoo? Should I just wait to come in the spring/summer?

I will check out Seafrance... thanks for the advice.

 

[FiFi Rose]

89 pounds sounds like quite a lot. I can't remeber the exact amount but I think we were only 30-40 pounds the last time we went.

 

[Cyrano]

For speed and convienence Euro Tunnel is worth looking at

 

[Ware Bears]

Personally I'd wait until late spring/summer when you'll have warmer weather and longer lighter evenings. London has some lovely parks and it would be a shame if you couldn't enjoy them.

We went to London Zoo a couple of years ago and it was lovely, just the right size for your DD's ages. I hadn't been there for nearly 40 years but it was just as I'd remembered it.

 

[emmah]

have you checked eurostar? when i was booking ours ours a couple of weeks ago, it was 59 pounds return per adult. in the end we decided to fly - it was only 61 pounds return and the timing was a lot better, but usually we eurostar it - less than 2.5 hours centre city to centre city - can't beat that.