Day trip to Calais - is it worth it?

baked_beans_lady

Dear money savers,
Our family of five is going to Dover in the week before Easter, and we are considering a day trip to Calais - Eurotunnel or one of the ferries.
We don't smoke or drink, so there aren't savings to be made on the "big tax" items. Our question is this; is it worth going across the Channel, either for shopping or leisure attractions?
Many thanks in advance,
BBL.

pboae

I'd go just for the cheese ;-) If you drive a diesel car you'll make a good saving there too. You can also drive to Veurne in Belgium in about 45 mins, which is a really pretty little village.

Either way it's a fun day out, makes a change from the usual stuff.

ManAtHome

Will probably have to be a cheese and pate trip... should be a good day out though - think the foot-passenger fares are less than a bus into town..?

lolly5648

If you are a foot passenger, is there a local bus to take you into town or the local supermarkets?

tooting_jane

This site tells you all about a day trip to Calais, including the things that are cheaper in France.
http://www.day-tripper.net/

It has a page dedicated to foot passengers too
http://www.day-tripper.net/shoppingfootpassengers.html

tooting_jane

lolly5648 wrote: »

If you are a foot passenger, is there a local bus to take you into town or the local supermarkets?

There is a bus that leaves from the port and takes you to the centre. It stops at the place des armes where the market and then goes on to the railway station which is where you need to wait for a bus to go to the cite europe shopping centre just outside of calais. Also get out here for the main bit of the town centre. You can get a one-day bus pass if you are going to use the buses a lot. In Calais itself there are a few supermarkets - try the Monoprix at 17 Boulevard. Jacquard which also has clothes and other goods. I usually just go to cite europe on the bus from the station. There is a hypermarket there and lots of shops and restaurants.

davek1

if you take the car drive into bolougne famntastic town much nicer than calais.

seaworld place ( name escapes me) in bolougne is fantastic and if you have kids well wortht the trip ( even if you dont have kids go)

dave

Generali

Boulogne is much nicer than Calais. Calais is a dump IMO (and that of all right thinking people) whereas Boulogne is lovely, especially the old town.

For some strange reason, Welsh Rarebit restaurants are very fashionable in Northern France, especially in Boulogne. My au pair is from Lille and just about the first proper conversation we had ended in a request to provide a good recipe for 'Un Welsh'. There are about 6 restaurants specialising in Welsh on the main drag.

GirlRacer_2

Would definitely go over. Agree with Generali though Boulogne is much nicer than Calais.

bargain_babe

went on a free foot passenger trip two years ago with Pontins. Aaargh, I wouldn't recommend it with kids, I agree it was an adventure, finding out how to find the centre of Calais and then the bus to Cite Europe (for the cheaper, bigger supermarkets) and then somehow finding our way back.

The ferry was then delayed due to fog, we waited 2 hours in the terminal and when we finally travelled - the ferry stopped for another 2 hours midway, - the car had been in the car park forever and cost a small fortune to get out!!!!

I'd always take the car in future and check the weather report. Still we will never forget our 'free' day trip!!!

pippo

This reply may be too late for BBL, but I would use the 'daytripper' site.
If going to Citi Europe remeber to take tesco club card!!
We tend to use the Auchan hypermarkets - both near Calais and near Boulogne. It pays to visit their website (it has an English version) and print off vouchers before we go.
Most staff at the stores speak some English if your french isn't too good!
Last year we got a loyalty card from customer services which gives an automatic 10% discount on their own brands. It also gives a loyalty bonus which can be taken as money off next purchase, but the reclaim is time limited, so we do a big shop first (mainly wine) and then go back in for a general shop and then ask for a rembursement.
For some reason there are extra bonuses in the Calais store on Tuesdays and we have found locals giving us extra vouchers at the check-out.
As I said this may be too late fo BBL, but hopes it helps others.