Travelling self-drive

Self-drive prices

‘Self-drive’ prices apply when you take your car across the Channel. They include a return crossing between Dover and Calais with P&O Ferries for your party (minimum 2 adults) and one car (no on-board accommodation is included). The crossing takes 90 minutes and during peak periods there are departures every 45-50 minutes.

A supplement of £35 per car per single journey applies for outbound travel 3-5 April and 10-12 April and for inbound travel on 12-13 April 2020. Similarly, a supplement of £47 per car per single journey applies on this route for weekend travel outbound on 22-23 May and from 10 July to 15 August 2020 inclusive, and inbound on 30-31 May and from 18 July to 30 August 2020 inclusive. (‘Weekend’ is defined as Friday and Saturday for outward travel, and Saturday and Sunday for the return crossing.)

Upgrade to P&O Ferries’ Club Plus service on the Dover to Calais route for just £12 per person plus £12 per car each way and you can benefit from: priority boarding and disembarkation, plus access to the exclusive Club Lounge with complimentary tea, coffee, soft drinks, newspapers, waiter service and snack menu.

Self-drive prices for short breaks are based on a 4-night maximum stay.

On hotel-to-hotel walking and cycling holidays, a transfer back to the first hotel to pick up your car is included where necessary.

Other routes and operators

You can travel on alternative routes to the continent, providing you travel out and back with the same company. We are able to offer a number of alternatives at supplements to our self-drive prices (please contact us for full details, timings and prices):

Eurotunnel Le Shuttle
Eurotunnel le shuttle offers the quickest method of taking your car across the Channel, with a crossing time of only 35 minutes from Folkestone and Calais. Its convenient service operates 365 days a year with a choice of up to 4 departures an hour during peak periods.
Upgrade to Flexiplus and you benefit from a dedicated check-in, exclusive lounge serving complimentary non-alcoholic drinks and snacks, and priority boarding.

Please let us know at the time of booking if your car and equipment are more than 1.85 metres high. Eurotunnel is unable to carry LPG/dual-powered cars.

Brittany Ferries
Brittany Ferries enjoys an excellent reputation for the quality of its ships and on-board service.

To France: you may choose to travel on the high-speed services between Portsmouth and Cherbourg. Traditional ferries run between Poole and Cherbourg, Portsmouth and Caen or St Malo, and between Plymouth and Roscoff.

To Northern Spain: make the journey a memorable part of your holiday to northern Spain. There are crossings on luxurious cruise ferries travelling from Portsmouth to Santander or Bilbao, and from Plymouth to Santander, with most journeys taking just 24 hours.

P&O Ferries
If you are travelling from northern England, we highly recommend P&O Ferries’ overnight service from Hull to Zeebrugge. These large, comfortable cruise ships leave every evening at 1830 (1900 on the return), and they arrive the following morning at 0845 Monday-Friday or 0930 Saturday-Sunday (0830 Monday-Friday or 0900 Saturday-Sunday on the return leg). From Zeebrugge, you have easy access to the French motorway system, or you can head east to Germany, Switzerland, Austria, Italy and beyond!

Important cross-Channel information

Ferry and Eurotunnel reservations are made for fixed time departures; please arrive in plenty of time to check in.

On-board accommodation is obligatory on all night sailings and must be reserved in advance.

Statutory legislation obliges all cross-Channel operators to hold the names, ages and gender of all passengers and whether any special assistance is required on board. Please provide these details at the time of booking to prevent hold-ups at port.

Furthermore, the UK government requires carriers (including airlines and rail and ferry operators) to collect Advanced Passenger Information (API) for passengers on routes to and from the UK, and governments of some other countries require similar information. API is sometimes collected as you check in and is normally restricted to the standard information contained in machine-readable passports, such as full given names, date of birth, nationality, gender, passport number, date of issue and expiry. However, some countries require the information to be submitted in advance of departure, and some governments collect additional information such as your destination address. Where we have made travel arrangements on your behalf and your carrier (eg Eurotunnel) requires the information in advance, we will collect the information from you and submit it to your travel provider. Please be assured that we have measures in place to protect the personal information you provide to us, as explained in our privacy policy.

There is a maximum overall height for cars (including any roof loads) of 3 metres and a maximum length of 6 metres. Charges may apply to cars over 1.8 metres high (including roof loads) or over 5 metres in length, according to each operator’s normal conditions of carriage. Please inform us of the length and height of your car at the time of booking and let us know if bicycles are to be carried on the rear of your car.