Can you drive car through chunnel
You may be able to get aboard the next available shuttle, paying in pounds, euros or by credit card. But it's more expensive than booking in advance and you aren't guaranteed a place. During busy times of day or at the start of European school vacations, you could end up waiting quite some time to board a shuttle. But you can still be almost spontaneous. Shuttles through Eurotunnel can usually be booked as little as a day in advance.
Not a chance. Yes they drive on the right in France and on the left in the UK but those clever engineers who designed and built this wonder of the world thought of everything - including how stupid some of us drivers might be. Roads are engineered to guide you to the correct lane both getting in and out of Eurotunnel.
By the time you have gone through British and French passport control and customs and are ready to leave the private roads on the Eurotunnel sites, you've adjusted to the correct side of the road for the country you are in. Eurotunnel is priced to encourage day-trippers and short visits - and it only takes 35 minutes.
If you're renting a self-catering cottage in Kent, you can hop across to stock up on cheaper wine and beer, cheaper cigarettes if you smoke, plus lovely French cheeses and groceries to stock your cupboards. Touring in the south of England? Pop across the channel for lunch, a visit to Northern France and a change of scene. The Pas de Calais region, near the tunnel exit in Coquelles, has lovely beach resorts, Flemish-influenced villages and great beer.
There are also some wonderful restaurants. Try le Grand Bleu near the ferry port in Calais or the restaurants in the pretty town of Montreuil-sur-Mer. And if you are coming over from France, there's plenty to do within easy reach of the tunnel's Folkestone terminus. Thirty-five minutes is a pretty short trip but if you arrive early, have to queue to board or have a long drive once you're through the tunnel, you could get hungry.
If you miss your booked departure you may also be required to purchase a new ticket. The person who has booked the crossing can present the QR code from the booking confirmation or from emails relating to the crossing. You can also register by clicking here. It only takes a few seconds and you save time in the shop.
Our phone lines and live chat are extremely busy at the moment. We have brought in extra staff to help our customers with their queries. Don't forget that you can make and amend most bookings online using My Eurotunnel.
For applicable ticket types, you can also submit a cancellation request online. If you have questions regarding possible future changes to travel through and to France or the rest of Europe; Please do not call our Contact Centre. Information is available for France , Germany , the Netherlands , Spain and many more. Unfortunately, we are unable to guarantee access to toilet facilities on the shuttles. We provide award-winning toilet facilities — including disabled toilet facilities — in our passenger terminal buildings which we recommend all passengers take advantage of before travelling.
There are no disabled toilets onboard our shuttles. There are additional toilets available in the boarding lanes, and at the petrol station immediately after you leave the terminal and in the Flexiplus Lounges for customers travelling Flexiplus. Please note, that whilst there are small toilet cubicles on the shuttles, the nature of our service means that we cannot guarantee they will be working during any particular minute crossing.
We are near Folkestone, and have our own motorway exit at junction 11A of the M20 straight to our check-in booths. Click here for directions. Caution: Do not follow a satnav route that includes 'Terminal Service Rd'. GPS coordinates: Latitude: We are just outside Calais. Take junction 42b of the A16 motorway and the slip road takes you straight to our check-in booths.
If you check-in within 2 hours either side of your reserved time, within the validity of your ticket you may be offered a space on the next departure with availability without charge. If you check-in more than 2 hours but no more than 24 hours before or after your reserved time, your booking may be exchanged, subject to availability and payment of the difference between the price you paid and the price applicable to the departure for which your booking is exchanged.
But if you've come a great distance for a once in a lifetime trip - from North America, Australia or the Far East, for example - you'll probably want to try to travel through the tunnel and experience this engineering marvel of the 20th century, driving on in France and driving off in Britain about a half hour later.
Most of the time, your crossing - whether by ferry or tunnel - will be completely uneventful. Thousands of people cross back and forth this way every year. But you cannot just take a detour to a side road at the last minute if problems do crop up.
Being ready for anything and having a Plan B is probably a pretty good idea. It may seem extravagant to spend money on extra tickets for another form of transportation when you've already bought and paid for your Channel Tunnel crossing. But this is not about economics, it is about the memorable vacation experience of the tunnel and the bragging rights that go with that when you get home. And if you are traveling with a family or a full car of friends, it probably won't be particularly expensive.
Look at it this way. You've spent thousands of pounds to bring your family - and sometimes your family pet - across the Atlantic, booked rooms or a vacation rental and rented a car.
A serious delay at the bottleneck that the tunnel can occasionally become could ruin your whole trip. Book your alternative travel at the same time as you book your trip for the best prices.
As with most things, the earlier you book your travel, the cheaper it is likely to be. You get off the highway and enter a series of booths to check your ticket, go through customs and get your passport stamped. From there you wait in a line of cars waiting to board the train. The train was one really long, connected train car that all of the cars had to drive through in one big conga line. Once all the cars are loaded, there are hydraulic doors to separate the train cars that fold in.
Europcar prohibited us from taking the car onto ferries and into Eastern Europe.