After many happy years with Norfolk Line we decided that we would "cash-in" our Tesco tokens at the 4x value rate on a eurotunnel crossing for our Summer hols.
We are now looking at booking our Eurotunnel tickets to travel out around the weekend of 23-24 July and return around the weekend of 27-28 August. We are both teachers so we have some flexibility within our long Summer holiday. As we only have £190 worth of Tesco vouchers we are hoping to get some of the cheaper crossings - I've checked the prices on the Eurotunnel website.
We have never used Eurotunnel before so I was hoping that some of you experienced "Eurotunnelers" could give me some info/advice:
(1) Is there car/caravan parking at the Folkestone terminal,ie,so that we could visit the shops, etc, before boarding the train?
(2) Am I right in thinking that the check-in time is a minimum of 30 minutes and a maximum of 2 hours before the time we book?
(3) How much leeway, if any, is there for getting on earlier/later trains than the one we book?
(4) Is there anywhere to park up for a sleep in the caravan on the French side if were to book a late night night crossing, ie, like the carpark at Dunkerque or an autoroute aire near to the Calais terminal?
We still have not yet decided where we are actually going on the Continent. We are thinking of a shorter journey this year after the 2010, 3000+ mile (return) marathon to Slovenia and Croatia.
Thanks in anticipation for any advice.
Tim
------------- Tim and Cary
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When I've booked with the tunnel in the past the 6pm sailings have been a bit cheaper than the earlier ones so I tend to book those knowing that I can turn up earlier and if there's space we'll be able to get away a couple of hours earlier at no extra charge. We've never had time to look at the shops there, usually when we arrive we're given the choice of the next train so just drive straight to the departure point, use the toilets then it's time to drive onto the train.
Sometimes I check the website the night before traveling to see what the availability's like to see how early we might get away. The only time this didn't work was when the French seamen went on strike during our journey to the tunnel so by the time we arrived the trains were full of cancelled ferry travellers but we got away on our booked crossing.