But in fact very few people take the Eurostar to Calais-Fréthun, which is about nine minutes by local train from Calais itself. Just three Eurostar trains stop at Calais-Fréthun each day in both directions on the London-Lille-Brussels route. On my day trip journey, I was one of just three passengers to alight.

And 12 hours later, when I boarded a train back to London, there were just six of us. The security and immigration staff arrived about a half hour before departure to open up the tiny check-in facilities and process our tickets and passports. The small post-security waiting room might be able to seat a few dozen passengers – in a pinch.

I hadn’t scheduled my day trip journey to see Calais, however. I was in France to see Dunkerque (Dunkirk), in particular to visit an ecologically sustainable housing development, Grand Large du ZAC, part of a long-term reorientation of Dunkerque towards the ocean. I’d chanced upon photos of the development’s gabled multi-storied dwellings months ago and waited until a free week and low fares materialized. The sustainable development received a special mention from l’Équerre d’Argent, the French architecture awards, in 2010.

There is no train service between Calais and Dunkerque, so I made the 40-minute journey by local bus; prior to this I had almost three and a half hours to wander Calais before my early afternoon bus departure.

Calais itself is a handsome little city, with very well kept parks and canals and seemingly omnipresent frites stands, its sea air fresh and invigorating. I breakfasted on a delicious apricot tart and wandered along side streets, and then via the center of town, ending up at the beach.

The bus to Dunkerque was packed with students. The final stop, Pôle Marine, is about a 10-minute walk to the housing development, which is more magnificent than photos make it out to be. Afterwards I took a very leisurely wander through Dunkerque’s core and stopped by the tourist office to learn more about the immediate region.

One interesting local attraction is the Dunes de Flandre regional project, which groups Dunkerque with the neighboring towns of Leffrinckoucke, Zuydcoote, and Bray-Dunes as a region of natural beauty. It is a candidate for “Grand Site” status; the French “Grand Sites” are meant to designate extraordinary landscapes that are both geographically and culturally significant and physically fragile.

There are buses from Dunkerque to Bray-Dunes, which borders Belgium, and across the border itself, making it easy for visitors to combine Dunkerque with a visit to the dunes.

Costs & tips

My Eurostar fare was £69 ($111). This appears to be the lowest fare for the roundtrip journey. The bus between Calais and Dunkerque runs €9 ($12.25) each way. My costs were in general very low. For example, a delicious cheese baguette along with a drink and pastry cost €4 at a small boulanger close to the center of Dunkerque.

Visitors from London interested in visiting Dunkerque and the nearby dunes who are not also interested in exploring Calais should consider taking the Eurostar to Lille and continuing on to Dunkerque by train from there, allowing for time to transfer. Lille’s two train terminals are a short walk from one another.

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Time to think

We are not talking posh cruises here, but thinking rather of the regular ferries that ply the seas and inshore waters of Europe. Boats are a chance to take time out and think. We love boat trips.

It may be a simple hop on a ferry from Calais in France to Dover in England – where shipping stalwarts P&O bring cruise ship luxury to a 90-minute journey which in good weather is a sheer delight. Those famous white cliffs at Dover are quite something. (Read our previous post about P&O’s ferry service from England to France.)

Or it may be the long haul, such as the weekly voyage with the Smyril Line vessel Norröna from Denmark to Iceland. Depending on the time of year, the voyage to Iceland takes two or three days.

Shipping links

Europe is a continent that has been shaped by its maritime heritage and shipping links. Ferries are still a major component of the continent’s transport network, taking heavy freight off crowded highways and allowing discerning travelers a chance to swap the rush of modern life for a few quiet hours on board a comfortable ship.

For many island communities, of course, ferries provide lifeline links to the wider world. And, at this time of year, the weather is quick to remind us of the fragility of those links. This week, for example, shipping services from the Scottish mainland to Shetland, Orkney and the Outer Hebrides have all been heavily disrupted by storms.

Ferry schedules

Sadly, there is no comprehensive guide to Europe’s passenger shipping and ferry routes, but the Thomas Cook European Rail Timetable (ERT) does cover more than just trains. Each monthly edition of this wonderful book includes details of several hundred ferry routes in European waters.

For the majority of these routes, the ERT gives the full schedules but for a few routes it is no more than a tantalizing hint of a connection. The vessels of Bumerang Shipping, the ERT advises, sail irregularly from Yalta (in the Crimea) to Novorossisk (in Russia). The timetable tracks the twice weekly sailings of Siremar to Stromboli, and it waves the flag for the Virtu catamaran to Valletta.

Back in the more familiar waters of western Europe, the ERT gives the schedules for most major ferry routes. But still there are gaps. There is simply no space to include small routes of real character. Kintyre Express runs a year-round passenger link between Campbeltown in Scotland (on the Mull of Kintyre) and Ballycastle (in Northern Ireland). This is a route to clear the head. Life jackets are compulsory as the 11-metre RIB speeds over the North Channel on its two-hour run. Not for everyone, perhaps, but it’s certainly an antidote to the deadening boredom of air travel.

A taste of the sea

On longer journeys around Europe, an overnight hop on a ferry makes perfect sense. Here is our pick of a handful of long routes that run all year round. These are all routes run by leading shipping operators with vessels that offer every possible creature comfort.

Each of these five routes feature in this month’s ERT. But they are just five of a vast range of maritime connections that help keep Europe on the move:

Oslo (Norway) to Kiel (Germany):
Every night — 20 hrs — Color Line — ERT Table 2372

Hirtshals (Denmark) to Bergen (Norway):
Thrice-weekly overnight service — 19 hrs — Fjord Line — ERT Table 2237

Rotterdam (Holland) to Hull (England):
Every night— 12 hrs — P&O — ERT Table 2245

Stockholm (Sweden) to Tallinn (Estonia):
Every night — 16 hrs — Tallink Silja — ERT Table 2475

Civitavecchia (Italy) to Barcelona (Spain):
Nightly ex Sundays — 20 hrs — Grimaldi Lines — ERT Table 2520

The post Traveling by Ferry in Europe: Down to the seas again appeared first on EuroCheapo's Budget Travel Blog.

Boulogne is situated in the northeast corner of France near Calais.

But onward travel through France was slow and so, for a generation of Brits, this little fragment of France abutting the English Channel was the only portion of the country that they really knew.

The Nord / Pas-de-Calais region

But what a lovely corner of France it was… and still is today. Its charms are too easily overlooked by British travelers today, whose arrival in France is often all-too-hurried. They are too intent to rush on, keen to head south to the Dordogne or Provence. Insofar as they stop at all in the Calais or Boulogne region, it is usually only on the way home and then merely to load the car with the cheap wine that has become the Brits’ favorite import from France.

Viewed from the perspective of Paris, and even more so from the salons of the Riviera, the cities and ports of the far north of France are still seen as impossibly remote. It’s a sentiment nicely captured in the hugely successful film Bienvenue chez les Ch’tis (“Welcome to the Sticks”). “North of Paris lie only the boondocks,” says our Avignon friend, going on to recount stories of pungent Maroilles cheese, cauliflowers and mining communities in terminal decline. Such are the prejudices of one too pampered by life in the sunny south.

Boulogne’s Old Town

Visiting Boulogne

So we told her that was nonsense and hopped on the next train to Boulogne, the one-time ferry port that once thrived on its links with Britain. The cross-Channel steamers have gone, now focusing their commercial efforts on Calais just 35 km up the coast. And, without the day trippers, that makes Boulogne all the more enjoyable.

The local tourism authorities still have a sharp eye on the British market, ever conscious that in terms of travel time Boulogne and Calais are closer to London than they are to Paris. “Real France, real close” run the ads prepared for the UK market.

Boulogne highlights

And this is real France, for Brits just a quick hop from London with Eurostar or a pleasant 90-minute cruise from Dover on P&O’s magnificent ferries.

Boulogne in particular is something special. We wandered the Gambetta Quai each morning, which boasts a superb fish market. And each evening we ate fresh fish in whatever manner Tony Lestienne favored that day. Lestienne is the most accomplished of chefs in a town with a rich culinary tradition. If you eat at the La Matelote restaurant, you are in for a treat. But if budgets are tight, head to the restaurant in the nearby Nausicáa Centre, where Monsieur Lestienne runs the in-house catering.

With its ramparts, walled Old Town and maze of narrow streets, Boulogne is pure France. And there are enough sights to detain you for three or four days.

The castle museum is a gem, with its oddly eclectic mix of exhibits. The range runs from a hall devoted to the funereal rites of Ancient Egypt through a stunning collection of Alaskan masks to delicately beautiful paintings of local Opale Coast beaches and dunescapes.

The big-draw sight in town is of course Nausicáa, an aquarium and environmental education center that lies on the northern fringes of town. It is justifiably celebrated.

Riding the coast: North to Calais

We left by bus, taking the morning local service up the coast to Calais. This is a roller coaster of a route that takes in cliffs and bays aplenty, the entire run enlivened by wonderful views of the white cliffs of the Kent coast just across the Channel. It is a good reminder that this is a corner of France whose fortunes have been forever shaped by its proximity to England.

Getting to Boulogne

From England, we strongly recommend the P&O ferry link from Dover to Calais. This is travel as it should be – relaxed, sedate and stylish. From Calais Port, it is an easy (if not exactly beautiful) hike into town to take one of the regular local trains from Calais Ville station to Boulogne.

Calais Ville station wins no prizes for grace or grandeur, but do take a few minutes to see Calais town hall, just south of the station. It is one of the most strikingly beautiful buildings in all of Flanders.

The rail route from Calais down to Boulogne runs inland, which means that you will only get occasional glimpses of the sea. So you might consider taking the none-too-frequent local bus service that departs from the Place d’Armes in Calais and hugs the coast all the way down to Boulogne. (Just note: No Sunday services on that bus route.)

From London St Pancras (and for that matter also from Brussels Midi), there are Eurostar trains direct to Calais Fréthun, in each case with a travel time of just one hour, where you can walk down to the very spartan local platform for the onward train to Boulogne. Calais to Boulogne takes just 30 minutes.

And if you are in France and can overcome local prejudices about the far, far north, you’ll find great rail connections from Paris to Boulogne. We recommend the line via Amiens, used by classic old-style but very comfortable InterCité trains, which take about 2hrs 45mins for the journey.

There are also five-times-daily TGV services which speed from Paris to Boulogne in just over two hours. The route they take is less immediately appealing than the more traditional Amiens line, but you do get some nice views of the landscapes of Picardie and Flanders.

The post France: Visiting Boulogne and Calais appeared first on EuroCheapo's Budget Travel Blog.

Of course, there are plenty of other ferry options, many of them with much longer crossing times than the short but sweet shipping routes which we highlight here. Those longer options includes several North Sea crossings from the eastern England ports of Harwich, Hull and Newcastle to the continent. And there are also a range of routes linking the south and southwest England ports of Newhaven, Portsmouth, Poole, Weymouth and Plymouth with France and Spain. The “short-sea” routes on which we focus below are all year-round services.

Four companies compete with ferry services from the Kent coast to the continent, three running from Dover to France and the fourth operating out of Ramsgate to Belgium.

Cruise-ferry comfort with P&O

Top choice from Dover to Calais is P&O, which offers cruise-ferry comfort on the 90-minute crossing to France. The company currently shuttles to and fro 46 times each day, but services will be a shade less frequent in the quieter winter months (from early January to mid-March 2012).

These are wonderful, well-appointed ships. Crossing the Channel by sea is a chance to relax, see the White Cliffs of Dover and recall how that short stretch of water separating Kent from the French coast so powerfully shaped English identity.

Daytime-only for foot passengers

This P&O ferry route to Calais is the only route from Dover on which foot passengers are permitted. And remember that foot passengers may not use night services. They are restricted to daytime sailings (viz. sailings that leave Dover between 8:10 a.m. and 7:35 p.m. or those that leave Calais between 6:30 a.m. and 10:00 p.m.).

One-way fares for a car (including up to nine passengers if you can squeeze that number in) start at £25 single, and that fare also applies to car travelers wanting to return the same day – good for shoppers making a day excursion to France to stock up on cheap wines and French deli produce.

By coach and ship to France: Eurolines

Selected departures on Eurolines’ London to Paris express bus service also use the P&O shipping service from Dover. (Others take the less romantic option: the Eurotunnel vehicle shuttle). Services using the ferry are marked as such on the Eurolines timetables.

Grab one of Eurolines’ Advance Single fares and you may pay as little as £29 for the one-way ride from London to Paris, with a short cruise with P&O along the way.

DFDS and Sea France

Two other companies operate from Dover to French ports, namely Sea France (to Calais) and DFDS (to Dunquerque). Neither carry foot passengers, although the DFDS services will carry cyclists – and they have a very reasonable £10 one-way fare that covers both cyclist and bike.

Ramsgate: A link to Belgium

Kent’s second port at Ramsgate is very much smaller than Dover. Ramsgate is north of Dover and the travel time from London to both ports (whether by car or by train) is broadly similar.

Transeuropa Ferries offer thrice-daily services from Ramsgate to Oostende in Belgium. Crossing time is 4hrs 30mins (so more than twice as long as on services from Dover to France). Transeuropa do not carry foot passengers – a travesty as the ferry port in Oostende is right by the train station and this route would be so convenient for rail-sea travellers.

And – surely this must be against the law – Transuropa say that, for the time being, they will not accept cars that have a passenger who relies on a wheelchair. We have never used a Transeuropa ferry, but we understand from those who have that there is little by way of creature comforts.

The post England to France by Ferry: A few short routes appeared first on EuroCheapo's Budget Travel Blog.