Channel tunnel advice please.

V

Vince2

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192
Have always used the ferry to get across the channel but this time I’m planning to go by tunnel.
I have a couple of questions about using it.
If I book a 2.00pm slot and I arrive a lot earlier, do they put you on the next available slot or make you wait until your allotted time?
Are French customs enforcing the no dairy no meat thing and if so, do they check? Sandwiches?
Anything else I should know?
 
Oneball

Oneball

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11,129
At the ferry two weeks ago they were randomly checking cars, there was a 5 series with a family with the entire car’s contents scattered across the checkpoint.
 
zagatoes30

zagatoes30

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20,971
Generally if you arrive early they will put you on an earlier tunnel but not always, as above searches are random and if you are unlucky to get searched and they find anything they will remove it. There are comments that this even goes down to sandwiches so if you have ham and cheese and get selected eat it quickly pretty sure they are not allowed to force you to regurgitate
 
redsonnylee

redsonnylee

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1,550
I’ve just returned from a rally road trip from France to Romania. I used the tunnel, apart from passport checks nothing else was a concern.

We didn’t get asked about anything we were carrying. Overall a pleasant experience.
 
Oneball

Oneball

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11,129
They have a daily quota of cars to search I’m sure. Even before Brexit. About 15 years ago I got the 1am Chunnel back from France. There were only 3 of us on it. I was on the bike with a rucksack and there was an Orthodox Jewish bloke in a Volvo who’d been to Amsterdam to get a wardrobe he’d been left in his grandmother’s will. They gave us both the full baggage search, including drugs swabs, even got the wardrobe out of his car to check the under boot bit.
 
midlifecrisis

midlifecrisis

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16,250
Oneball said:
They have a daily quota of cars to search I’m sure. Even before Brexit. About 15 years ago I got the 1am Chunnel back from France. There were only 3 of us on it. I was on the bike with a rucksack and there was an Orthodox Jewish bloke in a Volvo who’d been to Amsterdam to get a wardrobe he’d been left in his grandmother’s will. They gave us both the full baggage search, including drugs swabs, even got the wardrobe out of his car to check the under boot bit.
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After a trip home on leave, i used to get stopped regularly driving into Germany from Holland at night by zee polizei. I worked out that if I followed another car going into Germany along the autobahn and then booted it, the rozzers would stop him and not me.
 
Guy

Guy

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2,158
We use Flexi Plus to avoid the delays, especially in busy periods. Friends arrived 4 hours early on a recent Spa trip but did not have Flexi Plus and were forced to wait for their scheduled crossing.
 
Strad

Strad

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245
We’ve used it often for family skiing trips and the odd German “toll road“ weekend……. it’s great. We normally do standard out as you know more or less when you’ll arrive but Flexi on the return for obvious reasons. It’s a lottery whether you’ll get allowed on early if you’re not Flexi, I think they just push you through if it’s not busy but definitely remember they wanted something like £135 when we arrived very early because of the M20 lorry back-ups. Equally I’ve never had an issue turning up at time of departure / a bit late.
 
Bebs

Bebs

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3,375
Use the tunnel constantly, at least 10-15 times annually.
It’s by far the easiest and quickest way across.
They used to just move you to earlier or next, post Brexit things seem to have tightened up.
Just book and arrive an hour before and you’ll be ok.
Flexi is great but has become very expensive.. we used to buy a flexi 10 trip ticket for around £1000. That is no longer available sadly.
Ferries are a hassle, I would never consider it once used the tunnel.
 
Ewan

Ewan

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6,818
Sandwiches are available in France, so there’s no need to take them from the UK.

On the other hand, I’ll be sneaking some Patum Peperium through the tunnel in a few weeks time (en route to Mallorca) as that isn‘t readily available over there.
 
CatmanV2

CatmanV2

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48,836
Ewan said:
Sandwiches are available in France, so there’s no need to take them from the UK.

On the other hand, I’ll be sneaking some Patum Peperium through the tunnel in a few weeks time (en route to Mallorca) as that isn‘t readily available over there.
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Ooooh. Not had that for many years! I recall when it used to come in a proper, porcelain pot, I think.

C
 
Ewan

Ewan

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6,818
You can still get it in a porcelain pot. It’s what my Mother-in-Law gets me for Christmas every year, and it’s much appreciated.
 
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