channel ferry from Caen?
 

Our family of 2 adults, 3 kids needs to get from Bayeux/Caen to London on August 2. We will have a rental car for a few days in Normandy, want to return it in Caen and then cross the Channel. Is the Caen-Portsmouth route the best way to go? It looks like it takes much longer, but I don't know how we'd get to Calais for the quicker crossing. Do we need advance reservations for ferry as foot passengers without a vehicle? Do we need train reservations for Portsmouth-Waterloo? Thanks, fodorites!

Hi Jenpen,
I suspect that if your car must go to Caen, then thats the easiest route. Even if you could leave it at Calais then I am not certain it would be any easier.
www.ferrysavers.com can give you an idea of ferries from Caen.
The only difficulty I see is that Caen has less ferries than Le Havre and Cherbourg and the cost is therefore slightly higher
Unfortunately I have never been from Portsmouth to London by train but it must be easy enough .
Another thought might be Euro star ? could you not get the tunnel train from somewhere? Not sure where you would be but perhaps there is a rail link to Eurostar, that will then go into Waterloo.
Good luck
Muck

From Caen to Calais - where there are ferries practically every five minutes - is 200 miles - a painless 3 hours, except for a slow-moving bit round Rouen. It's a lot less hassle, and almost certainly cheaper, than the slow ferry to Portsmouth. I certainly wouldn't go the Portsmouth route for London: it's used mostly by people who want to avoid travelling round London to get to France.

You then have a choice of fast ferries (40 mins), normal ferries (90 mins), both followed by a 100 min train journey to London, or a 2 hour train journey from Calais-Frethun to Waterloo.

Advance booking on the ferry and Eurostar, and a lot of heavy surfing, will get you the best deals. If you're planning on a one-way trip, it may be a return cheapo may be cheaper. For foot passengers from Calais, advance booking is rarely essential for actually getting on, except at the peak of the Christmas shopping season, and some bank holidays. Your date is neither. I'd say advance booking is probably wise on the Caen-Portsmouth route.

There's no need for advance train booking from Dover or Portsmouth, though you might find a better price on the web than by just turning up. Check at nationalrail.co.uk, but trains are about every half hour from both, and take about the same time.

PS Have I misunderstood you? Are you saying you HAVE to leave the car at Caen?

Then, as far as I can see, forget about going to Calais. The train takes about six hours, and if there's a bus it's an official secret. Quickest - and probably cheapest - is train to Paris then best deal you can get on the plane.

Walk-up fares for the ferries can be surprisingly high. Even though you might not need reservations to get on the boat, advance purchase may well cut your cost in half. Many of the major car rental companies will have minimal charge to drop the car at a different location (as long as it is in the same country!), and you might consider dropping the car in Calais and training from there to London, or seeing if there is an option using a discount airline from one of the regional airports.

We made the reverse trip from Portsmouth to Caen at the beginning of June. Do you still need information about the ferry service? I can also provide details about train service from Portsmouth to Waterloo if needed.