Ever take a ferry from France to England?
 

I thought it might be fun to visit Normandy and then take a ferry to England. Has anyone made this trip? Is it an adventure or am I being impractical? How would I get to London or any other interesting touristic spot once I land in England?
Thanks.

yes, took overnight ferry Outstreham (Caen) to Portsmouth
day time catamarans do Cherbourg-UK in a few hours - fares as low as 29 euros for day boats. Trains run frequently from UK ports to London.

I've done it many times. Brittany Ferries (www.brittany-ferries.com) have fine French ships with cabins, restaurants, etc. From Ouistreham near Caen, it's about six hours to Portsmouth, or there's a longer crossing from St-Malo. Trains run at least every hour from Portsmouth to London, Brighton, Salisbury, Bath, etc.

Two years ago travelled in a circle through England & France - part of the journey was through Normandy and then departing for England from St. Malo by Ferry/Seacat/whatever, to Geurnsey. A week or so later headed on to the mainland(Exeter) by air (Flybe).
I loved the ferry part!

Used to be a ferry running out of Dieppe. Don't know if it's still going, but it was perfectly fine crossing. Easier than the swim across!

Transmanche Ferries (www.transmancheferries.com) run from Dieppe to Newhaven. Brittany Ferries also have a service from Cherbourg to Poole. Both these take about four hours.

Some ferries don't take "foot" passengers unless they came with a vehicle. Just be sure.

Yes, we've taken the ferry from France to England--the night ferry. We didn't get much sleep, as there was a large group of people singing "Knees Up, Mother Brown" all night long

Back in the early 1980's as a student, I took a ferry across from near Dover. It was very late at night and I was very tired. However, I could swear that we never got off our train car.

Were there any RO-RO (roll-on roll-off) ferries for train cars, or did I actually sleepwalk from my train onto a ferry?

Yes, I've taken it twice, in the pre-tunnel days. No, it isn't an adventure nor fun nor romantic. It's a ferry -- haven't you ever been on a small boat before? It takes hours more to do something you could have done by fast train, and if the water is rough, could be uncomfortable. They weren't luxury boats, either, just the basics, of course, for a ferry.

You have to take the train to get into London, so have to change around a lot, also (both in France if you aren't right near the ferry dock and England).

My ferry experience was in 1979 from Dover to Calais. It was a highly unmemorable journey and I was glad when it ended.

Oh, sorry, I realize now you're asking about ferries from France to England. We didn't do that but I'm sure it would've been just as forgetable.

alanRowe: I think by the 1980s there were no more roll on roll off passenger trains - though freight trains of course did. I assume you may have taken a boat train from victoria to Dover Western Docks - the train ferry dock that no longer has passenger service. I did this a few times at night and the boat train took you right to the ferry but indeed you did have to walk thru some hallways to the boat.
I'm not positive there may not have been train cars that went on these boats but i doubt it. Or it could have similarly been the Folkstone-Boulogne train route.

The two ships on the Caen-Portsmouth service were built in 1992 and 2002; they measure 27,000 tons and 35,000 tons. They are not small boats and will bear little resemblance to ferries used years ago on the short Dover crossings.
Alan64's memory is correct. Until 1980 there were through sleeping cars from London to Paris and Brussels which were taken across the channel from Dover to Dunkerque by ferry. On all other services, passengers had to alight from the train to go on the ship, and catch another train on the French side of the Channel.

In the late 80's I was supposed to take the Calais-Dover but I was very late and rushed into the 1st ferry I saw. It was actually going to Folkestone (how lucky it was not going further North!) The young shipman who told me so shew me the boat (you know where nobody is allowed to go except the staff)Very instructive :-)
Another time (in December), the weather was awful and almost all the passengers were sick :-S (I learnt how to breathe on the top of the waves and it worked!)
I'd like to do that again, I like to see the cliffs and seagulls.;;)

The quickest Normandy-England crossing takes 2:15 hours - Condor Ferries/Brittany Ferries - lv Charbourg daily 11:30am ar Poole 12:45 UK time.

Thanks for jogging my memory, Geoff. The train I was on was the London to Paris route, and the ferry was from Dover to Dunkerque.

One ferry I DO remember well was from Brindisi, Italy over to Greece. Since passage only was covered on my Eurail pass, I spent the warm night on deck sharing food & wine with other poor travelers. That was a lot of fun as a teenager, but others who've made the same journey over rough sea have told of much worse experencies.

The Channel almost certainly wouldn't be warm, and I can't imaging passing around a bottle of Chianti with strangers. I'd agree that flying or the Chunnel are much better options these days.

An overnight ferry is still often the best option for getting from London to Normandy or Brittany. You can leave London at eight in the evening for Portsmouth, spend the night sleeping on the ship and arrive in Caen in the morning. If you get a Eurostar from London in the evening, you'd have to stop the night in Paris before going on to Normandy in the morning.
This web site has some history of the London-Paris sleeping car service:
http://www.dover-kent.co.uk/transport/night_ferry.htm

I took the Oustreham-Portsmouth overnight ferry two years ago and though the ship was nice with lots of amenities i urge you NOT to take the reclining 'Pullman' chair option like cost-cutter moi did.
The reclining chairs are a misnomer as they barely recline and everyone ended up sleeping on the hard floor instead!
A few extra euros would be a berth with bed and blankets!
And as this boat cost me about 100 euros all told i would have been better off on the 29 euro day boats from Cherbourg, which i would have done if i had researched it in advance and not just shown up in Caen and found i was too late for the day boats and had to pay a fortune for the night boat with the lousy reclining chair - berth would have cost about 15 euro more i think. In retorspect i'd take the day boats.

Fares vary according to demand. For tomorrow's Cherbourg-Poole catamaran crossing, the fare seems to be 93 euros. For a midweek October overnight sailing, you may pay 84 euros, including the cabin berth. All cabins have private bathrooms. A night on the ship will save a night in a hotel, and leave the day free for other things.