France by Bus, Train, Road – but not by plane!

Don’t want to fly? There are other options for getting to France

train and ferry

Train from London to Dover Priory, then transfer bus to Dover Eastern Docks, foot passenger ticket from Dover to Calais and then train Calais to Paris – that’s 3 or 4 separate tickets but if needs must…… It will take much longer than the Eurostar – up to 10 hours compared to 2½ and will not always be particularly cheap at busy periods or short notice

Another option is to look at the long-distance bus services run by SNCF’s Ouibus – London to Paris city centre to city centre takes 10+ hours and standard cost varies by date and how far in advance you can book – although cheaper fares are available for advance booking. Once you’be got to Paris then you have more options available for getting to your final destination – which are unlikely to be so overwhelmed by excess demand as the French are not so reliant on flying for domestic travel. Again train is often a good option – and whilst the TGV lines are fast there are usually cheaper and slower regional trains (TER) on many routes – car hire is another option as is onward travel by bus with Eurolines offering destinations such as

Agen , Aix en Provence, Angers , Avignon, Bordeaux, Chamonix , Chalon-sur-Saône, Dijon , Grenoble, Lille Lyon, Marseille, Metz, Montpellier, Mulhouse, Nancy, Nantes, Nîmes , Niort, Perpignan, Poitiers, Reims , Rennes, Saintes, Strasbourg , Toulon, Toulouse , Tours ,Valence and Paris
For more info on long-distance buses to and within France see SNCF’s Ouibus

Dover to Calais & Dunkerque, P&O Ferries and DFDS

Newhaven – Dieppe – DFDS

Portsmouth and Poole – Caen, Cherbourg, Plymouth – Roscoff (Britanny), Santander (northern Spain), Cork (Ireland) to Roscoff – Brittany Ferries

Weymouth – Cherbourg and the Channel Islands – Condor Ferries

Harwich – Hook of Holland – Stena Line

Hull – Zeebrugge (Belgium) and Rotterdam (Holland) – P&O Ferries

Newcastle – Amsterdam – DFDS Ferries

For train travel in France bookable from the UK see Rail Europe and Eurostar

For car hire in France see rentalcars.com