If you’re planning a trip to the continent with your caravan, you may well be weighing up the ways to cross the Channel.
While there are ferry options, an alternative is to use Eurotunnel Le Shuttle, a train service that accommodates leisure vehicles.
Not to be confused with Eurostar, which is solely for foot and bicycle passengers, Eurotunnel enables you to take your trusty caravan with you.
It’s a simple way to get to France and departs from Folkestone in Kent, depositing passengers and their vehicles in Calais.
The Channel Tunnel is the world’s longest undersea tunnel, totalling 38km in length, but it takes just 35 minutes to travel between the two destinations.
Eurotunnel operates two or three departures an hour, but ups the number to four at the height of the summer.
You can also bring your dog on board, as Eurotunnel allows pets at a cost of £22 each way, although assistance dogs travel for free.
It’s important to have all the right paperwork for taking your pet to France, as well as being aware of any regulations relating to driving or towing.
In France you must carry the following:
- Warning triangle
- First aid kit
- High-visibility vests for each passenger
- UK sticker for the car and the caravan
- Spare bulbs
- Headlight beam benders
- Spare glasses, if you wear them to drive
- Driving licence
- Insurance paperwork
From March 31st 2022, all visitors to France from the UK over the age of 12 must provide proof of vaccination against Covid-19.
If nine months has elapsed since your initial dose and you haven’t received a booster, France requires you to produce a negative PCR test result.
This must have been taken within 72 hours or an antigen test result taken within 48 hours of departure.
Photo credit: Unsplash/Aleks Marinkovic
