Daytrip to Dunkirk From London
 

During my next trip to London I am thinking about doing a daytrip to Dunkirk. The plan would be to take the train to Dover, hop on the ferry, spend a few hours in Dunkirk and return. Looking at the train and ferry schedules I could make it work although it might be a long day. Has anybody done this?

I have done a trip by ferry to Dunkerque. It was an odd experience.

They don't take foot passengers, but do take them on bicycles. At Dover, you can potter on over from the Priory station to the Eastern docks. You then get invited to follow a yellow line on the ground, find a gate (like a garden gate), press a buzzer, say "sherbet lemon" and wait, then go and get an embarcation card from the truckers hut.

The ferry crossing is pleasant enough - but you basically go to Calais then pootle along the coast.

Dunkerque port is on the edge of a brutally industrial part of town, a good 20km from the centre. You can either run the gauntlet of HGVs through there, or find the little road up to the dyke, and follow it along the coast. It can be a little bleak in parts, but you are next to the sea.

From there into town involves crossing a number of locks serving ocean-going vessels. As I approached one, the light started to flash, so I stopped. Several quizzical looking locals looked at me as they hurriedly crossed. I soon learnt why, after 90 minutes waiting for the ship to pass.

Dunkerque itself is OK - a slightly down at heel French town with Flemish influences. Some nice forests and historical towns further inland, like Bergues. And you can cycle to Belgium if, like me, you enjoy that kind of thing.

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Thanks for the information. Kind of disappointing to hear though. Although I now understand why the ferry website was asking about the type of vehicle instead of number of people when I went to the ticket website.

If you want a day trip to France then I'm told Lille is a pretty nice place to visit and can be reached by Eurostar.

If you want to get the real experience, you should cross via a small boat and put a steadily ominous Christopher Nolan soundtrack on your phone ;)

Good choice particularly if you have to go through Calais to get to Dunkirk. I made a day trip to Calais a few years ago and it's a dump.

My wife and I were in Portsmouth for two nights a couple of years ago because she wanted to see the Mary Rose. I was favourably impressed with Portsmouth and we very much enjoyed the walking trails along the Solent.

Of course, from Portsmouth, you can also get the ferry over to the Isle of Wight.

Or Cherbourg, but that 3h ferry ride makes for a long day trip...

In years past, the cross-channel day trip of choice was to Boulogne, an interesting ancient town 30km south down the coast from Calais. Unfortunately since 2010 Boulogne hasn't had any cross-channel ferry services, which is a shame.

Ouch! That is a lengthy wait... for just one ship? I wonder if there's any sort of timetable.

Or a hovercraft if you've always wanted to try one. It is one of the few (only?) hovercraft services available.

The highlight of our school year after O levels was the "Day Trip to Boulogne" taking the "boat-train" from London, and going into seedy bars where I first experienced mixed toilets and that electronic game "Pong". Nowadays it seems to be trips to Africa and Peru! Sorry for the topic derail and the trip down memory lane....:)

Just head down to Dover and look at all the council flats overlooking the channel and wonder when are they going to get bulldozed for proper housing.

Bad day at the office dear? :)

Probably was, but little is more likely to sink the spirits further, after contemplating Dover, than thinking about Dunkirk.