Day 1: Cheshire, England – Gouy, France.
We set off at around 11am after checking the last few bits at our UK home and we arrived in Gouy which is around 90 mins south-east of Calais at around 21:30. This first leg for us was the most nerve-wracking because we (despite lots of research) were unsure of what to expect with regards to customs checks once we arrived at the channel tunnel. We were nervous and a little on edge. It also took us a while to gain confidence with the van which is by far the largest vehicle we’ve ever driven.
We chose to stop around Cambridge for a bite to eat and a chance to walk the dog a little bit – our train across the English Channel wasn’t until 19:15 so we didn’t need to be there until around 18:00. Stopping helped us to relax a little and enjoy the day. We got some nice chips, a 1/2 pint of lager, about 4 wees and had a lovely dog walk before setting back off.
We then arrived at the channel tunnel, took the wrong road (thanks Sat Nav!) and had to reverse and navigate back round, oops. Luckily we had allowed extra time for errors. When we arrived at the correct entrance we had to take our pup Olivo to the pet reception to scan his chip and check his travel documents – more about this on our previous post here:
When then drove round following signs for ‘France’ – a bit surreal! This was the bit that we were most worried about, would the van be searched? We had absolutely nothing to hide or declare but we also couldn’t afford delays and really didn’t need any added stress. For a moment our hearts sunk as our van was waved over by an official. He was really nice and explained that they do a simple check – you step out of your van and open the back door, let them look and then they load the van onto a sort of conveyor belt that ‘drives’ it through an X-ray machine – it looks sort of like a car wash that moves the car along by itself. We weren’t allowed to be in the van for this and we had to walk through a little tunnel to meet the van at the other side. The whole process took about 5 minutes. Admittedly those 5 minutes felt very very long because we were worried and unsure of what to expect, but honestly it was super easy and we’d do it again in a heart beat.
After this the officials usher you to the correct lane for your departure time and you wait until it’s time to board. You then drive your vehicle onto the train which from the outside looks like a metal building container but on the inside is pretty high tech. You follow instructions on what to do with your vehicle which involve employing the handbrake, putting the car into 1st gear and switching it off. Then you relax for 35 mins. You can get off if you want, I believe there are some amenities, but we chose to just rest for a while.
IMPORTANT: There is both British and French passport control BEFORE boarding – they are literally 100m away from each other and you must do both. First British and then French, and you must get a stamp or else immigration police won’t know for sure when you entered Europe and this can cause a whole host of issues down the line.
TOP TIP: If you do travel with a van/ motorhome using ferries or the channel tunnel, please make sure to find out the dimensions of your vehicle, the available payload and make sure you communicate with the ferry companies about your travel with enough time – some vehicles over a certain size or weight require to be checked in as freight vehicles/ commercial vehicles. Also expect everything from your tickets to road tolls to be significantly more expensive.
Look out for part 2 soon!
Gopopolo Travel 
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