Oct 03 2008
Shopping Day trips to France
As the festive season approaches, many people will be looking for bargains to stock up on booze, food and other sundries. This is of special importance especially for people with big families and one of the ingenious ways to bag some these best bargains is to hop on a ferry to France across the Channel and choose from among the fantastic range of hypermarkets and wine warehouses available there.
Ferry Operators like Seafrance and P&O Ferries offer frequent and regular crossings from Dover to Calais or you can choose to go by Eurotunnel from Folkestone to Calais. Fares for the Dover - Calais day trips start from as little as £30.00 for the return crossing for a Car + up to 5 Passengers, although you need to book early to get these fares.
Once you are in Calais, you will be amazed at the choice of outlets available on the door step of the Ferry Port. Wine and Beer World in Rue du Judee, just 5 mins drive from the port is undoubtedly the most popular outlet. Other popular Calais beer and wine warehouses within easy reach of the port are Boozers, Cheers and Pidou superstore.
And if you are looking to stock up on items other than booze, then Cite Europe in Calais which is directly accessible from the Eurotunnel terminal and Calais ferry port, has a number of outlets offering everything you will ever need from groceries and snacks to clothes and electrical items. Another popular hypermarket is the Auchan hypermarket where you can find a host of special offers and discounts any time of the year.
You can find some spectacular cheeses in La Maison Fromage et des Vins in Rue André Gerschell which is less than a kilometre from the ferry port.
Unlike air travel, ferry travel doesn’t pose any problems to bring your shopping back as long as everything you buy is for personal use and there is no weight restriction either. But just in case you want to absolutely avoid any kind of questions from the customs officers, then it is best to ensure that you don’t exceed the following amounts : 3200 cigarettes, 3 kilos of tobacco, 110 litres of wine, 10 litres of spirits and 20 litres of fortified wine such as port or sherry.
So, what are you waiting for? Go ahead and plan your shopping trip to the France, it’s as easy as heading to your local supermarket with ferry crossings every hour but probably more fun than that!
