Right forum this time!

Ferry (booked) is due to dock at Hirtshals (north Denmark) at 0400 in the morning on a Saturday in July. Do you reckon I could get to Harwich in time to check in for the 1430?

That leaves 9 hours 30 minutes. RAC reckons 9h 23min.

Shall I risk it? It'd mean not having to shell out for a cabin and having a decent night's sleep in my own bed before driving to my Grans 90th the next day.

And how nice are they? Do they let you on if you turn up 30 mins before they sail?

Cheers.

I've been refused entry to a ferry when turning up 20 mins prior to sailing before.

I wouldn't risk it. Continental europe tends to have some really long roadworks, and things like fuel can take longer than you expect as they're a bit different. Plus a 9 hour drive starting at 4am after a long journey? I personally would be needing some breaks.

Can't you just sail back from denmark – Newcastle?

I sail with Brittany feries to France regulary and you have to check in 40 mins before sailing time.

the other option might be to drive round to calais and cross there – the ferries are much quicker and more regular than those at the harwick-hook of holland

What is your route? I find the description a bit confusing….

Marge: thanks, you've spotted the deliberate mistake. hirtshals to hook of Holland for the ferry to Harwich. Check in time is stated as 1 hour, but I'd be interested in how much leeway they give you.

I was expecting lots of "what's the point putting yourself through the stress, give yourself breaks, what about delays?" replies because, let's face it, that's the only obvious, sensible response.

I was hoping to get a reply that "Give it a go, I've done it loads of times. It only ever takes 8h30, and that's without speeding or being too silly on the Autobahns"

And that's not an invitation to copy and paste that sentence into the reply box! Unless it's true.

No ferries from the North of England to Denmark. And i'll have another look at Calais, but I'm not sure if 14 hours in the car will fly with the girlfriend. 9.5 was a push!

Usually 1/2 hour is ok for ferries, went to ireland last week, stena line states 90 mins, but 1/2hr was fine. I guess it depends how they're feeling.

Once got lost trying to find caen ferry port (not really in or near caen!) and managed to sneak on having phoned ahead to say we were coming, went through the ticket barrier as we could see the cars loading, just drove up to the rear of the last car as it was driving on and followed it on to the boat, perfect timing!

Wouldn't want to repeat it though!

I drove down from Denmark recently (back to Belgium) & there were quite some roadworks on the autobahn in Northern Germany. Was a surprsingly slow journey to be honest (& I drive in Germany very regularly)

I think you'll do it OK – really depends how often you need to stop
I can manage OK with stopping every 250 miles or so – & then only for as long as it takes for a pee

As above though – Calais may be a better option
it's another 3 hours down the road but I would have thought you'd still be back in the UK sooner than using the Harwich boat
A couple of 20 minute naps & you should be fine

And by the way – there is a huge amount of Dutch traffic heading south on any Saturday morning in July so keep that in mind….

You haven't mentioned the critical thing – what sort of car do you have and how fast does it go 😉

This is the (one of many) good things about the channel tunnel – doesn't matter if you turn up a bit late (or early for that matter) you can just get on the next one.

In my experience of the channel tunnel one the worst thing about is that you can't turn up a bit early or late and get moved, you have to wait your turn or until there is a train with space.

Sam:
I missed 2 critical things: I've got my girlfriend to share the driving with, so napping and driving can be done at the same time.

And the car's an unexciting but suitable Mondeo diesel Estate, 110mph on the Autobahn before things start to feel a bit uncomfortable, I've found, but from what Marge is saying, that might be rather academic.

We live half an hour from Harwich, this is about the only time Wivenhoe is handy for anything except Wivenhoe. So it would seem a bit silly to drive round and up again, although my Gran's near Guildford, so we could go straight there.

Hmmmm. More thought required.

Cheers all.

That leaves 9 hours 30 minutes. RAC reckons 9h 23min.

NO!!!!! I always plan +2hrs (yes I am a nerd)- that way if I arrive early I am let on early (well found that with some operators unless its an over-nighter).

Take your time- last thing you want is blatting any sort of distance and actively clockwatching. This way you'll arrive still early but chilled.

7 minutes though hora? 7 whole minutes? That's 5 for a fill up and 2 minutes contingency. Don't know what the problem is.

And who says I want to turn up chilled? After 2 weeks constant chilling in Norway I'll want to catch up on some stress and angst.

The short channel crossings are much more flexible on check in times, miss one boat and there is another along in probably less than an hour. The longer crossings get more iffy about it.

I don't know if suggesting a shorter crossing via calais-dover would help, as you've then got the beauty that is the M25 & Dartford to negotiate.

A ferry that puts you 30 mins into destination makes a lot more sense to me. I'd leave earlier to at least attempt to hit the check in time.

I'd leave earlier to at least attempt to hit the check in time.

he can't – he's constrained by what time his ferry docks in Hirtshals

Gotcha, hmm, going to be close, isn't it, relying on one ferry to run on time in order to catch another.

Do it, you already have enough info and its possible.

I spend plenty of time racing across europe for various meeting, flights, etc…. its always good fun. Adds meaning to the trip otherwise they get stale after a couple of hours.

Make sure you have a tomtom to actively track progress and plan fueling, sometimes its better to go slower and not need to stop. Its difficult to beat the computer over decent distances across europe except in germany.

I have never double ferried it but most things run to time now so assume it will do what i says.
Oh, make sure its not some sort of holiday weekend which will kill travel times.

I admit to being out crazied by a danish guy last week though. He rode a 50cc scooter from somewhere in daneland to our factory in northern italy in 4 days including some kind of breakdown crossing to alps. He is now riding back!

Cheers ivan, that's the kind of can-do attitude I was hoping for!

I have a plan that will make the drive more exciting, but in a good way. We won't book a ferry, but decide at the Barken exit for Bremen off the E22. If it's 0940 hours or earlier (check out the military time, that's how it's going to be), we'll head to Hook of Holland, if it's after, we'll head to Calais. We'll have an hour to check bookings before the route to Calais splits off at Osnabruck.

I reckon as long as we've got juice in the phones, numbers for the ferry companies and know how to check traffic/roadworks on the Hook of Holland route, this should work out pretty well.

Cheers all, I'm actually looking forward to the trip home now! 😀

Route planner may say it's possible with no stopping. Might be theoretically able to floor it in Germany, but probability of a traffic jam at the Rotterdam Ring is significantly more than 0. I've been held up there many times, and have arrived at Hoek van Holland and boarded *only* because there was 1 van at the ticket sales kiosk still and I drove right up behind preventing them from closing the gates 🙂 Think that was about 20min before official departure, and I'd allowed 2hrs+ of margin (some of which would have been a pitstop that I had to abort).

isn't it massively more expensive to book a ferry on the day? I tried to do it once and they wanted £150 dover-calais one way (would have been £20 booked a week earlier). might be cheaper booking both in advance, if this is how you want to play it

Fthlab, yes.

Changed my mind again and booked Dunkirk – Dover. Cheaper than Calais, 1/2 hour longer crossing, but 1/2 hour less driving.

3 hours to play with on the drive from Denmark, rather than 7 minutes. Call me boring, but I'm happier with that!

Just need to find a nice campsite in Kent now. Then actally go on holiday!