If I drive, what is the best ferry crossing (I'm located in the South East of England) Dover, Folkstone & tunnel are all convenient. How long is the drive, once across the water?
Cheers.
We will probably use Speedferries to cross (el cheapo!), Dover to Boulogne. According to Multimap it's about 3.5 hours from Boulogne to Rotterdam without comfort stops.
I think the crossing preference is a personal thing. I have been traveling frequently since 1993 and have done just about all possible departures between Calais and Hook of Holland. There has been a time (still in the tax free era) when I was driving an artic 3 times a week from Holland to Liverpool and back, so was on the ferry six times a week for months on end. What a revelation it was when I went by Channel Tunnel in July '94. I hated the one-day-tourists on the ferries the most, always jumping queues and loading up liquor like it's going out of style.
Since then I try to avoid ferries. Rather pay that little extra and have the comfort of my own car seat and the quietness of the train. It's also a lot faster - done Rotterdam to Bournemouth in 7 hours flat once, you can forget all about that when going by ferry.
As for Rotterdam - Calais, my record is 2hr 25mins, but that was at full throttle nearly all the way (86mph av.) on a brand new 1200cc motorbike - not recomendable! As said above, count on somewhere 3½ - 4 hours including stops and the Ring road of Antwerp on a Friday
