Accessing Calais port by bike

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bohrsatom
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Accessing Calais port by bike

Post by bohrsatom »

Soon to be passing through Calais on my way back to the UK. On the way out I had an interesting experience with the pace car through the port in order to avoid joining the motorway. Which has got me wondering: how do I enter the port to get home?

Is there access from the same roundabout I was deposited onto (https://goo.gl/maps/meiPyqoLjMhfCz2e7), or is there another way in?

Any recent experiences appreciated
roberts8
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Re: Accessing Calais port by bike

Post by roberts8 »

Your mention of a pace car makes me wonder if you are in the TdF?
I just follow the vehicle route in and it seems to be fine. Last travelled over BC, before covid, so assuming no changes. Interested if there is as I am going over the watch the tour on the 5th.
Will
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Re: Accessing Calais port by bike

Post by Will »

roberts8 wrote: 30 Jun 2022, 9:39pm Your mention of a pace car makes me wonder if you are in the TdF?
I just follow the vehicle route in and it seems to be fine. Last travelled over BC, before covid, so assuming no changes. Interested if there is as I am going over the watch the tour on the 5th.
No changes, other than a complete new ferry terminal (Calais2) that opened last year.

Will
bohrsatom
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Re: Accessing Calais port by bike

Post by bohrsatom »

When cars/trucks disembark from the ferry there’s a short stretch of tarmac then a ramp which (I was told) leads directly to the motorway.

A lady from the port was stationed at the bottom of the ramp to collect any cyclists then we followed a vehicle with its hazards on through the port and out of a gate just by the roundabout I linked to. If you carried on and followed the cars you wouldn’t have a great experience!

Not sure if the check in is also accessible only from the motorway or if there’s an alternative entry.. google maps shows the building works mentioned by Will
pal
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Re: Accessing Calais port by bike

Post by pal »

Coming back into the port (from Calais town), you just stay on the main road and follow the ‘normal’ (ie: for cars) signs. There is a cycle path almost all the way to the port entrance, alongside the road; then it’s about another km of cycling though the various ticket and passport checks. It all felt pretty safe - there’s lots of space, even though there’s no cycle-specific route once you’re in the port - but definitely longer than the pace-car short-cut you take on the way out. (This was in May this year.)

I can send you the gpx of my route if that would be helpful: let me know…
bohrsatom
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Re: Accessing Calais port by bike

Post by bohrsatom »

pal wrote: 1 Jul 2022, 1:07pm Coming back into the port (from Calais town), you just stay on the main road and follow the ‘normal’ (ie: for cars) signs.
This is perfect, thank you!
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MrsHJ
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Re: Accessing Calais port by bike

Post by MrsHJ »

It’s not really very tempting for cyclists especially when you add the not great trains for bikes in the pas de Calais region. Caen, St Malo, Roscoff (all of which I’m familiar with) seem better choices plus Dunkirk and the Dutch ports. Unless I’m missing some amazing cycling feature?
pal
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Re: Accessing Calais port by bike

Post by pal »

I’d rate it about the same as Dunkirk, for cycle friendliness (though Dunkirk gets a bonus point for having a covered bike shelter in the departure queue; in all of their fancy refurb, Calais port seems to have forgotten even to install a bike rack!). The ‘pace car’ system works well to get you out of the port quickly and safely, and the return route I think is also fine, if a bit long-winded. I was quite pleasantly surprised, on my last visit, with the cycle routes into Calais town too. But of course there are also lots of other variables (including starting points in the UK: from where I am, in the north-east, Dover is - slightly unexpectedly - one of the easier ports to get to by bike/train; obviously Newcastle is even easier - but then the ferry ride is longer and more expensive…)

(One thing about Dunkirk, last time I went that way - which was November last year - is that the area around Loon Plage was quite busy with migrant camps. I don’t think it was unsafe, but it was a little disconcerting, as a lone cyclist and after dark…)
ANTONISH
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Re: Accessing Calais port by bike

Post by ANTONISH »

MrsHJ wrote: 1 Jul 2022, 9:44pm It’s not really very tempting for cyclists especially when you add the not great trains for bikes in the pas de Calais region. Caen, St Malo, Roscoff (all of which I’m familiar with) seem better choices plus Dunkirk and the Dutch ports. Unless I’m missing some amazing cycling feature?
The ter trains I encounter in in Pas-de-Calais and Nord commonly have six bike spaces.
Obviously TGV is more problematic.
Calais is OK for cyclists (IMO French drivers are more considerate of cyclists) and there is a canal side route starting behind the town hall which leads to the quieter roads behind Calais.
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MrsHJ
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Re: Accessing Calais port by bike

Post by MrsHJ »

I could be being a West Country worzel on this one but I had the impression that most of the trains around calais don’t accept intact bikes because they are an odd category of TER (GT or something).

I’m happy to be wrong and add calais as a possible onto my travel list. If it is possible to do it could someone outline a couple of possible train routes into Paris as I couldn’t see anything obvious with an intact bike. I just tried a search in my SNCF for my next trip on 2 September (which I’ve routed fine from Roscof and have booked my travel) and I can see I can dismantle a bike and go to Amiens (not keen on dismantling a bike and dealing with my luggage solo on and off trains and eg changing platforms), but can’t see from then how to get to paris- as I’m not familiar with the area it could well be my lack of knowledge.

I tend to choose the longer ferry that’s close to me and a haul along Brittany with bike intact on either TER or bookable TGV. It would in any case be a 6 hour dog leg into and out of London to calais and then routing from Calais to where I want to cycle. Either way it’s a big of a drag but I guess I’m more familiar with the western routes as a consequence.
pal
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Re: Accessing Calais port by bike

Post by pal »

The TERs from Calais Ville to Paris (and vv) take assembled bikes: no booking required, and plenty of spaces available. (There are a few TER routes in the Hauts de France region which don’t take bikes (info here: https://m.ter.sncf.com/hauts-de-france/ ... -velo-bord), but this line is ok, albeit slow.)

(The Calais-Paris TER routes don’t always show up as having bike options, but that’s because no booking is necessary, not because taking a bike is impossible. It’s confusing!)
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MrsHJ
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Re: Accessing Calais port by bike

Post by MrsHJ »

pal wrote: 2 Jul 2022, 1:25pm The TERs from Calais Ville to Paris (and vv) take assembled bikes: no booking required, and plenty of spaces available. (There are a few TER routes in the Hauts de France region which don’t take bikes (info here: https://m.ter.sncf.com/hauts-de-france/ ... -velo-bord), but this line is ok, albeit slow.)

(The Calais-Paris TER routes don’t always show up as having bike options, but that’s because no booking is necessary, not because taking a bike is impossible. It’s confusing!)
That’s really good to know and I accept slow as a reasonable compromise! Looks like the K16 is the one to take.
bohrsatom
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Re: Accessing Calais port by bike

Post by bohrsatom »

Came back through Calais this morning (v. sad to be leaving when the TdF arrives tomorrow!). Was all very smooth in the end, although a fair bit of riding around the port area including through the check-in which must be the widest road I’ve even cycled on (20 lanes?).

First on then last off at Dover, but the DFDS crew are so good at getting the cars off we didn’t wait long

The Calais-Paris TERs work well with plenty of bike spaces. Only issue that is the lift situation at Calais Ville is a bit confusing. There is only one lift in the entire station, so you need help from staff to cross the tracks to your platform. In the end we removed some panniers and took the stairs
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mjr
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Re: Accessing Calais port by bike

Post by mjr »

MrsHJ wrote: 2 Jul 2022, 1:47pm
pal wrote: 2 Jul 2022, 1:25pm The TERs from Calais Ville to Paris (and vv) take assembled bikes: no booking required, and plenty of spaces available. (There are a few TER routes in the Hauts de France region which don’t take bikes (info here: https://m.ter.sncf.com/hauts-de-france/ ... -velo-bord), but this line is ok, albeit slow.)

(The Calais-Paris TER routes don’t always show up as having bike options, but that’s because no booking is necessary, not because taking a bike is impossible. It’s confusing!)
That’s really good to know and I accept slow as a reasonable compromise! Looks like the K16 is the one to take.
Yes, it is only the K routes ending in + that are the TERGV oddity. I think the numbers are over 90, too.
MJR, mostly pedalling 3-speed roadsters. KL+West Norfolk BUG incl social easy rides http://www.klwnbug.co.uk
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MrsHJ
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Re: Accessing Calais port by bike

Post by MrsHJ »

bohrsatom wrote: 4 Jul 2022, 9:04pm Came back through Calais this morning (v. sad to be leaving when the TdF arrives tomorrow!). Was all very smooth in the end, although a fair bit of riding around the port area including through the check-in which must be the widest road I’ve even cycled on (20 lanes?).

First on then last off at Dover, but the DFDS crew are so good at getting the cars off we didn’t wait long

The Calais-Paris TERs work well with plenty of bike spaces. Only issue that is the lift situation at Calais Ville is a bit confusing. There is only one lift in the entire station, so you need help from staff to cross the tracks to your platform. In the end we removed some panniers and took the stairs
You missed Van Aert! How did you resist hanging around for another day! I’ve still never seen the TdF- have seen the tour de suisse, the vuelta and what used to be the tour de sud. Missed the giro by a day this year though so I do get it. And missed Eurovision!
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