We have a 1 day trip planned 6th dec and need advise on best time to arrive and leave.. We ar obviously going to do a shop for booze and stuff and we might drive up to Brugge. Any advise would be great. Where to go what to do where to have a nice pint, good grub e.t.c. Is it a good idea to go to Brugge. Any advise please. Also have heard there is a big supermarket, is it worth going to? where can we get the best bread to bring home? maybe someone knows a back street vendor that has been baking bread forever. Cheese is also on the list. So anybody with the knowledge please help.
Thank you.
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This is an easy question to answer. There IS no best time to arrive and leave. But yiou need to allow plenty of time in Calais of course and the ferries you use depend upon any restrictions on your tickets and how far you live from Dover, and you do need to allow 45 mins at least for check in. But I would forget Bruges - there is simply not enough time to see Bruges properly and to shop in Calais on a day trip, although I did manage a visit to De Panne, the first town over the border, in my younger days.
I presume by a %26quot;big supermarket%26quot;, you mean Cite Europe, which is a huge shopping complex on two levels close to the Eurotunnel terminal and about 15-20 mins or so from the port of Calais. Here you will find, inter alia, a huge Carrefour Hypermarket and Tesco wine store. There are also several places to eat. Close to Cite Europe is another large hypermarket, Auchan, together with Sainsbury%26#39;s wine store. You may want to get away from these chains and seek out the smaller retailer, but in any event, lots of the shops are British owned!
Buying bread to take home is a total waste of time in my opinion, it simply doesn%26#39;t travel well. And you will struggle to get a pint! Pubs of the British type are very rare. Hypermarkets have a huge variety of cheese, both ready packed and loose. Brie and Camembert are of course very popular.
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If you want to get prepared, check opening times, etc, try the websites of the supermarkets which aardvark mentioned:
http://www.auchancalais.com/
http://www.carrefour-calais.com/
Another useful site is daytripper.net.
Brugge is quite a lot to fit in, but you might manage lunch in Boulogne?
From where I live in the UK, the major problem isn%26#39;t arriving in and leaving Calais, it%26#39;s getting round the M25 :-(
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Arrive in Calais 09.00hrs and leave that evening 21.00hrs. so we have a long day. Brugge is 1.5 hrs drive...Do you think it is worth while? wil we still have time to do hypermarket? Seems a long day just to hover around 1 town. Where can we go????? Any suggestions please.
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If you love shopping you will spend a long time in Cite de Europe but remember that a lot of the smaller shops shut for two hours at lunch time.
On my day trips I generally head up to St Omer 1/2 hours drive from Calais where there is a lovely Cathederal and if the weather is good a nice walk in the park. You could even drive down to Bologne about 1/2 an hour and visit the old town and do your shopping in Auchan which is much quiter than Calais especially if you go over lunch time!
You also have the Christmas markets on see www.day-tripper.net for details.
I have done Burgge on a day trip several times but it is a long drive and you do not get much time in Brugge and would not recomend it would suggest an overnight stay.
Have a good time,
Sue
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hi splace
Would you suggest doing auchan as soon as we arrive or cite de europe. Our first time there so really dont have a clue. Would you suggest going into Calais lunch time earlier or later? Please help? Other people have recommended going to de panne belgium, what do you think?
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Geeza, I%26#39;m sorry to say I think you are a little crazy! Allowing time for check in, the crossing and the time difference, you will have to be at Dover at sometime before 06.00 hours and you%26#39;ll be lucky to be away from Dover by 22.30 hours - a minimum 14.5 hour day!
Try and do the bulk of your shopping towards the end of your trip, that way you are not carting loads of bottles etc all over the place.
No-one canopossibly answer your question of which red wine to buy as tastes vary widely - in any event you will be totally overwhelmed by the choice so buy a wide variety and remeber you favourites for the next trip.
I didn%26#39;t actually suggest going to De Panne, but if you do want to go into Belgium it%26#39;s the nearest to Calais and is a pleasant seaside town. You can catch the coastal tram to Ostend and beyond to avoid driving. I think St Omer and Bologne are well worth considering if you must get away from Calais.
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