NW England into Europe options

[frankspencer1979]

Starting to plan what will be our first Europe trip next year. Aiming for Interlaken (although this is not set in stone) mainly because I want to see mountains and Interlaken looks relatively accessible. This will be a trip for myself and my (currently) 8yr old.

We live NW England, how do people from this neck o'woods generally get over to Europe!? I know there's loads of factors, but I'm just interested in hearing how peoples choices work out for them.

I'm currently tempted by up at crack of dawn, 5-6 hr drive down, chunnel over and then a stop somewhere en route t'other side.

 

[Bigsidavies]

It's a long time since were down there. Didn't have the van then, but the only real route is tunnel or Dover/Calais ferry. We did a weekend in Paris then a couple of days in Dijon on the way down to Annecy then back via Chamonix, lake Como, Stelvio Pass, Castle Neuschwanstein then back through Germany and along the Rhine, Belgium and home.

 

[DaveCrampton]

We have done most routes. In general the price goes up as you leave from further up the East Coast.
So :-
Rosyth, no longer running, priced out of existence.
Newcastle, DFDS, pricey to Ijmuden(Amsterdam).
Hull, P&O only to Rotterdam these days. Used to run to Zeebrugge, but discontinued a few years ago. Cheaper than DFDS, but my scruples keeps me away.
Essex, did this years ago, again cheaper than Hull.
Dover, cheapest but a long way away for us, (who live 3 miles from Rosyth).
Newhaven, to Dieppe. Not to bad, and a 4-5 hour crossing.
Southampton (from memory) to Cherbourg. It was an overnighter in a cabin, like Newcastle and Hull.

These days we go over from Newcastle as we stay north in the Netherlands. If we go to France we go via Newhaven and break the drive up in the UK.