# Dunkirk - Overnight on the docks?



## andyangyh (May 1, 2005)

We are booked on the 1am Ferry Dover-Dunkirk. Arriving at that hour of the morning (4am French time) means that we will want to get our heads down for several hours before starting the drive South. Has anyone stopped on the dockside at Dunkirk ? We've done that plenty of times at Roscoff and Caen but never landed in Dunkirk before.

Failing there being a reasonable place on the dockside is there an aire nearby that is reliably empty nearby? Looking in the book there isn't anything until you get to Calais.


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## Don_Madge (May 1, 2005)

andyangyh said:


> We are booked on the 1am Ferry Dover-Dunkirk. Arriving at that hour of the morning (4am French time) means that we will want to get our heads down for several hours before starting the drive South. Has anyone stopped on the dockside at Dunkirk ? We've done that plenty of times at Roscoff and Caen but never landed in Dunkirk before.
> 
> Failing there being a reasonable place on the dockside is there an aire nearby that is reliably empty nearby? Looking in the book there isn't anything until you get to Calais.


Andy,

We stayed overnight at Dunkirk port in Oct & Nov with no problems at all.

We stayed in the car park in front of Norfolk line terminal building. If you can't get into the car park (Height barrier at 3? metres) there is plenty of other space. When you leave the boat you can see the terminal building over on the left hand side, follow your nose in that direction and you will see where to park. The area is well lit. Once you leave the Norfolk Line immediate area it tends to look a bit remote/desolate and might be off putting for the first timer abroad.

Don


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## terry1956 (May 1, 2005)

*hi there*

Hi there, you will find the place very odd, a bit like a disused building site, The truck drivers pull off for a sleep just off the road, well what pasts for the road, We just tucked up with them N/P. Its a fair drive to a service station pull in so best to pick a spot near the port and get your head down. terry


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## peejay (May 10, 2005)

I'd agree with Don, park in front of the terminal If you want to get some kip immediately after the crossing.

There are other stopping places at Gravelines to the west and a nice seafront spot at malo les bains to the east but they are both a 10 -15 min drive away, the malo one being a bit tricky to find.

pete.


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## andyangyh (May 1, 2005)

That's whatI call a fast response! Asked just before noon and had 3 replies by 1-30pm! Looks like we will pull over as soon as we leave the ship. We're going to try and arrive at Dover early and see if we can blag an earlier crossing for the same price.

Thanks again to those who replied.


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## 94639 (May 1, 2005)

Hi andyangyh

You should have no problem getting on an earlier ferry. We were booked on the 1:00 am ferry back in August, we arrived at Dover Docks at 9:00 pm, asked if we could park up for a couple of hours. The reply was " what for , there is a ferry leaving in 20 minutes and you are on it. Unless you really want to wait "
We did not argue we were landed at Dunkirk before we were due to leave Dover. Have a great trip.


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## 93330 (May 1, 2005)

*Overnight Parking Dunkerque*

Hi Andy n Angy,

We have parked in front of the terminal before now, it has a height barrier of 3.1 mtrs, you will need to exit the docks and enter the one way system to go back to the Terminal building, alot of alterations going on when we were there in November.

There are two other places you could stay, if you go to http://www.campingcar-infos.com/index1.htm then area 59, have a look at Gravelines. There is a multimap showing you the location of the Flot Bleu, the actual indicating circle is a bit out, it shows the service aire as on the T junction, it is in fact between the roundabout and the T junction on the right side, from the roundabout. The Flot Blue takes three 50 cent pieces.

Parking overnight is not permitted there, you can however park in the car park just before the Municipal camp site. If you turn right out of the CC Service station, up the road to the T junction and turn right, follow the signage to 'La Plage' camp site, its over another roundabout and straight on, you will see a large car park in front of you. We actually stayed in the Camp Municple for the night before going to Norfolkline for the return journey.

The other place you can park overnight is on the front at Dunkerque, the car park is adjacent to the Allies Memorial, it's a bit difficult to find, although we went straight to it by using the Autoroute with GPS.

Hope above helps - Regards Terry


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## philjohn (May 29, 2005)

Stayed in the little car park in front of the Terminal building last week. The sign says 3mtrs height, had no trouble getting in with the van which is 3mtrs high. Only problem is its a bit noisy, otherwise its fine. As an aside went over on the new ferry they have bought, very upmarket compared to the old ones.


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## andyangyh (May 1, 2005)

Aren't Norfolk Lines lovely? Rang them this afternoon to see if we could actually book an earlier ferry - 4-30pm on the 28th instead of 1-45am on the 29th. "No problem, Sir. All done. See you after Xmas!" And they didn't mention the difference in price between the two crossings (£5)

If the service at the docks and on the ferry is half as good as their booking people they have a customer for life!

So - thanks once again for all the help people. The info will be useful on the way back when we will probably sleep on the dockside prior to our early-morning ferry.


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## Don_Madge (May 1, 2005)

Andy,

Try and make it a Friday/Saturday night to stay on the docks as there seems to be a lot less trucks on the move on these nights. 

There is a truck ban (except for certain categories) on the French roads after 10 pm Friday until 10 pm Sunday. I think those times are right. 

Don


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## 88845 (May 9, 2005)

Hi all,
Just one further thing I would like to add.
If you catch a late ferry on the way back, (say 21.30hrs), you can always park on Marine Parade in Dover and get an early morning start on this side. 
Follow A20 signs along seafront take 2nd left then 2nd right onto Marine Parade, park on LH side of road opposite toilets (perfectly legit between 6pm and 8am ).
This is what we do having spent the outward journey at the docks in Dukerque as suggested.

John


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