Travelling self-drive

Driving your own car across the Channel to your holiday is a very flexible way of travelling – you can, if you wish, leave yourself a few days between your crossing and your Inntravel holiday so that you can travel in a leisurely fashion and appreciate the scenery.

‘Self-drive’ prices apply when you take your car across the Channel. They include a return crossing between Folkestone and Calais with LeShuttle (formerly Eurotunnel) for your party (minimum 2 adults) and one car. The crossing takes 35 minutes and during peak periods there are up to 4 departures per hour.

A supplement of approximately £65 per car per single journey applies for outbound travel on key dates over Easter.

In addition, a supplement of approximately £42 per car per single journey applies for travel over the May and October school holidays and at weekends outbound from mid-July to the end of August, and inbound from late July to early September. ('Weekend' is defined as Friday and Saturday on the outward journey and Saturday and Sunday on the homeward journey.) Please contact us for exact dates and prices.

Upgrade to Flexiplus and you benefit from a dedicated check-in, exclusive lounge serving complimentary non-alcoholic drinks and snacks, and priority boarding. Please contact us for prices.

Please let us know at the time of booking if your car and equipment are more than 1.85 metres high. LeShuttle is unable to carry vehicles powered by flammable gases such as LPG or hydrogen.

Self-drive prices for short breaks are based on a 4-night maximum stay.

On hotel-to-hotel walking and cycling holidays, a transfer back to the first hotel to pick up your car is included where necessary.

LeShuttle and ferry reservations are made for fixed time departures; please arrive in plenty of time to check in.

On-board accommodation is obligatory on all night sailings and must be reserved in advance.

Statutory legislation obliges all cross-Channel operators to hold the names, ages and gender of all passengers and whether any special assistance is required on board. Please provide these details at the time of booking to prevent hold-ups at port.

Furthermore, the UK government requires carriers (including airlines and rail and ferry operators) to collect Advanced Passenger Information (API) for passengers on routes to and from the UK, and governments of some other countries require similar information. API is sometimes collected as you check in and is normally restricted to the standard information contained in machine-readable passports, such as full given names, date of birth, nationality, gender, passport number, date of issue and expiry. However, some countries require the information to be submitted in advance of departure, and some governments collect additional information such as your destination address. Where we have made travel arrangements on your behalf and your carrier (eg LeShuttle) requires the information in advance, we will collect the information from you and submit it to your travel provider. Please be assured that we have measures in place to protect the personal information you provide to us, as explained in our privacy policy.

There is a maximum overall height for cars (including any roof loads) of 3 metres and a maximum length of 6 metres. Charges may apply to cars over 1.8 metres high (including roof loads) or over 5 metres in length, according to each operator’s normal conditions of carriage. Please inform us of the length and height of your car at the time of booking and let us know if bicycles are to be carried on the rear of your car.

Before you take your car abroad, you should check that you have:

• all equipment (eg warning triangles and reflective vests) that you are required to carry in your car according to the laws of the country(ies) you are visiting or driving through

• car insurance that covers you to drive in Europe (you will need to tell your insurer where and when you travelling)

• breakdown cover while you are abroad

• a UK indicator on your number plate or a UK sticker (not a GB one) on the rear of your vehicle (if you are driving your car in Spain, Cyprus or Malta, you must display a UK sticker, regardless of what is on your number plate) – see www.gov.uk/displaying-number-plates/flags-symbols-and-identifiers

Most people with a credit card-style UK driving licence can use it as normal in Europe. However, if you have a UK paper licence or if your licence was issued in Gibraltar, Guernsey, Jersey or Isle of Man, depending on which countries you are visiting (including any you are transiting through), you may need to apply for at least one type, but possibly both types, of International Driving Permit (see www.gov.uk/driving-abroad/international-driving-permit).

Besides your insurance documents and driving licences/permits, you should also take your vehicle registration documents (V5) with you.