Getting the van across the English Channel always feels like the real starting line of a UK road trip. Everything before it — packing, route planning, ferry bookings — is just prep. The moment the Tourneo Custom rolls onto a ferry or into the Eurotunnel Le Shuttle, the trip actually begins. Over the last few years we’ve crossed the Channel three times: twice by ferry with P&O, and once through the Eurotunnel with LeShuttle. All three trips looked completely different, and honestly, they taught us more about the Calais–Dover crossing than any comparison article ever could.

2022: P&O Ferry — Cheap, But a Long Wait

Our first crossing was in August/September 2022, sailing with P&O Ferries. The price was hard to argue with — 207 euros for the round trip, which felt like a steal considering we were bringing a full-size van across.

What we weren’t prepared for was the check-in process. We ended up stuck in stop-and-go traffic for roughly two hours working through check-in and passport control before we even reached the ferry itself. Standing (or rather, crawling) in a queue of vehicles for that long isn’t exactly the relaxed start to a road trip you picture in your head. Once we were actually on board, though, the crossing itself was fine — nothing special, but nothing bad either.

2023: P&O Ferry Again — Cheaper, But Even Longer Wait (and No Seats)

A year later we went with P&O again, mostly because the price was even better this time: 191 euros for the same route. But 2023 turned out to be the trip where the ferry crossing really tested our patience.

Check-in and passport control took close to three hours this time — again in stop-and-go traffic, inching forward car by car with no real way to know how much longer it would take. And when we finally got onboard, the ferry felt completely packed. We couldn’t find a seat anywhere. After already standing around for hours before boarding, spending the actual crossing standing too wasn’t ideal, especially with a full day of driving still ahead of us on the other side.

Price-wise, P&O was hard to beat both years. But the trade-off in waiting time and onboard comfort started to add up.

2025: Eurotunnel LeShuttle — More Expensive, But Completely Unspectacular (In a Good Way)

This year we switched things up and booked LeShuttle through the Eurotunnel instead, traveling from August 22nd to September 13th. The price jumped noticeably to 403 euros — more than double what we’d paid with P&O in previous years.

But the experience was a different world. No long queues, no stop-and-go for hours, no scrambling for a seat. You drive straight onto the train, stay in your own vehicle for the roughly 35-minute crossing under the Channel, and drive straight off on the other side. It was, in the best possible sense, completely unspectacular. Faster, calmer, and a lot more predictable than either ferry crossing had been.

We caught a bit of the boarding process on video if you want to see what driving onto LeShuttle actually looks like: 👉 Watch on YouTube

Ferry vs. Eurotunnel: What Actually Matters

Looking back at all three trips, here’s how it breaks down:

Price: P&O Ferry was significantly cheaper both times (191–207 euros vs. 403 euros with LeShuttle). If budget is your main priority and you’ve got some flexibility with time, the ferry is still the more affordable way to get a van across the Channel.

Waiting time: This is where the ferry really struggled for us. Two hours in 2022, three hours in 2023 — both times in slow-moving check-in and passport control traffic before even boarding. Eurotunnel, by comparison, had none of that. The whole process from arrival to actually driving onto the train felt streamlined.

Crossing time: Eurotunnel wins by a wide margin — around 35 minutes under the Channel versus roughly 90 minutes on the ferry. When you factor in the hours-long check-in queues we hit with P&O, the total time difference between the two options becomes even more dramatic.

Comfort and crowding: Our 2023 ferry crossing was noticeably overcrowded, to the point where we couldn’t find a seat. LeShuttle doesn’t have this problem at all — you simply stay in your vehicle the entire time, so overcrowding isn’t really a factor.

So, Which One Would We Book Again?

Honestly, it depends on what you’re optimizing for. If price is the deciding factor and you’re willing to build a buffer into your schedule for potential check-in delays, P&O Ferry still gets the job done for a lot less money. But after experiencing both hours-long queues and an overcrowded ferry twice in a row, the calm, predictable rhythm of Eurotunnel’s LeShuttle was a genuinely nice change — even at nearly double the price.

For future UK trips with the van, we’ll probably keep an eye on both options and decide based on travel dates, since peak summer weeks seem to be where the ferry queues get especially bad. If you’re planning your own Calais–Dover crossing for a road trip, our advice is simple: budget extra time if you go by ferry, and don’t be surprised if paying more for Eurotunnel buys you a lot more peace of mind.

Always in motion.