Dab radio in france.

[MJSROOFING]

Would the dab radio work in France, I'll end up listening to French speaking nut cases for 3hrs.

[marko301]

It should do but based on DAB used in the UK only picking up UK stations in range. the same will probably be the case in France only picking up French stations in range. Do you ask in the hope you can still listen to UK stations or are you just hoping to listen to the "French speaking nut cases" in better quality?

[Paul]

I am in SW France not far from the Spanish border. Just retuned the DAB part and no French stations and the UK ones that still show will not be received due to the distance - if you can lose them in the UK then what chance France.

Some of the French stations are not too bad if you want music - the motorways have their own channels normally featuring music and not much else as they are far less exciting in terms of incidents than in the UK.

Given the good old MW that, with the right atmospheric conditions, could reach a long way but not much on there now.

[bransoj]

You can sometimes still pick up English channels just over the channel but after that its French radio only and its awful!! I just have my old iPhone that i use as an iPod plugged in continually once we cross the channel and are driving in France!!

[umfaan]

The Dab channels in France are broadcast over a different bandwidth to the UK so very unlikely you will be able to listen to French Dab with a Uk Radio. Also the uk stations won't be within range in France. Dab is still unrolling in France and only available in the main centres with a big rollout this year so new areas are coming on stream all the time .

[MJSROOFING]

OK, I'll just use my USB stick when I'm there then .

[emmamatt38]

You can sometimes still pick up English channels just over the channel but after that its French radio only and its awful!! I just have my old iPhone that i use as an iPod plugged in continually once we cross the channel and are driving in France!!

bansoj when you go to france do you travel via the euro tunnel or ferrry?

[bransoj]

bansoj when you go to france do you travel via the euro tunnel or ferrry?

We always go ferry, normally Dover\Calais with P&O although we did do Dover\Dunkirk with DFDS one year as it was cheaper then realised why and went back to using P&O!! The slight saving wasnt worth the extra bit of driving for us from Dunkirk plus on board the actual ferry is not even close to being as good as P&O.

I've never done euro tunnel so cant compare them but i do enjoy the ferry crossing as part of the journey especially on a nice day stood on the desk. We used to get one about 4am but it was taking its toll as it made it a long day so we now either stop over near Dover the night before and get one about 7am or last year we got an early evening one and stopped over in Saint Omer about half an hour from Calais then up for an early start the following morning. Having now done all sorts of ferry options those two are now the way i would do it. Have an early evening crossing, tea in the on board brasserie then watch the world go by on deck and stop in Saint Omer which is actually really nice and there is an Ibis Budget 10mins walk from all bars\restaurants in the town centre that costs £30 for the night or stop near to Dover (not in Dover!) then get up for a ferry around 6am\7am so you are in France pretty early. Our hotel options are narrowed down by the fact we have the dog, more so in the UK than France, but we stopped in a pub place in St Margaret's at Cliffe which is only 10/15mins from the ferry port and very nice.

[Ernst]

My family-in-law always used the ferry until I pointed them to the euro tunnel. Big advantage of the tunnel over a ferry is that if you miss the train, you can take the next one, most of the times without paying additional cost. Plus that if you arrive early, you might be able to take a train that is about to leave, so you don't have to wait for the train you've booked. Also the crossing itself is faster.

I don't see a reason why to use the ferry anymore unless you're driving a LPG powered car (or fear of tunnels).

[bransoj]

We've arrived early for ferries and been put on an earlier one at no charge so thats not just a train thing although it can depend on the company. We arrived early for the DFDS one and sat around for ages although it was chaos at the time. I just prefer the ferry trip to be honest with the views over the water etc rather than being underground. Its only an hour and we use it as a food stop etc as well. The only reason we may change to the tunnel is for the dog...on the ferry he has to stay in the boot of the car but it doesnt appear to bother him and he just has a kip!

[Paul]

We always use the Shuttle. Firstly, would not like to leave our dog in the car on the car deck, when a crossing is rough some car alarms go off so could be frightening for a dog. The other advantage is straight off of the motorway / autoroute in to the terminal whereas, especially at Dover fun and games with HGVs on ordinary roads to the port. 35 minute crossing, we will often eat in the car during the crossing so no need to stop again - when we used ferries sometimes found large queues at the restaurants and once having eaten twiddling thumbs waiting to arrive in port, plus loading / unloading times very quick on the Shuttle. Overall far more relaxing using the Shuttle.

[emmamatt38]

Is there any problems with the immigrants at the tunnel ? As I remember seeing on the news about it a while ago

[bransoj]

We always use the Shuttle. Firstly, would not like to leave our dog in the car on the car deck, when a crossing is rough some car alarms go off so could be frightening for a dog. The other advantage is straight off of the motorway / autoroute in to the terminal whereas, especially at Dover fun and games with HGVs on ordinary roads to the port. 35 minute crossing, we will often eat in the car during the crossing so no need to stop again - when we used ferries sometimes found large queues at the restaurants and once having eaten twiddling thumbs waiting to arrive in port, plus loading / unloading times very quick on the Shuttle. Overall far more relaxing using the Shuttle.

With regards to the dog it all depends on the dog i suppose. We only go in July or August and in 5 years of doing it never once had a rough crossing thats led to any issues. Also all cars that have pets in are marked up accordingly and folk are on the deck checking on them so if there are any issues they will let you sort the car or animal out. They will also ensure any cars with pets will be out of the direct sun. Worked right in our favour once as it meant instead of having to park where we were due to be right at the back of the queue to get off we were placed differently to keep the dog in the shade and ended up being the second car off the ferry. Once back with the car we take him out for a small wander near the car and he's left his mark on many a cross channel ferry whilst stretching his legs.

At Calais you are straight out of the port onto the, free at that point for a good stretch, motorway whilst at Dover i've only ever once had an issue queuing into Dover but never out. I tend to take the A2 route out which is dual carriageway at least from more or less the point you leave the port. Only place i tend to have issues on the way back is the Dartford crossing that i've never been able to get past without sitting in a jam and that'd be the same whichever way you cross the channel!

As for the crossing if you are organised and do it straight away get to the restaurant for food rather than queuing in the big canteen type place etc. We do that and make it part of the holiday getting a proper meal that means we dont have to mess about finding somewhere to eat rather than only being able to get a snack or something elsewhere we've carried all day in the 5hr drive to the port\tunnel. The restaurant is not that much more expensive than the other places on board, food is very good and cracking views out the floor to ceiling windows.

Also last time i checked the ferry was a fair bit cheaper than the tunnel as well. We're not going this year due to impending arrival of a baby but pricing up when we were going to go in August it would cost £70 more to go on the tunnel than it would by ferry. All comes down to personal preference but we just like the ferry as it stands and i'd never discount it as an option.