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Why DFDS are the only option for an obligation free purchasing journey to France, and a information that can assist you plan your personal journey…
As a journey blogger, I’m fortunate sufficient to journey quite a bit, which implies I typically get an opportunity to select up a cut price within the airport obligation free retailers. However I’m at all times very restricted about how a lot I can carry or match into my hand baggage. So after I took a ferry to France this month for an in a single day Christmas journey, I used to be very enthusiastic about loading my automotive up with obligation free bargains!
In relation to obligation free purchasing, DFDS are one of many high selections. They’ve an enormous array of products, a number of implausible particular presents, and an excellent Reserve and Gather service that can assist you benefit from your purchasing journey.
This December, I took the ferry to Calais with my dad for a festive father-daughter getaway. We had a good time trying out the Christmas markets, consuming far an excessive amount of, and looking out across the metropolis. And on the way in which dwelling, we crammed my boot with Christmas presents and celebration drinks courtesy of the onboard obligation free store.
Under, I’ve shared my experiences of taking an obligation free purchasing journey to France with DFDS, together with precisely how a lot I saved. I’ve additionally rounded up my ideas for planning your personal purchasing journey. Bon voyage!
My journey to France was a part of a collaboration with DFDS with a purpose to showcase their obligation free purchasing expertise. All phrases and opinions are my very own and unbiased.
Obligation free purchasing has at all times been a enjoyable perk of journey. Whether or not it’s on the airport or onboard a ferry, you possibly can decide up some wonderful bargains on tech items, perfumes, magnificence merchandise, designer put on, cigarettes, alcohol, and extra.
However travelling to France by ferry from the UK opens up a complete new obligation free purchasing expertise. Particularly for those who’re taking your automotive with you. You may replenish the boot with all of your purchases and never fear about the way you’re going to hold all of it!
Plus, you usually have quite a bit longer to browse onboard a ferry than you do on the airport. And because of DFDS’s big portside retailers and superior Reserve and Gather service, you get even longer to buy – in addition to entry to a fair greater catalogue of products.
And don’t overlook, for those who do any purchasing within the EU (outdoors of the obligation free shops on the port and on the ferry), you too can declare the VAT again. Learn my publish about Tax Free Looking for extra particulars.
OK, so obligation free purchasing wasn’t my ONLY motive for travelling with DFDS this winter – however it was a fairly large perk!
In early December, I hopped on a ferry from Dover to Calais with my dad for an in a single day journey. The plan was to discover the Christmas markets, do some Christmas purchasing, eat as many pastries as doable within the area of 24 hours… and replenish on celebration drinks for Christmas with some obligation free bargains! And we managed to tick off all these containers.
We had a implausible expertise with DFDS from begin to end. Test-in and customs had been such a breeze (particularly in contrast with the standard queues and crowds at airports). We’d upgraded to Precedence Boarding, too, which meant that we had been first on the ferry – and first off on the opposite facet!
Even with out that, the DFDS staff appeared to have boarding and offloading right down to an artwork: the entire thing was tremendous environment friendly.
It would simply have been the Christmas spirit within the air, however each member of employees we met was completely beautiful, each within the port and on the ferry. Particularly within the onboard obligation free store, the place everybody was extremely useful and pleasant. The store was a lot greater than I used to be anticipating and had an enormous vary – I’ve written about it in a bit extra element additional down this publish.
How A lot I Saved with DFDS Obligation Free
Right here’s what we purchased, how a lot we spent, and how a lot it might have price if we purchased it in a UK grocery store. For comparability functions, I’ve used the present worth of every merchandise at Tesco* (not counting any reductions).
| Merchandise | Worth | Grocery store Worth | Saving vs Grocery store |
|---|---|---|---|
| Bombay Sapphire Gin 1L (2X) | £14.99 (every) | £27.50 | £12.51 (every) |
| Kraken Rum 1L | £12.69 | £32 | £19.31 |
| Bacardi Gold Carta Ora 1L | £10 | £22 | £12 |
| 24 Pack Birra Moretti | £16.99 | £30 | £13.01 |
| Lanson Black Label Brut Champagne | £19.99 | £36 | £16.01 |
| Yellow Tail Bubbles Glowing Wine (2X) | £5.99 (every) | £10 | £4.01 (every) |
| TOTAL SAVINGS | £93.37 |
In complete, we spent £101.63 on spirits, beer and glowing wines – and saved £93.37 vs shopping for that entire haul in Tesco… BARGAIN!
Clearly, for those who’re travelling with DFDS solely to do obligation free purchasing, then you definately’d additionally should have in mind the price of the ferry and petrol towards how a lot you’re saving. That mentioned, it could actually nonetheless work out cheaper if you could purchase quite a bit – and makes for a fairly enjoyable day journey!
In the event you’re travelling to France anyway, the obligation free purchasing is simply an added bonus and makes the ferry journey dwelling that rather more thrilling.
Obligation Free Allowances into the UK from France
In the event you’re particularly travelling to France with a purpose to benefit from the obligation free purchasing, you’ll most likely need to deliver again as a lot as doable. This implies you want to concentrate on precisely how a lot you’re allowed deliver into the UK.
The obligation free allowances for coming into the UK are fairly in depth, however there are limits, so make sure you don’t go over them. The present allowances are outlined beneath.
Keep in mind – these allowances are per particular person. So if there are two of you in a single automotive, you possibly can deliver double the quantity again into the UK. Supreme for those who’re throwing a giant celebration (a few my pals did this to purchase the wine for his or her marriage ceremony!).
Alcohol Obligation Free Allowances
42 litres of beer
+
24 75cl bottles of wine (18L)
+
4 litres of spirits (over 22% ABV)
OR 9 L of glowing wine, fortified wine, or different alcoholic drinks lower than 22% ABV
OR an equal mixture, eg 2L of spirits and 4.5L glowing wine.
Cigarettes Obligation Free Allowances
200 cigarettes OR
100 cigarillos OR
50 cigars OR
250g tobacco OR
200 sticks of tobacco for digital heated tobacco units
OR equal mixture, eg 100 cigarettes and 25 cigars (half of every allowance).
Different Obligation Free Allowances
As much as £390 value of another items.
In the event you’re bringing greater than these allowances, you could declare the products and pay tax or obligation on them. Discover out extra right here. Thesea llowances had been appropriate as of December 2022, however it’s at all times value checking the most recent information at gov.uk earlier than you journey.
This was my first journey to France with DFDS and I used to be actually impressed. Not solely with the obligation free purchasing, however with the entire journey expertise altogether.
DFDS have a number of ferry crossings a day between Dover and France, serving each Calais and Dunkerque. These are quick, frequent and tremendous handy. I travelled on a snowy weekend in December, when trains and flights had been being cancelled throughout the UK – however the ferry crossing nonetheless ran, and it ran on time!
The drive-through check-in and customs cubicles imply you don’t even should get out of your automotive until you’re on the ferry – a lot simpler than flying. All of the employees I encountered had been completely beautiful, and the entire course of was impressively environment friendly after I travelled.
Crossings to France begin from simply £68 for a automotive + as much as 4 folks, so ferry could be a far more cost-effective technique to journey to northern France than flying – and much more comfy! Day journeys begin from £39 (automotive + 4) – so a brief purchasing journey will be fairly price efficient!
DFDS Obligation Free Outlets
For obligation free purchasing, DFDS actually are among the finest choices. The onboard store is large – and rather well stocked with a large vary of drinks, cigarettes, electronics, toys, magnificence merchandise, and extra.
Final time I travelled by ferry (with a unique firm), the onboard store was a tiny little area and solely actually stocked the most well-liked excessive avenue manufacturers. The store on DFDS felt extra like those you see at airports: very huge and rather well stocked.
However in addition to this fab onboard store, DFDS even have obligation free retailers on the Calais and Dunkerque ports. These are even greater and have a wider vary of merchandise to select from – the one in Calais is 1,000sqm!
In the event you’re undecided you’ll have time to go to the store earlier than your return ferry, you too can benefit from the Reserve and Gather service. You merely choose all the products you need on-line, then pay and accumulate on the port facet store earlier than boarding the ferry. The service is very easy to make use of, because it’s basically on-line purchasing, and will prevent quite a lot of time.
Extra Causes to Select DFDS
- Limitless baggage allowance
- As much as 50% financial savings vs the UK excessive avenue
- Park proper outdoors the Obligation Free retailers in Dunkerque and Calais to replenish your boot!
- Use the Reserve and Gather service to save lots of time.
Make it a day journey
If obligation free purchasing is your solely motive for taking the journey to France, then lower prices by reserving a day journey. Identical-day return crossings are cheaper – and also you received’t should pay for lodging!
Lower journey prices
E-book as far prematurely as you possibly can, as this can usually get you the most effective deal. And for those who can, keep away from travelling at peak occasions like summer time, British and French public holidays, and weekends.
Save time with Reserve and Gather
I’ve already talked about this above, however the DFDS Reserve and Gather service is an effective way to save lots of time along with your obligation free purchasing.
Merely log on and order every thing you need prematurely, then pay and accumulate on the store within the port earlier than boarding the ferry. It’s additionally a very easy
FYI – you could have a ferry crossing booked with a purpose to make a reservation. You additionally want to do that at the very least sooner or later earlier than you journey. I stupidly left it to the final morning and missed my probability – so be sure to order your reserve and accumulate.
Don’t miss the retailers on the port
I discussed the portside obligation retailers above. These big shops are proper earlier than you board the ferry at Calais and Dunkerque and are tremendous handy. Additionally they have far more inventory and a wider vary to select from. So if you wish to get the most effective bargains, you’ll want to schedule time to go to the retailers.
Get to the port early
In the event you haven’t used the Reserve and Gather service, I like to recommend arriving on the ferry terminal as early as doable to have a while within the Obligation Free Store earlier than boarding the ferry.
We arrived about an hour earlier than our crossing, and despite the fact that there was no queue at test in or customs the method took round quarter-hour. By the point we had been by way of, they had been already boarding – so I missed my probability to browse the portside store. Subsequent time!
Plan prematurely
Plan prematurely and make a purchasing record to be sure to keep inside your allowance, save as a lot cash as doable, and decide up the most effective bargains. Browse on-line to see what presents are at present on, with a purpose to work out how you can get essentially the most to your cash, then make an inventory prepared for once you go to the store.
Make the Most of your Journey
Even for those who’re planning a fast day journey for some obligation free purchasing, you possibly can nonetheless benefit from your journey to France and make it a extremely enjoyable day trip!
Spend a little bit of time exploring Calais. On a reasonably quick strolling tour of the town you possibly can go to the gorgeous Lodge de Ville (City Hill) and neighbouring Beffroi (Belfry), Fort Risban close to the water’s edge, Calais Lighthouse and the spectacular Tour du Guet – a Thirteenth-century watchtower within the Place d’Armes.
If in case you have time, take a stroll on Calais Seaside so far as the historic Fort Lapin battery and the encircling sand dunes. The lengthy, sweeping expanse of white sand at Calais is a superb spot for a stroll at any time of yr, even after I visited on a frosty winter morning.
Even for those who’re pressed for time, you might squeeze in lunch or dinner at a neighborhood restaurant to benefit from your purchasing journey to France. Talking of purchasing, you’ll want to swing by a grocery store and a number of the smaller native meals retailers and patisseries to select up some yummy French meals to take dwelling!
Lastly, for those who’re travelling across the festive season so as do your Christmas purchasing or decide up the celebration drinks, you’ll want to take a look at the lights and Christmas markets in Calais when you’re on the town.
Learn Extra
Greatest Locations to Go to in Northern France
A Brit’s Information to Buying in France
In the event you take an obligation free purchasing journey to France with DFDS, let me know the way you get on within the feedback beneath. I’d love to listen to about it!
