What happened to the Oostende to Dover ferry, did I miss something? I wanted to drive over to the Yewkay next week and there is no ferry, only the eye watering expensive Holland to Hull or Newcastle or the dreary Calais-Dover shuttles. Not going to take the tunnel, going the way god intended.

Nearest alternative would be Dunkerque to Dover with DFDS.

There’s the Harwich - Hook of Holland route operated by Stena lines.

Going to give it some good thinks this week, I would fancy an overnight trip to Hull or Newcastle, a few beers on a "mini-cruise," entertainment and the Northsea at night, then a short-ish drive to Blackburn.

We’ve done both the Rotterdam to Hull and Zeebrugge to Hull overnight routes multiple times and it is a fantastic way to get to the north of England.

Sounds like a good idea. I don't mind the short Calais because no sooner have you boarded and had a cuppa, it's time to get off again. So it's a short break for fresh air and a brew. The Zeebrugge/Oostende/Dunkerque crossings are too long for that..neither one thing or another. Much rather have the overnight in a case like that and get a decent night sleep (after a couple of beers and a decent dinner). For that I quite like the Normandy Ferry crossings but, if you are going to Blackburn, they wouldn't make any sense.

The Dunkirk to Dover crossing isn’t much longer than the Calais to Dover crossing, both are just a short break and leg stretch affair.

Half an hour longer.

When did the Dover/Ostend last run? Because I don't recall seeing that as an option for years.

The reason for Oostende is that I actually quite like the place and would have happily stayed a night after having slobbered down a tub or two of hot whelks on the promenade and getting ransacked on Belgian beer.

Anyway it´s a rainy Sunday and I am bored to puke in my one-room-pokey-hole-under-the-roof and the owners have visitors and the kids are clumping up and down the stairs like soldiers storming a building. A mix of Sicilian and Romanian and they could not be quiet even if you drugged the little buggers, so I´m going to have another cup of tea and blow dodge for the rest of the day.

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Back in Bavaria, god´s own belly button.

It hasn’t run for a very long time, I think they stopped running from Ostend in about 2012/2013.

Oostende brings back memories of moule frites and fresh fish being sorted on the dock side.

(I sailed there many times when I was a kid)

I'd like to use the Hull ferry but compared with the others, it's really expensive.

The Harwich-Hook ferries are really nice - especially on the night service but not much good for Yorkshire.
(Although last year we drove down from Yorkshire, had a day on the beach in Norfolk and then caught the night ferry from Harwich).

We would often use the Hull route for one keg if a trip and the Hareuch route for the return leg.
My family is in Yorkshire and hubby’s is in the south east so it worked well for us.

We never found the Hull ferry to be that much more expensive once we’d factored in overnight hotel stays, food and fuel costs plus it was a much more relaxed experience all round.

There is one going from the Hook to Harwich on Sunday at 22.00 for 207 Euro including cabin, so I will be getting this methinks. Still got that asslong stretch from Harwich to BB though, but it gets there early enough for a trip up memory lane when I got to Harwich while working on the Prinz Hamlet Hamburg-Harwich ferry.

We'll be tucked up in our hotel in Calais next Sunday at that time ready to get an early morning ferry to Dover on Monday morning.

They're much cheaper if you book enough time in advance. I've paid not much more than that for two outside three-berth cabins and a car - in peak season.

I went on that as a kid!

I probably cooked your dinner.