Shopping in Calais

I go to Calais on a booze cruise from time to time, and I combine stocking up on wine and other good things with a night or two in France. First of all the stocking up on wine etc. The easiest way to stock up on a lot of wine and other nice French things is to go to Cite d'Europe. It is easy to find on Google maps, and once you are there there are plenty of road signs except that once in a while it it called "Centre Commercial" rather than "Cite d'Europe". Cite d'Europe has an enormous Carrefour supermarket which is well geared up for the visiting Brit, although the staff can be a little intolerant when it comes to the language barrier ...  Read the complete review

We calculated that on our last daytrip to Calais we had saved over £100 on wine alone. We're not even sure how much we saved on cigarettes (Golden Virginia actually) because it's so long since we've bought them over here but estimate around £480. We take the car over and never pay more than £40 for the car and passengers. Hoverspeed (www.hoverspeed.co.uk) have special offers on at the moment until the end of September. It's even cheaper if you cross before 7.30 am. We travel with Hoverspeed on the Seacat which is the quickest way to travel - 50 minutes each way and I have never suffered sea sickness once. Once in France you should ...  Read the complete review

I live in Kent, about 30 minutes drive from the Channel ports so booze cruising about four or five times a year has become one of our leisure pursuits. A few years back Cite Europe opened up. Now, to those of you who do not know it, Cite Europe is a nice modern shopping mall rather like Lakeside in Essex or Bluewater in Kent. It has some nice boutique types of shops, interesting clothes etc but its big attraction for British shoppers is the Carrefour Hypermarket. When we first went to Calais we used to go to Auchan, previously called Mammouth, to do our shopping. After Cite Europe opened we skipped the town and went straight to there. Not so any more. ...  Read the complete review

A lot of people quite happily come out of the tunnel, go to Cite Europe, and then go home again. This is missing some of the best reasons for visiting the area. A visit to Coquelles is a good idea, to get to the Auchan hypermarket, with good food and booze at excellent prices. If you want familiar wine brands, nip over the car park to Sainbury's new wine store. Also in the same area is the Leroy Merlin DIY centre -worth a visit for good garden furniture prices -and a Nike outlet center -good prices, and trainers up to UK size 17! A bit further afield, go two stops down the A16 motorway, towards Boulogne, and turn off at the Frethun exit. Turn left and go 1/2 ...  Read the complete review

Most people who take the trip to Calais to go shopping usually end up at Cite d'Europe, right next to the Shuttle terminal. There is no doubt that it is very convenient. There is a Tescos wine store there that has all of the excellent wines that you find also in the UK but at about £1 per bottle less than UK prices. There is also a Carrefour there that has a whole range of products, not just wine, beer and spirits. The quality of the merchandise is good and it is very convenient, being so close to the shuttle. A little further from the shuttle and ferry terminals you will find several outlets, mostly for alcoholic drinks. ...  Read the complete review