Travelling from Great Britain to Belgium return

However, not all destinations in Europe are so affordable. Take a country on the other side of the Channel from Britain: Belgium. You can fly to Prague much cheaper than to Brussels! At one stage you could fly to New York for the same price as flying to Brussels!

In the 80's up to the mid 90's, the ferry crossing Dover-Ostend was a regular journey for many stag do's. It took 4 hours and was the cheapest way to travel to Belgium. Many inhabitants in Ostend were complaining about the hords of drunken english people descending on their town. However, when the crossings stopped, Ostend experienced a real downturn in revenue.

With the advent of Eurotunnel and Eurostar, some ferry routes stopped and there are now very few routes into Belgium. Nearly all routes are to Calais and Dunkirk, close to the Belgian border. Eurotunnel and Eurostar together with the remaining ferry crossing used to be expensive. Fortunately, the likes of Ryanair and BMI Baby were able to provide cheap flights to Brussels and Charleroi.

Not for long. It seems suddenly Brussels was being considered purely a Business destination and most airlines started charging accordingly. Then Ryanair was accused by the European Commission of receiving illegal subsidies from the local authorities “incompatible with the proper functioning of the internal market”. Ryanair closed its Stansted Charleroi route. There aren’t many other international airports in Belgium and again no reasonable flights between the UK and either Liege, Antwerp or Ostend.
As a result, flying from Great Britain to Belgium has become once again a luxury.

So what are the reasonable alternatives these days? Eurotunnel and Eurostar have become more affordable but their prices are still a long way from matching budget airlines to other similar destinations (Paris, Amsterdam, Barcelona), especially if you don’t live in the South East of England.

Once again if you have a car or live in the South East, it is with the ferries that lies the best offers by far. Thanks to Speedferries who launched a price war on the big ferry companies a few years ago, prices have fallen across the border. Norfolk Line, once more known for its freight service is popular these days with passengers and offers a good service at a good price. Sea France and P&O Ferries have reduced their prices considerably over the last few years to match those of Norfolk Line and Speedferries and also offer a good service. To get the best offers with any of these ferry companies you need to register with them. They will send you early offers, which unlike budget airlines, are often valid also for travel during peak time holidays. So book early and enjoy a trip to the continent whilst it lasts…