Getting there

MOST people arrive in Dieppe, as they have for centuries, by the ferry from Newhaven. It’s an all-year service, run now efficiently by LD Lines on behalf of the Seine Maritime council, which saved the line from collapse in 2005 by buying the crumbling Newhaven ferry port as well as two new ferries. Currently, one of them, the Seven Sisters, runs on the Newhaven-Dieppe route.

The crossing usually takes under four hours. When the ferry is full, disembarking with a car can entail a frustrating wait, particularly at the Newhaven end where the narrow ramp in the dilapidated port allows only one exit from the ship. Foot passengers escape faster.

Cabins are spacious, clean and comfortable, though expensive for a single person; the bar staff are friendly and the cafeteria serves passable meals (not cheap); the television has, peculiarly, only French channels; small children have a delightful romping area (sometimes less appreciated by adjacent adults); there is outdoor seating on the top deck in summer; and there may be wi-fi for computers at a price, if you can manage to access it with the help of the information desk.

 

To book, you can ring free on 0 800 9171 201 from the UK or 0 800 650 100 from France. Or email tourism.booking@transmancheferries.com Wrinklies over the age of 60 get 20 % reduction if they proclaim their noble seniority when booking. Frequent travellers can also earn reductions.

TUG-Horizon is an association of users of the ferry. For information or observations, contact tugnews@dbmail. com and Brian Collinge, a British polymath living in Dieppe, will reply to you.

Coming by road from Calais or Boulogne, follow the uncrowded motorway towards Paris and Rouen, leaving it before arriving at Abbeville and then following the D925 through Le Tréport to Dieppe. Journey time about two hours from Calais.

Travelling by train from Paris St Lazare, change at Rouen. Journey time upwards of two hours. The service is comfortable but not frequent and the last train from Paris leaves at 7.50pm.