Calais

Actually the most recent delays, over a long weekend in the UK, were not due to migrants but strikers from a French ferry service (My Ferry Link) that has been sold, the strikers wanted to either 'reclaim their possessions' or 'loot anything not bolted down' (whichever you believe) from the ships that had been sold. The know how to get the maximum effect so they usually tie up both the port and the tunnel terminal, even though they are miles apart, at the same time. The service in the tunnel seems to be back to normal now and as your daughter is not travelling on a long weekend she is likely to arrive on time. You do not say which bus company she is travelling with but it is much more common for day services to use the tunnel while overnight services seem to use the ferries.

She just emailed me she is taking the iDBUS from Brussels. Thanks for the reply.

I should have added the departure time of 14:50 from Brussels.

A safer alternative route would be taking a ferry from the Netherlands:

http://www.seat61.com/Netherlands.htm#.Venb-MoVj5o

Great idea. Thank you for your help.

The refugees/migrants are not interested in the buses and are leaving them alone. They'd get caught immediately on the UK side at passport control and they know it.

I have no idea why she's taking a bus from Brussels to London though, that'll take 7.5 hours compared to the high speed Eurostar train which takes between 2:01 to 2:13.

#6 she is probably taking the bus because it is a lot cheaper than Eurostar, not that iDBUS is the cheapest bus line but it still costs a lot less than the train.

#6

Buses have to take either the Eurotunnel or a ferry. As we have seen both have been subject to disruptions recently.

The point is that Calais is best avoided until they sort out the security issues.

OP here. LP is the best. So many helpful people from all over the world. Thank you.

This was basically my 21 year old daughter's first solo trip aboard. I say basically ,because she did volunteer in Guatemala this January, but only traveled a few weekends with other volunteers. Just before the volunteering she and I backpack traveled for ten days around the country. My third time. The last being 1990.

She said was trying to save money by taking the bus and hoping to see some of Europe through the bus window.

If it had been me, I would have arranged my trip so I would have arrived in London two days before my flight and I would not have bought my bus ticket that far in advance, although I don't know how quickly they sell out in Europe. In most parts of the world, a day or two in advance is more than enough time. Well, hopefully, she learned some more travel skills.

She bought the ticket last night . British Airways for 130 Euros. I told her I would reimburse for it. She is traveling with her own money. She studied at LAMDA in London for the summer term. Then she trained to Newcastle to visit friends from volunteering, then Edinburgh for the Fringe Festival for three days, flew to Hamburg for a couple of days, then Berlin for a week, where she had a great time, as she had a school friend from there that was able to show her the German only clubs ( she is a trained dancer from the age of three) and met up with other friends as well. She stayed at two different hostels. Now to Beshiem, near Frankfurt, for a festival and staying with two friends , again from the volunteering in Guate. Overall, a great and varied trip. Thank you World.
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