Eurotunnel Booze-Cruise – Cheaper Wine in France

Wine is Cheaper in France than the UK, Save Money Buying in Calais

Nov 18, 2008

Alcohol duty in Britain is much higher than it is in France, so British visitors to France can often buy drinks cheaper than at home.

British customers can save a lot of money by buying wine and spirits in France, where government taxes on alcohol are lower. For winter trips Eurotunnel does not depend on weather conditions and there is a good range of stores near the ferry terminal.

Cite de Europe – Tesco and Carrefour near to the Eurotunnel Terminal

British drinkers often favour New World wines, whereas the French are patriotic in their tastes. Both are catered for in the large shopping centre near to the Eurotunnel terminal called Cite de Europe. Tesco France on the ground floor carry bulk quantities of many New World wines that will be familiar to British buyers, as well as a range of good British beers and strong Continental lagers.

Carrefour on the top floor of Cite de Europe has a huge range of French wines. Interpreting French wine labels needs a different approach to that in Britain, where the grape variety and relative dry/sweetness are often indicated. Carrefour organise their wines according to the region they come from, so it is worth either noting preferred regions from previous experience, or consulting a good guide to French wines. The reward is that a good French wine retailing for £5-£6 in Britain may sell for €3-4 in Carrefour. Visitors staying the night locally may want to consider trying a less familiar French wine later at their hotel. If it is to their taste a return visit to stock up before travelling is worthwhile.

Opening Hours

France has quite restrictive opening hours, which can catch British visitors out. It is unwise to expect a French retail outlet to be open on a Sunday. Neither Tesco France nor Carrefour are open on Sundays except for some special opening times in the run-up to the Christmas period. They are open between 9am and 9pm Mon-Sat at the time of writing.

Promotions and Deals

UK Tesco regulars can use their Tesco Clubcards in France, which is worthwhile given the reasonably high order values.

If paying with a British card held in £, beware of the offer to charge in Sterling (£) at the till rather than Euros (€). There is a fixed charge for the service and the exchange rate may not be good. It is worth finding out what the card provider charges for foreign transactions first so that the relative costs can be weighed up, but usually paying in € is the cheapest.

Carrefour often has deals where the store gives ‘bons d’achat’ – gift vouchers – against future purchases if a certain amount is paid. One such promotion was €10 bons d’achat for €100 spend on drinks or €30 for €200 spend. To actually use these on the day purchasers need to buy goods with the vouchers on a second pass, or split the party up with the drinks buyer going through first to hand the vouchers back to another member of the group buying a small trolley worth of goods.

Pre-order in the UK

Both Tesco France and Carrefour Calais offer a pre-ordering service where customers can select purchases, typically at least a week before travelling, and the order will be selected and available for collection from the store.

Low Cost Diesel

Fuel duty is less on diesel in France than in the UK. At the time of writing a good price for diesel in the UK was £1.07 a litre, whereas in the Carrefour petrol station diesel was €1.12 (~ £0.91) a litre. The difference is less clear-cut for unleaded petrol, but drivers of diesel vehicles are much better off filling up in France.

GPS location

The copyright of the article Eurotunnel Booze-Cruise – Cheaper Wine in France in France Travel is owned by Richard Mudhar. Permission to republish Eurotunnel Booze-Cruise – Cheaper Wine in France in print or online must be granted by the author in writing.