Hi. Travelling over from Dover to Dunkirk in late May and getting into Dunkirk port around 19.00 I've been reading a few stories around horrendous traffic, gangs and refugee camps, which I appreciate maybe exaggerated..... However, would be grateful for any recommendations as to the safest cycling route to take, which I believe is around 20km, along with any general tips? Many thanks.
Dunkirk Port to Dunkirk Centre
- Thread starter lozfuller
- Start date
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HobbesOnTour
Guru
- Location
- España
If you search the forum using Dunkirk as the search term you'll find previous discussions on routes and safety although most cyclists seem to want to avoid Dunkirk town itself.
Will you be solo? Do you have accommodation booked? They may be better placed to help.
Good luck
Gwylan
Veteran
- Location
- All at sea⛵
Advice offered without warranty, but well intentioned.
The refugees were along the main road out of the port. Last week it all seemed quiet as we drove through.
Take the Route des dunes from the terminal. Bit counter intuitive, google maps will show you.
Then the Route de Mardyk. Do not take the Rue de Mardyk
This is the dodgiest bit of the route.
There are odd bits of cycle piste. If it has a blue bike sign on it then you have to use it.https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Belgian_traffic_sign_D7.svg
Or deal with the dog catcher police. If you see one!
Then right onto the D601. The Auchan supermarket will appear on your right soon.
Straight across the roundabout and into town
Altogether about 20km.
Should be daylight in May.
If at all possible lock your bike indoors wherever you stop the night.
De Panne is much nicer, quieter. But 20km further. Flat nice cycle path route along the coast, behind the dunes.
The refugees were along the main road out of the port. Last week it all seemed quiet as we drove through.
Take the Route des dunes from the terminal. Bit counter intuitive, google maps will show you.
Then the Route de Mardyk. Do not take the Rue de Mardyk
This is the dodgiest bit of the route.
There are odd bits of cycle piste. If it has a blue bike sign on it then you have to use it.https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Belgian_traffic_sign_D7.svg
Or deal with the dog catcher police. If you see one!
Then right onto the D601. The Auchan supermarket will appear on your right soon.
Straight across the roundabout and into town
Altogether about 20km.
Should be daylight in May.
If at all possible lock your bike indoors wherever you stop the night.
De Panne is much nicer, quieter. But 20km further. Flat nice cycle path route along the coast, behind the dunes.
Gwylan
Veteran
- Location
- All at sea⛵
Will do when I'm near tablet or p.c.
Gwylan
Veteran
- Location
- All at sea⛵
Try this, or pm me an email address
Shared route
From Dunkirk Ferry Terminal to Dunkerque Centre via Rte des Dunes.
1 hr 7 min (19 km)
1. Head south-east
2. At Giratoire du Petit Denna, take the 2nd exit onto Rte de la Maison Blanche
3. Exit the roundabout onto Rte de la Maison Blanche
4. At the roundabout, take the 1st exit onto Rte des Dunes
5. Exit the roundabout onto Rte des Dunes
6. Arrive at location: Route des Dunes
7. Head east on Rte des Dunes
8. Turn left onto Rte de Mardyck
9. Turn right onto Rte du Fortelet
10. Continue onto Rue du Comte Jean
11. At the roundabout, take the 3rd exit onto Rte de Mardyck/D1
12. Exit the roundabout onto Rte de Mardyck/D1
13. Turn right onto Rte de Mardyck
14. Arrive at location: Route de Mardyck
15. Head west on Rte de Mardyck towards Chem. Ic 52/D1
16. Turn right onto Chem. Ic 52/Rte de Mardyck/D1
17. Turn right onto Rue des Hirondelles
18. Turn left onto Rue des Pinsons
19. Continue onto Bd de l'Aurore
20. At the roundabout, take the 1st exit onto Rue la Fontaine
21. Exit the roundabout onto Rue la Fontaine
22. At the roundabout, take the 3rd exit
23. Exit the roundabout
24. Turn left onto Bd Simone Veil/D601
25. Arrive at location: D601
26. Head east on Bd Simone Veil/D601
27. Turn right
28. Turn left
29. Turn right onto Quai Wilson
30. Turn right towards Bd Simone Veil/D601
31. Turn right onto Bd Simone Veil/D601
32. Keep right to stay on Bd Simone Veil/D601
33. Sharp right
34. Slight right
35. Turn left onto Rue Dampierre
36. Turn right onto Bd Alexandre III
37. Turn left onto Pl. Jean Bart
38. Turn right to stay on Pl. Jean Bart
39. Turn left to stay on Pl. Jean Bart
40. Continue onto Rue Thévenet
41. Continue straight onto Rue Jean Bart
42. Turn right onto Cr François Bart
43. Arrive at location: Dunkerque Centre
To see this route visit https://maps.app.goo.gl/onX81gwSUhmMYHZw8
mjr
Comfy armchair to one person & a plank to the next
- Location
- mostly Norfolk, sometimes Somerset
Why do that? https://cycle.travel/map/journey/133343 is quieter. ( Last ridden 2018. Check for further improvements. )
mjr
Comfy armchair to one person & a plank to the next
- Location
- mostly Norfolk, sometimes Somerset
Dunkirk ain't Dover. The port's in the middle of nowhere and the signs are massive. If you can't see a bike sign, ride up to the motorcycle one. I've only come back that way once, in 2018, but I didn't notice much in the way of shelter or facilities at the port so you might want to wait around Loon-plage if you arrive far too early.
Gwylan
Veteran
- Location
- All at sea⛵
It is a distance, but there is route not the motor way. Pleasant, but I would not want to do it alone and at night.
You check in at the same place as the cars (and motorbikes). Then you ride through to the waiting lanes the same way that a car would. It's not like Dover where there is a separate route for cycles.
@mjr is right, there's not much in the way of facilities. There is a building once you are through into the waiting area but it's not exactly luxury. If you have to queue at check-in then you're just queueing out in the open.
mjr
Comfy armchair to one person & a plank to the next
- Location
- mostly Norfolk, sometimes Somerset
You say that, but once we were through the check-in gate in 2018, cyclists were directed along a different route to cars that put us first on the quay. I think we were actually the other side of the disembarking traffic to the waiting cars. I suspect it depends what the port worker in charge decides on the day.
Streetview 2021 images look like there are bike symbols on the entry signs and entry is from the southern port roundabout (the one you exit onto/by). Just follow the signs. It's really a simple port.
I can only go off my experience at Easter this year. I've been through Dunkerque port many times by car but this was the first time by bike.
This was the route I was directed to take, which was the same as the cars:
The bikes (there was only me and one other) were put into a lane slightly further across than where the blue line is on the map; all the cars were to our left. I think the lorries boarded first, then bikes, then cars.
You're right about the entry sign; it basically covers everything except lorries. Coaches take the same entry but split off just afterwards.
The port layout has changed over the years; the entry point used to be at the next roundabout up, but that changed a few years before 2018. I think the yard to the left of the yellow line on the map was used at some point, and the border controls were over there, then we used to go into what is now the waiting yard from the other direction and do a 180 degree turn to face the ferry, although that was a good few years ago and I don't remember exactly.
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