France (Calais) day trip and "booze cruise" question?

Question

Does anyone know the best shop/warehouse/supermarket for which to buy cheap alcohol when arriving in Calais? I've not done a day trip to stock up before so wondered where the best place to go is. Just the normal wine, beer etc. I don't want to have to travel in land very far.

I know the euro rate isn't that brilliant at the moment but expect there still be some good prices?

Thanks

Answer 1

Best Answer - Chosen by Voters

Are you going on foot or driving?
If you are driving, here are the best hypermarkets in Calais. You can click on each to get directions and a map to get there.
http://www.dover-to-calais.com/auchan_ca…
Auchan generously name their biggest rivals and you only have to click on the names to find their whereabouts.
We regularly stock up in Calais but we prefer to avoid driving in the centre, which can be quite hair raising, let alone parking. Along the years we have found that the best choice offered for wine and beer is actually often at the Auchan hypermarket and near-by Sainsbury's. It is easy to get to on the Calais by-pass, and the same facilities of payment in £ as well as € exist there too with a very fair rate of exchange on the slip. We bought some Roc-de- Lussac there for four Euros a bottle and found that the same bottles were sold for £12 in England. Liqueurs and other spirits are also cheaper there than on the ferries or at the Euro tunnel shop and considerably cheaper than in England.
At the moment there are some great pre-Christmas offers. We bought excellent Champagne at a very good price only ten days ago.

Answer 2

Most of the warehouses in Calais and in Northern Belgium quote prices in Euro and in £, and accept both, so you may not need to change money. The £ price quoted should be as good as if you paid in €, they will update it frequently.

Buy alcohol in France. Shops in Calais include EastEnders, open 24/7, (follow A26, junction 3, right near the port). The shop has some good deals on beer, wine and champagne. Avoid English bitters, the price difference is so small you may as well get them in Tesco in the UK. The best savings are on stronger beers. Not great savings on beers like Stella unless really buying in bulk.

Also the French supermarket chain Pidou has some good deals. The shops also accepts £ in Calais, Boulogne, and Dunkirk, but it is not 24/7. In Calais this is just round the corner from EastEnders, behind the Elf garage.

Never buy tobacco in France - go to Belgium. The border town of Adinkerke is only about 30 minutes up the E40 motorway from Calais (shops not open 24 hours), with Veurne about another 10 minutes on (open 24/7) - they also accept £. Typically, those pouches of tobacco costing £10 or more in the UK are about £3 in Belgium.

Answer 3

I travel to France a lot and the prices are slowly levelling out and, of course, it's not the UK prices coming down.

If you shop around you might get yourself a bargain but the French know a lot of English go to Calais so the prices are higher than normal anyway.

To be honest, I think you'd be better off staying in the UK. With the money you'll save on transport it'll probably work out cheaper overall.

Answer 4

Carrefour in Cité d'Europe - near the tunnel link and about 10 miles west of Calais on the motorway to Boulogne. Or Auchan on the outskirts of Calais.

Source(s):

Working in France and UK, been doing it for ten years.

Answer 5

you have a big supermarket near calais, and there are a lots of britain peoplle who came at this place.

Cité Europe Calais-Coquelles
http://www.citeeurope.com/

Answer 6

East Enders Cash and Carry...just follow the signs out of the port but for cigs you need to go to Belgium..little town called Ardenkirk first Belgian town after the border

Source(s):

Been there