French Ports of Entry

[Sea Devil]

It appears that the first call a boat out of the UK must make is to one of the below before going on somewhere else in France. Good to see Lezardrieux in there if coming from a CI and heading for Britany. I wonder how many UK places on the channel UK ports of entry for French folks sailing north..
Source: France - a Cruising Guide on the World Cruising and Sailing Wiki

Boulogne Cherbourg Caen-Ouistreham Calais Dieppe Dunkirk

Fecamp Granville Gravelines Honfleur Le Havre Le Touquet-Etaples

Le Treport Lezardrieux Morlaix Paimpol Roscoff St Malo St Quay-Portrieux

 

[awol]

For those heading to the continent from further north the first stop in the EU is likely to be Eire. While Eire is not part of the Shengen Area, does entry there count as entry to Europe thus starting the 90/180 rule but not requiring a Port of Entry on the continent or because it is part of the Common Travel Area does it not count?

 

[MickeyP]

Cherbourg (Chantereyne) Marina isn’t on the list!

That will be VERY inconvenient.

 

[doris]

So no more races to Deauvillle or Treguier. The Alderney to Dilette drunken barbie will be no more. JOG to St Vaast and others I’m sure.
That’s lots of revenue lost so I’m sure things will be tweaked a touch,

 

[RobbieW]

That list differs from that offered by Wikipedia which offers all the ports served by ferries, including Cherbourg, Diellette etc... List of border crossing points in France - Wikipedia

 

[AngusMcDoon]

... or because it is part of the Common Travel Area does it not count?

That it be.

 

[Sea Devil]

Cherbourg (Chantereyne) Marina isn’t on the list!

That will be VERY inconvenient.

It is.. I must have deleted accidentally sorry!

 

[laika]

That list differs from that offered by Wikipedia which offers all the ports served by ferries, including Cherbourg, Diellette etc... List of border crossing points in France - Wikipedia

+1. If you look at SeaDevil's source though it doesn't actually say that is a list of ports of entry and indeed includes things without what appears to be a symbol for customs like Lezardrieux, although there's no apparent definition on that page of what the symbols mean. Cherbourg definitely is a port of entry with border police we'll probably have to report to on arrival (I posted about formalities for cherbourg a few weeks back).

The basic premise, that this is all going to be a humungous PiTA, is correct of course. No sailing direct to St. Vaast or Fecamp for us as far as I can tell.

Noonsite has a list:
France | Noonsite

 

[dunedin]

For those heading to the continent from further north the first stop in the EU is likely to be Eire. While Eire is not part of the Shengen Area, does entry there count as entry to Europe thus starting the 90/180 rule but not requiring a Port of Entry on the continent or because it is part of the Common Travel Area does it not count?

Ireland is not in Schengen, so no 90/180 issue at least.

 

[Sea Devil]

+1. If you look at SeaDevil's source though it doesn't actually say that is a list of ports of entry and indeed includes things without what appears to be a symbol for customs like Lezardrieux, although there's no apparent definition on that page of what the symbols mean. Cherbourg definitely is a port of entry with border police we'll probably have to report to on arrival (I posted about formalities for cherbourg a few weeks back).

The basic premise, that this is all going to be a humungous PiTA, is correct of course. No sailing direct to St. Vaast or Fecamp for us as far as I can tell.

Noonsite has a list:
France | Noonsite

Actually if you press the little picture, on the source site, of the customs official a little tag comes up saying customs... I could not include all these signs as this system will only allow a few. My feeling is that the list I posted is pretty comprehensive - and IMO not too onerous.. It really depends on how the French decide to operate for boats... The customs guys in Cherbourg and Boulogne were not prepared to comment until after 1st January when I asked them and at the moment are far too busy with 'other' more important things - goods etc.
The French Government is pretty IT savvy and I wouldn't mind betting there will be an app to report to them on once the season gets started now that the trade agreement has been agreed.

 

[Sea Devil]

I think it is a function of the RYA and CA to publish a list of all EU ports of Entry on North sea, Channel and Atlantic coasts...

 

[stranded]

Cherbourg (Chantereyne) Marina isn’t on the list!

That will be VERY inconvenient.

Omission of Cherbourg must be a mistake, surely.

As we are south west is there any reason we cannot go straight to Brest, or Audierne, say, or are we required to go to the nearest port of entry once in French waters?

 

[Sea Devil]

Omission of Cherbourg must be a mistake, surely.

Yes it was me - I did a cut and paste from the source site but this site would not allow me to retain all the little images that followed each port name so whilst I was deleting them I deleted Cherbourg by accident. It is actually the HQ of the 'Manche' French Customs service!

 

[Roberto]

Official list
https://www.douane.gouv.fr/sites/de...ne/ICS/ics-liste-points-d-entree-francais.pdf

 

[Sea Devil]

Official list
https://www.douane.gouv.fr/sites/de...ne/ICS/ics-liste-points-d-entree-francais.pdf

Great list Roberto... How does the Dieppe port with Rouen listed as the Douane location work do you think?

 

[Ningaloo]

Actually if you press the little picture, on the source site, of the customs official a little tag comes up saying customs... I could not include all these signs as this system will only allow a few. My feeling is that the list I posted is pretty comprehensive - and IMO not too onerous.. It really depends on how the French decide to operate for boats... The customs guys in Cherbourg and Boulogne were not prepared to comment until after 1st January when I asked them and at the moment are far too busy with 'other' more important things - goods etc.
The French Government is pretty IT savvy and I wouldn't mind betting there will be an app to report to them on once the season gets started now that the trade agreement has been agreed.

A couple of the ports listed (Lezardrieux and St Quay) do not show the customs symbol and I do not believe they are ports of entry. I am also suspicious of others on the list.
I'd use Noonsite as a reliable resource as this is what other third country nationals have been using for many years. This lists the following channel ports (there are other Atlantic ports):

• Caen-Ouistreham,
• Calais,
• Cherbourg,
• Dieppe,
• Dunkirk,
• Le Havre,
• Roscoff,
• St Malo

 

[Sea Devil]

A couple of the ports listed (Lezardrieux and St Quay) do not show the customs symbol and I do not believe they are ports of entry. I am also suspicious of others on the list.
I'd use Noonsite as a reliable resource as this is what other third country nationals have been using for many years. This lists the following channel ports (there are other Atlantic ports):

• Caen-Ouistreham,
• Calais,
• Cherbourg,
• Dieppe,
• Dunkirk,
• Le Havre,
• Roscoff,
• St Malo

I looked at that list as well but places like Ouistreham are not on it and are for certain a port of entry as they are also a ferry port, So is Rouen up the Seine and appears to service Dieppe according to Roberto's excellent source - which I copy below.

https://www.douane.gouv.fr/sites/de...ne/ICS/ics-liste-points-d-entree-francais.pdf

I think it also depends if a Douane coastguard cutter is based there or there is Douane in a nearby town. I am sure the French will come up with a list of places where non EU boats can clear in and are probably in the same mode of disarray as the UK border force seems to be on the the very small particular problem of UK small craft visiting Europe.
A lot of UK gov web sites re residency are now out of date with their advice and I suspect French sites are sometimes OOD but appear current!

 

[Roberto]

Great list Roberto... How does the Dieppe port with Rouen listed as the Douane location work do you think?

It must be as with companies: Rouen is the Head office, Dieppe a sort of (possibly full branch ) subsidiary which has representative authority from Rouen to issue legal authorizations and similar acts on the name of the Head Office.
One physically goes to Dieppe bureau, the entry document will likely be issued in the name of Rouen.

 

[DJE]

Official list
https://www.douane.gouv.fr/sites/de...ne/ICS/ics-liste-points-d-entree-francais.pdf

That looks like the official list. But it doesn't seem to include Roscoff.

 

[Sea Devil]

That looks like the official list. But it doesn't seem to include Roscoff.

Your right - both Roberto and my lists came from proper official sources that possibly are out of date.. I have noticed looking at French and indeed Spanish sites that some pages still make statements that are pre Brexit by a long way.. It will take a while for even official web sites and gov sites to get up to date with the post Brexit situation...