I Took a Folding Kayak on the Tube From London to France, and It Was Wild

Over the last year, I’ve spent a lot of time paddling a foldable Oru kayak up and down the canals of east London. Even on sunny, summer weekends, there aren’t that many people out on the water in kayaks or canoes, and it always feels like a secret way to explore the city. Recently, a friend and I decided to push the kayaks’ portability and bring them all the way to France. It was a good test of what you can do using public transportation. From London to the marshes of Saint-Omer in Calais, we took trains, buses, a ferry, and one short taxi ride. Eventually, we made it to a small bed and breakfast tucked away on a tiny island in the marshes, which can only be reached by water. It was exactly the city break we needed.

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The Marshes

Construction started on canals of Saint-Omer well over a thousand years ago, around the 700s. People living there at the time dug irrigation canals by hand and formed scores of little agricultural islands. Today, most of the people who live in the marshes are connected to the mainland by a series of bridges. However, there are about 30 homes that can only be reached by water, and even their mail is delivered by boat.

My friend and I paddled around the canals for a few hours, guided by a series of numbered boxes that tell you where to turn. Just the night before, we had wandered through a craft beer festival that had taken over the historic center of Saint-Omer, giving the town a bit of a nightclub feel. But here, just a few miles away, it felt like we couldn’t be further away from the chaos of civilization. 

We paddled under the canopies of weeping willows, past swans and ducks diving for fish, and through a broad yet calm river, where we stuck our feet over the sides of our boats to drag them through the cool water. We spent a night at La Fermette de Marie Grouette, a small bed and breakfast you can only get to by boat, and enjoyed a dinner of charcuterie on the dock, with an incredible sunset.

How We Got There

We started in east London, where we took the Overground and then the Tube to King’s Cross Station. From there, we took a train to Dover, then a taxi to the ferry terminal. You could walk there, theoretically, but it’s not very pedestrian-friendly (or scenic), given how many lanes of traffic are going through border control to cross into France, so I would recommend taking a cab for safety reasons. 

Once we arrived at the ferry terminal, we took a bus to passport control, then boarded again to unload our luggage through security checks. Afterwards, we got back on the bus again and boarded the P&O Ferry from Dover to Calais.

The ferry ride was short and quite nice (I highly recommend upgrading for the Club Lounge seating if you’re hungry—there are unlimited snacks, plus sun loungers on the deck with great views). In the port of Calais, we took a bus off the boat to the ferry terminal, then a shuttle to the train station. We took a roughly hour-long train from Calais-Ville to Saint-Omer, then walked about five minutes to Hotel Mercure. 

In the morning, after a breakfast of crepes involving copious amounts of Nutella, we walked 25 minutes to Les Faiseurs de Bateaux, where we picked up maps and a picnic lunch, set up our kayaks, and got in the water. If you don’t have a boat of your own, you can rent canoes, rowboats, and small electric boats here.

The canal system is easy to navigate if you pay attention to the numbers signposted at each intersection, which correspond with maps. We paddled around for a few hours at an extremely leisurely pace, and then made our way to the B&B. We spent the evening lounging outside by the canals and watching the sunset. In the morning, the canals were nearly empty except for us, as it was a Monday, so we enjoyed a serene paddle down to La Maison du Marais. The “marsh house” is a modern museum exploring the human and natural history of the canals and marshes, and it’s a great place to take the boats out of the water to continue onward. It’s about a 20-minute walk to the train station.

That afternoon, after exploring the area a little more on foot, we went back home to London the way we came (OK, mostly—we accepted a lift directly to the ferry terminal this time, then caught an Uber home from the train station in London because it was late at night).

Where to Stay

In the town of Saint-Omer, we stayed at the Mercure hotel, which is a short walk from the train station and about a 25-minute walk to Les Faiseurs de Bateaux.

In the marshes, we spent a night at La Fermette de Marie Grouette, which has two rooms and an excellent, hearty, made-to-order breakfast.

Essential Gear

Oru makes a variety of folding kayaks for different conditions. The Lake+ kayak is the lightest-weight model they offer—about 18 pounds—and is the easiest to carry. It’s ideal for flatwater situations like canals and slow-moving rivers with little to no surface current. The exterior backpack pockets fit your paddle and small pieces of gear, like a water bottle, drybag, headlamp, and other small essentials. I used a medium-size drybag as luggage to avoid packing too heavy, and this was perfect for a short weekend trip.   

Source: https://outdoors.com/i-took-a-folding-kayak-from-london-to-france/