The idea of crossing the channel to buy a load of cheap wine and beer does not seem as popular as it used too, but it is still done and can still make good sense, especially if you live close enough to Dover for an easy day trip and would like to buy a reasonable amount of wine.

You may be able to manage with a large car, but if you want to buy a reasonable amount – for a large wedding, party or family occasion – you may find that a car is not up to the job of carrying that much weight and you need to hire a van.

We have produced a ‘Booze Cruise Van Rental Guide‘ that covers all the things you need to know if you are planning a big wine or tobacco shopping trip. Here are our top tips:

• Try to limit the maximum number of people to three – most vans seat three. Restricting your party to three people will leave plenty of payload free for wine and beer supplies – bottled drinks are surprisingly heavy.
• A bottle of wine weighs around 1.2kg – so a box of 6 weighs about 7.5kg. Champagne and sparkling wine bottles weigh much more because the glass is thicker. If three of you are buying a lot, you may end up exceeding the maximum weight for your van.
• Dover-Calais by ferry (90 minutes) is usually the cheapest way to cross the channel and there are lots of big supermarkets and wine warehouses near Calais (e.g. Pidou, although the (in)famous Eastenders has now closed)
• Eurotunnel (Folkestone-Calais) is quicker, taking just 35 minutes – and Folkestone is slightly quicker to get to for most people
• Remember that although there are theoretically no limits to how much alcohol or tobacco you can import from another EU country, customs will take an interest if you have a really huge amount. The current guidelines are:

• 3,200 cigarettes
• 200 cigars
• 400 cigarillos
• 3kg of tobacco
• 110 litres of beer
• 90 litres of wine
• 10 litres of spirits
• 20 litres of fortified wine (for example port or sherry)

Boozes cruises can still pay, although in reality the savings are not as big as they used to be five or ten years ago. The key is efficient planning and clubbing together – three people, three sets of purchases and one hire van can make the whole day seem very cheap!

Remember that not all van hire companies let you take vans abroad  – and it needs to be arranged in advance. Click here for our European van hire guide.