Booze Cruises

According to Urban Dictionary, booze cruises are "A fun event where one takes a family car to a port in southern England, hops the channel by ferry or chunnel, loads up the car with alcohol and tobacco (which is much cheaper on the continent due to the lower tax), refuels the car (fuel again is cheaper), then heads home."

The first time I heard someone talk about doing this I thought it was quite strange to go through that much effort just to buy alcohol. However, it is substantially cheaper and you are free to return home with an unlimited amount of alcohol "provided it's for personal consumption." So it is possible to stock up and make the trip worthwhile.

In case you're curious what the alcohol-loving Brits deem a reasonable amount of alcohol...according to The Times, you won't be questioned if you keep it under 120 bottles of wine, 250 cans of beer, and 12 bottles of vodka.


You can even book a "tour" through a travel agent which involves riding a coach bus to the ferry crossing, for the sole purpose of purchasing alcohol.