# Best/low cost ferries



## jaxnbrian (Jan 31, 2010)

Going to travel down through France to Spain end of next week or week after. Advice please as to when and where for most economical routes. We are flexible with times etc. I'm sure you fine people will have lots of tips for me

Many thanks
Jax n Brian.


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## Mrplodd (Mar 4, 2008)

Purely on cost then Dover-Calais/Dunkirk is the cheapest by a long way. Tunnel isnt bad either. (especially if you have a laod of Tesco vouchers)

It all depends where you are starting off from and where you wish to go.

I live in Weymouth (ferry port Condor) however it is much cheaper for me to drive to Dover than take any of the western approaches crossings. However if I was going to Brittany that might not be the case.

I would suggest that you go onto the various ferry company websites and feed in your travel dates and vehicle size etc for each of the routes you think might be suitable. Make a note of the prices you get then do the math's in respect of mileage from home to ferry port any mileage the other side. If your final destination is Spain and you dont actually want to drive through France it MIGHT be worth looking at Plymouth to Santander or similar. (one way and drive back thru France perhaps??)

There is no defintive answer to your query I am afraid, you will have to do a bit or research. Cost depends on all sorts of factors, day of the week, time of travel, vehicle size etc etc

I have found DFDS to be the overall cheapest, some of their ships are not the newest but you are only on 'em for just over an hour so does it really matter what the ships are like??


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## hogan (Oct 31, 2006)

Have been more than happy with DFDS. Some are a bit old but like the previous poster said "your not on board to long"


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## Sideways86 (Feb 25, 2009)

Western ports far too expensive and we live in South Wales!

I go for DFDS also or Tunnel with my favourite Tesco reward vouchers

Happy Days


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## caulkhead (Jul 25, 2007)

Hi Jax n Brian,

As already stated, Dover/Calais or Dover/Dunkirk will be cheapest especially if you don't mind a very early/late crossing. Next will be the Tunnel and then either Brittany Ferries or LD Lines from Portsmouth. As you are, presumably, coming from Northants, mileage in the UK will be about the same whichever ferry port you head to. You would save a fairly substantial amount of money by crossing to Caen or St Malo with Brittany Ferries because the mileage to Spain would be less and you would save on tolls as well (if you intend using the Autoroutes that is) As MrPlodd said, you have to do the sums and try to decide which is best. From my point of view, we enjoy a leisurely overnight crossing with B/F, a nice meal etc, go to bed and wake up refreshed and ready for a full days driving in France. One more thing, if you do decide to use Brittany Ferries, come back on here and ask for someones Discount Code. People are more than happy to oblige and it will get you 10% discount.

Regards Caulkhead


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## rosalan (Aug 24, 2009)

There are I think two dates, which if you book before, you get the cheapest price. I think they were the end of January or the end of April. These could change of course.
We paid £58 return this summer in early August and returned October.
DFDS Dover Calais.
Alan


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## inkey-2008 (May 24, 2008)

We have just booked on P&O out of Dover £45 single on the 31st of October, (8 meter van) The crossing are cheaper on Tues/Wed /Thur, If you are on the camping club use them to book, or if it is a return and are a member use the the code from this site.

Be flexible, I choose a time and then look either side of it to get the best price. It can make a difference of ten pounds.

Andy


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## selstrom (May 23, 2005)

caulkhead said:


> Hi Jax n Brian,
> 
> As already stated, Dover/Calais or Dover/Dunkirk will be cheapest especially if you don't mind a very early/late crossing. Next will be the Tunnel and then either Brittany Ferries or LD Lines from Portsmouth. As you are, presumably, coming from Northants, mileage in the UK will be about the same whichever ferry port you head to. You would save a fairly substantial amount of money by crossing to Caen or St Malo with Brittany Ferries because the mileage to Spain would be less and you would save on tolls as well (if you intend using the Autoroutes that is) As MrPlodd said, you have to do the sums and try to decide which is best. From my point of view, we enjoy a leisurely overnight crossing with B/F, a nice meal etc, go to bed and wake up refreshed and ready for a full days driving in France. One more thing, if you do decide to use Brittany Ferries, come back on here and ask for someones Discount Code. People are more than happy to oblige and it will get you 10% discount.
> 
> Regards Caulkhead


Can you explain how you save money using the ferries to Caen or St Malo?


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## Grizzly (May 9, 2005)

As said earlier; don't automatically assume that the shorter crossing will work out cheaper overall. Do the math !

I did, and put up my working in another thread not long ago, and for us it works out that there is very little difference between the channel and Brittany Ferries to Spain when you take into account overnighting, fuel, wear and tear and so on. We are going Portsmouth to Bilbao in December. You do have to take the journey this side into account too.

http://www.motorhomefacts.com/ftoptitle-143664-costings-for-christmas-trip-to-spain.html

G


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## caulkhead (Jul 25, 2007)

selstrom said:


> caulkhead said:
> 
> 
> > Hi Jax n Brian,
> ...


My post was perhaps a little misleading! I didn't intend to suggest that you would save money overall by using B/F to Caen or St Malo. What I meant was, that the saving on mileage in France could be offset against the additional cost of using Brittany Ferries rather than one of the Dover/Calais operators. For example - the distance between Calais and San Sebastien is 1,105 kms, whereas between St Malo and San Sebastien its 768 kms. A round trip difference of 674 kms and quite a saving in fuel. Also the route from St Malo has far fewer toll-roads. The point is, its not necessarily a simple case of the cheapest ferry crossing working out in your favour overall.

Caulkhead


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