# Ferry to Spain



## ramblefrog (Jun 28, 2010)

Hi,
Trying to plan a spain trip - live on the south coast.
What is our best ie cost effective means of getting there/
Thanks


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## Grizzly (May 9, 2005)

Depends on the time of year. At this time of year the ferry to Sandanair is not too bad but later on in the year I expect that the answer will be Calais.
The ferry prices go up and down so much that you have to get actual figures.


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## adonisito (Nov 6, 2009)

We live on S Coast too, we went to N Spain last year as far as La Coruna. We found the ferries a ridiculous price so went on the tunnel and trundled down through France, very pleasant. Depends how long you've got I suppose. I've heard something about a new Ferry from Nantes to Gijon I think, with cheap intro offers , that might be an interesting compromise.


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## MicknPat (Jul 18, 2005)

*Re: ferry to spain*



ramblefrog said:


> Hi,
> Trying to plan a spain trip - live on the south coast.
> What is our best ie cost effective means of getting there/
> Thanks


Simple enough question but requires a little more information to give an accurate answer. 

Where in Spain are you heading?

What size MH and its MPG?

Are you towing a car / trailer?

Where on South Coast are you starting from?

We have just arrived at a camp site just south of Alicante.

We have a 39ft RV (8 mpg) and tow a car total shipping length 16m so class 4 for any tolls.

Stafford to Portsmouth 183 miles

Ferry Crossing 25 hours with outside cabin cost £725 one way.

Santander to site 559 miles

Stafford via Dover and France to our site in Spain would take a further 628 miles + tolls

Hope this helps?

Mick


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## Mrplodd (Mar 4, 2008)

You will have to do the maths.

Remember you can save time OR money never both !!

Price up the various ferry crossings (for some odd reason its cheaper to go to Spain from Portsmouth than Plymouth even though its further!!) against the fuel and toll charges etc. 

In the summer its something like £1600 return for me in a 7.5m Mh thats a LOT of fuel and toll charges but it would save many days driving down and much fuel. 

Sorry to push it back onto you but its a decision only you can make.

I live in Weymouth and have a ferry less than 3 miles from my house ( Condor) but having done the maths its still cheaper (by several hundred pounds) for me to drive to Dover and get the ferry than it is to use my local one and yes that does take in the extra mileage both sides of the channel both ways !!!

Dover - Calais in August £69 return Western approaches crossings ( Portsmouth - Cherbourg) just short of £500 return. Madness !!!

You can get all the ferry prices off the internet, so start surfin' dude and get that calculator fired up!!!


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## Rapide561 (Oct 1, 2005)

*Ferry*

Hi

A bit off topic but....

I am going to Spain soon and after a few weeks will take a ferry from Barcelona to Genoa. This saves a lot of driving, tolls and avoids the need for an overnight stop en route.

The best bit - 175 euro one way for a 17 hour crossing.

Russell


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## teemyob (Nov 22, 2005)

*Depends*

All a case of time and money.

I have made many posts on this subject, as have many others.

Bilbao route return in Spring

6m Motorhome £597
8m Motorhome £820

I have booked to go to Spain in September by Ferry (Bilbao).

But we are not taking the motorhome as it is cheaper to go in our Minibus and Hire a Villa.

www.lastminutejavea.com

as an example.

Problem I find with Spanish sites (Compared to the French).

Too Cramped
Too Shady (Okay you may want shade, we don't)
Too Many trees to negotiate
Too Noisy

For what we pay for a pitch we can put towards a Villa and save on fuel and ferry.

But we go for 2-3 weeks, not 2-3 months or more.

Hope this helps?

TM


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## Mike48 (May 1, 2005)

*Re: Depends*



teemyob said:


> Problem I find with Spanish sites (Compared to the French).
> 
> Too Cramped
> Too Shady (Okay you may want shade, we don't)
> ...


The above is a generalisation too far. If you visit the South of France its not uncommon to have to move your van to allow others access to their pitch. The pitches are tiny. In the rest of France there are campsites with large and small pitches as there are in Spain. It all boils down to where in France and Spain you are going and when.

I frequently visit campsites in France and Spain and its easy to find sites that have sunny pitches; they are not all shadey.

As for noise again the South of France is about the noisiest of the lot especially when there are Italians around.

My experience of the Santander ferry is also positive as you offset the additional cost by savings in fuel and tolls. If you belong to the owners club you can save 30% on the fare and if like me you use the ferry more than once a year the saving is considerable.


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## slippers (Mar 12, 2009)

Could you tell me more about the owners club please, we have used this ferry a few times and any savings are useful, thanks.


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## Mike48 (May 1, 2005)

slippers said:


> Could you tell me more about the owners club please, we have used this ferry a few times and any savings are useful, thanks.


Link here:

http://www.brittany-ferries.co.uk/property-owners-travel-club/france-spain

My return to Santander cost £669.30 which includes a return club class cabin with TV and coffee facilities etc plus 2x£7.50 for breakfast vouchers.

My return ticket to Roscoff saved 20% on the ferry plus a free cabin.

For my £100 membership for 2 ferry trips I saved £305.


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## drfcchris (Nov 4, 2008)

have you looked at the ferry crossing from Saint Nazaire in France to Gijon in Spain with LD Lines. we have booked this crossing at the end of May intending to travel around Portugal.

Sails at 2100 arrives at Gijon 11.00 next morning booked inside 4 berth cabin, return 3 adults £384.

(could have sailed return for £254 with reclining seats x2) 

as we are still working and only have just short of 3 weeks hol we think this is the cheapest and quickest way by sailing over night saving at a guess around 2000mls return

we booked with Directferries.com

food for thought !!!

rgds Chris


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## peedee (May 10, 2005)

At current fuel costs at 23/24mpg it will cost you £230/240 for fuel for the Calais/Alicante journey. Using the aires overnight costs are not worth considering on the other hand on the Santander ferry don't forget you will also have to buy food and drink which can amount to as much as another £100 on top of the fare for two people. Frankly if I have the time, its a road trip for me everytime, its so much more enjoyable.

peedee


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## rosalan (Aug 24, 2009)

I could well be out of line, living in the past as I do, but do the railways still do a car/train service to the South of France? They used to do but were not cheap, they were however faster than a ferry or driving.
A


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## oldenstar (Nov 9, 2006)

Last year we used LD Lines Portsmouth to Le Havre, cost around £300, overnight crossing, then loads of miles and 5 sites on the way down to Algarve.

This year we did Portsmouth to Santander, 24 hours, cost £700 plus, but much less mileage, only 2 sites en route, and much more relaxing.

Plus we had a de luxe outside cabin which was superb, inc TV, soft drinks plus tea and coffee, good views, and it includes continental breakfast served in the cabin-hence we did not find it necessary to spend in any of the restaurants.

It was so good that I will try to upgrade to this type of cabin on our return in March.

I suspect that, even with diesel as costly as it is, you would have a job to justify the Santander crossing on a cost basis, but taking all things into consideration we found it very worthwhile.

HTH

Paul


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## lucy2 (Jun 27, 2007)

We have booked Dover/Calais out st nazaire to Gijon return then zeebrugge to hull back, in Aug return sept. £ 500 total for both boats with cabin on st nazaire both ways , in a 6mtr motorhome, compared with Portsmouth /Plymouth to Santander return with Cabin £ 900 to £1000. Draw your own conclusions!!


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