# Anyone compared travel costs to Southern Spain



## dw1 (Sep 9, 2010)

Rather than reinvent the wheel, I wondered if anyone had evaluated the costs of travelling to Southern Spain driving through France compared to ferry to Santander and down to south by road?
Cheers
David


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## jerseyt (Feb 6, 2012)

yes someone on here has, will have a look to see if i can find it 
Cheers
Tracey


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## Mrplodd (Mar 4, 2008)

I did the maths a while ago and it was certainly cheaper to drive down (avoiding the Peage's as I am over 3m and over 3.5T) BUT of course it is a long way and if time is a limiting factor for your holiday then the (3/4?) days driving down and back up France could knock a big hole in your holiday time. Plus of course campsite fees if you are not a user of "Aires" 

If you are planning on taking a "western approaches" ferry (Poole/Portsmouth to St Malo/Caen/Cherbourg) rather than Dover -Calais/Dunkirk then I seem to recall it was actually LESS expensive to take the Portsmouth - Santander/Bilbao ferry after taking into account Channel Ferry costs (plus of course the cost of a cabin :roll: ) campsite costs, possible Peage charges etc plus the fuel to get to Northern Spain plus of course many hours driving!!

Boils down to that good old maxim really

" You can save time OR money, rarely both"


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## jerseyt (Feb 6, 2012)

Found it

http://www.motorhomefacts.com/ftopict-32413-cost.html+comparison


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## Mrplodd (Mar 4, 2008)

But the post dated 2007


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## jerseyt (Feb 6, 2012)

sorry didn't notice that, I am sure there is another one that has been done, because i only joined two years ago and remember reading one in "new Posts" about 6 months after i joined


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## cabby (May 14, 2005)

As mrplodd says, you either save time or money. Again if you have a big beastie RV say, then it is cheaper am told by a couple of owners I met in Spain to take the south coast ferry.

cabby


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## Telbell (May 1, 2005)

There is a sort of "compromise". ie a bit through France them a ferry. We did St Nazaire to Gijon. £150. Suited us. 
Spoke to someone last week who paid £430 out, £460 back, Portsmouth -Bilbao. 
Seems a helluvah lot
Personal choice


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## shirleydeputy (Jul 31, 2009)

*Down to Southern Spain*

Hi. 
Just to muddy the waters.......we tried to estimate our travel costs for our annual winter 6 week stay. We reviewed all the options of ferries and the tunnel etc. 
By far the cheapest way for us, was to fly out and hire a holiday house. Local airport offered cheap flights and in January car hire costs are low so until we bought a dog last year we left our van at home for this trip. 
This year we had to reconsider because of the dog, but for this longer stay in one place we preferred the location and facilities such as UK tv and wifi offered in our holiday rental. We drove down in our car saving money on fuel and tolls with transit hotels at less than £30! 
Each one to their own. I guess, but we are looking forward to touring in the van again soon too.
Good luck with whatever you decide. 
Shirley


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## Grizzly (May 9, 2005)

I did the comparison and posted it on here in about November last year, just before we went to Spain - via the ferry to Bilbao. We came back 2 weeks ago overland to Calais and used a P&O ferry. I will try to find my post.

G

Edit to add:

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


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## Mrplodd (Mar 4, 2008)

LD have now released their sailings and charges for Poole to Santander or Gijon. For a l3m high and less than 8m long MH going out early Sept and returning late Sept the cost, inc cabin each way is £646. (For comparison BF want £908 )

Now I reckon that is good value, it's over £400 to do just Portsmouth to St Malo with BF :roll: 

By the time you have paid for a channel crossing and all the fuel, peage costs etc to get to Santander etc, plus the many days driving I would plump for the ferry every time.


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## Mike48 (May 1, 2005)

This is an earlier post of mine:

The Santander trip makes sense for some. In my case using Santander saves me about 2300 miles. That is around 92 gallons of fuel costing around £460. My Brittany ferries trip with Travel Club membership including cabin is around £620 compared to a ferry round trip costing around £70 from Dover. ( All these figures are very approximate of course but are quoted to illustrate a point.) 

So, travelling with Brittany Ferries to Santander costs me about £90 extra and for that I can get to my destination more quickly, leave from a Port (Plymouth) which is on my doorstep and save a lot of wear and tear on myself and vehicle. The downside is that you don't experience the enjoyable journey through France but this is less of a problem for me as I've been doing this on and off for nearly 40 years with tent, caravan and motorhome. 

The 802 miles (1604 roundtrip) between Calais and Santander is by Autoroute according to viamichelin so if you want to avoid tolls you need to add about another 50 miles round trip or if you don't you will have toll fees of around £200. 

Travelling by BF is not as expensive as some make out but it helps if you live near Portsmouth or Plymouth. For me the worst part of any holiday is the trek from Devon to Dover so I'm happy to pay the £90 extra to go from my local Port and start and end my holiday in relaxation mode. However if you live near to Dover then the economics of travelling by BF is less obvious.


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## makems (Jul 26, 2010)

We have never bothered doing the maths but always go Portsmouth to Santander or Bilbao. 
We want to save time. Simple as that. I can't drive because of poor eyesight so my wife does all the driving and she has an arthritic back. The boat saves a lot of time and physical wear and tear and gets us to the sun quicker than any other route.


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## Rapide561 (Oct 1, 2005)

*Spain*

Hi

I did a detailed comparison ages ago - you can read it here

Russ


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## sideways (Jun 2, 2008)

*Re: Spain*

I went to Benidorm in Dec Southampton to Santander, returned last week via Calais I havnt worked it out to the penny but it was approx. £100 dearer going than coming back, that said it was an enjoyable stress free experience I didn't have a cabin but a reclining aircraft style lounge seat, the crossing was flat calm, i might have had a different opinion had it been rough.


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## Steveboy (Jun 1, 2011)

I'm Portugal at the Mo but recently heard on the radio that Brittany ferries have chartered anothher boat for Santander run with the aim of offering 'economy' fares. might be worth checking out their website. I think they said it will be avaible from mid March.


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