# portsmouth to caen ferry



## powerplus (Oct 6, 2014)

hi
hoping you all had a good rest

we are looking at going to portugal via portsmouth to caen ferry
just after a bit of advice as to weather this crossing would be fine

i am thinking of the night crossing so that we can get a good daylight run once in france


dont fancy 24 hours on the ferry via bilbao or santander

barry


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## caulkhead (Jul 25, 2007)

Hi Barry,
We use Portsmouth-Caen regularly. Regarding the night crossing, we have found it difficult to get a decent nights sleep due to the late departure time - 10.45, and the early arrival - 06.45. If was possible to get an early boarding in order to get your head down then that would be better but as the ferry only has about an hours turnaround time this isn't possible. We have found that you are just not onboard long enough! Consequently we use the 0800 departure which arrives early pm and get about 3hrs driving under our belts before stopping. Route wise, their are various options for getting down to Spain. If you want advice about these come back with a reply and I will dig out the info from one of our previous trips.

Caulkhead


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## MrWez (Sep 25, 2011)

We've used this crossing quite regularly - in fact we used it last summer.

Contrary to Caulkhead's experience I find I can get sufficient sleep, but it's a case of getting your head down pretty much as soon as you get on board (although we may go via the bar for a pint of relaxation).

One problem with this crossing is that they wake you up early to get you out of the cabins - as Caulkhead alluded, they have a very tight turn-around time and want to get the cabins cleared as quickly as possible. If you can wait until you get down the road a bit for breakfast you could possibly keep your head down for longer.

Once you get off the ferry it's a fairly straightforward run down from Ouistreham (where the ferry port actually is), to the Caen peripherique and then the world is your oyster!

We've also used the overnight Portsmouth-St Malo run and would use that again if we were heading further south, you're on the boat for longer so you can get a better rest. From the port you get straight out onto the N137 to Rennes/Nantes. It is a course a more expensive crossing.

Mr Wez - another Caulkhead (but living abroad)


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## Zebedee (Oct 3, 2007)

If it's any help Barry, we do it the opposite way, whichever route we use.

We take a crossing which arrives in France late evening, and get a good night's sleep on the other side. Then there's no worries about not getting enough sleep, and we are up and away at whatever time suits us the following morning.

Finding somewhere close to the port for an overnight stop is not at all difficult. There are loads of aires and camperstops to choose from.

Dave


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## Penquin (Oct 15, 2007)

Have a look at the Portsmouth - St Malo crossing, the departure time is better and the arrival puts you onto free dual carriageways within 10 km, you can then go to Rennes, Nantes and then south, the peage only starts south of Nantes if you wish to use it and it is then continuous to the Spanish border more or less as the A10 is now a peage......

We use the Caen and the St Malo options several times a year depending on what is available, but our preferred one is the St Malo as the dual carriageway is so readily accessible, Caen puts you on the peage and that costs us more to travel home (42€ for a single journey to Bergerac c/w 34€ from St Malo), the distances are more or less the same......

The Caen option gives you the choice of Poitiers if that is what you want, but IMO Futuroscope has now lost it's attraction with 3D cinema being so frequently encountered.....

Dave


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## Mrplodd (Mar 4, 2008)

Barry

Before coming to a final decision I would suggest you look closely at the prices for the various routes, that might make the decision for you !! 

I came back from Spain in September and the cost one way was not very much more than the fuel costs of getting back to the channel and DIDNT include the cost of a channel ferry crossing. Also realistically its 3 days driving from the Spanish Border to the channel and the ferry takes about 26 hours in total. 

Portsmouth to St Malo overnight is a very pleasant route but boy dont you pay for it !!!

I did the "Economie" service with BF, wouldnt do it again the extra money for the full price service is money well spent in my view.

The Greek ferry thats ablaze and adrift in the Adriatic is the sister ship to the one we came back from Spain on (and that broke down on us and was 9 hours late getting back to the UK!!!) 

Andy


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## Dill (Jun 3, 2010)

We have just been looking at these two choices ourselves, but looking at the cost of the ferry its cheaper just to drive from Calais.

Dill


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## MrWez (Sep 25, 2011)

Dill said:


> We have just been looking at these two choices ourselves, but looking at the cost of the ferry its cheaper just to drive from Calais.
> 
> Dill


The deciding factor for me would be the time it takes to drive up from the south coast (less than 1/2 an hour from Portsmouth), to the channel ports and then drive all the way back down again - if I was heading south to the Loire, Vendee or Dordogne it would lose me a day at either end of the holiday. Within reason, I can bear the cost, what I don't have the luxury of is time.

On the other hand, if I was heading off to the Netherlands, northern Germany and Denmark, it makes no sense to pay for an expensive ferry crossing and then head north, a cheaper crossing to Calais or Dunkerque would make better use of my time and money.


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## caulkhead (Jul 25, 2007)

Thats exactly how I look at it MrWez! I worked out a long time ago that it was always going to be cheaper to drive from Portsmouth (after getting off IoW ferry) to Dover or Folkestone and then drive all the way back down from Calais. Then one day as we were driving out of Pompey, past the Continental Ferry Port, my wife glanced across to me and said, "just explain to me one more time why we are not getting on one of those ferries!!!" 

We have been using Brittany Ferries out of Portsmouth ever since :lol: 

Caulkhead


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## Dill (Jun 3, 2010)

Yes I would agree with coming from Hampshire and the Isle of Wight that Portsmouth would be the better choice. Where as we are coming from Wakefield near Leeds. 

Regards

Dill


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