rolandrat Posted January 11, 2011 Share Posted January 11, 2011 Just priced the ferry from Portsmouth to Santander and I've been quoted 727 GBP return and Portsmouth to St Malo 484 GBP return, thats for early March departure so the price for June/July will be much higher, still the relaxing cruise down and back will be worth it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest JudgeMental Posted January 11, 2011 Share Posted January 11, 2011 The bay of Biscay with brittany ferries can hardly compare to a cruise*-) (we have done both) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
David Dwight Posted January 11, 2011 Share Posted January 11, 2011 We have booked the same route, the latter part of Feb return end April for under £600 David. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ips Posted January 11, 2011 Share Posted January 11, 2011 Wow thats a lot of weeks away in good old blighty :-D Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
hallii Posted January 11, 2011 Share Posted January 11, 2011 I have done Santander and Bilbao lots of times, it is now so expensive I drive to Spain. I take 3 or 4 days to get into Spain and last year my fuel costs were about £400 for the whole holiday. No contest for me. Dover Dunkirk £54 return off peak. I am off in February. H Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest JudgeMental Posted January 11, 2011 Share Posted January 11, 2011 Calais to Santander is only 802 miles? You could do it with one overnight stop if pushed, or a leisurely few days.... Far more pleasurable then a Brittany ferries crossing :-S Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rolandrat Posted January 11, 2011 Author Share Posted January 11, 2011 That old P&O bucket did plenty of rocking and rolling, I wander where she is sailing out of now. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Derek Uzzell Posted January 11, 2011 Share Posted January 11, 2011 rolandrat - 2011-01-11 3:31 PM That old P&O bucket did plenty of rocking and rolling, I wander where she is sailing out of now. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/MS_Pride_of_Bilbao Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rod Posted January 12, 2011 Share Posted January 12, 2011 If you are using Brittany Ferries regularly check out their Travel Club, anyone can join and after the initial joining fee you can save up to 30 per/cent each crossing, (and free or half price cabins on French crossings.) You need to travel at least once a year to benefit but if you can share the membership with a friend and save costs. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mike88 Posted January 12, 2011 Share Posted January 12, 2011 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) quoted by Judge 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. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rolandrat Posted January 12, 2011 Author Share Posted January 12, 2011 Well put Mike that is my view as well and you highlighted the road tolls which after all adds to the overall expenses to get to the Costas'. France is a lovely country with great scenery and we always enjoy our travels but the relaxing cruise to burn up some of the miles is very appealing to us. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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