Route to Spain by ferry( not Calais)

[Trickydicky1]

Good afternoon, we normally drive to ALicante from Calais  but we’re wondering if it works out slightly quicker/ more economical to go from Portsmouth to one of the other ports in France then drive to Spain. Any ideas appreciated,thank you.

[Derek Uzzell]

This recent forum thread discussed travelling from Calais to Perpignan "as quickly as possible".

https://forums.outandaboutlive.co.uk/topic/56773-tolls-fuel-and-saving-travel-days/#comment-700435

I have attached below ViaMichelin suggestions for routes to Alicante from Calais (1st image) and from Ouistreham (2nd image).

The Calais-to-Alicante distance is around 1100 miles. 

Crossing the Channel to Ouistreham from Portsmouth would probably be the cheapest Brittany Ferries option, but it's still a 6-hour voyage and I'd expect the ticket to be much more expensive than going from Calais. The distance from Ouistreham to Alicante is around 960 miles, so once you had arrived in France you MIGHT save a couple of hours journey time and (say) 6 gallons of fuel.

If in the past you've been travelling from Calais because that's the nearest or most convenient UK port for you, you'd need to allow for the extra cost/time driving to Portsmouth would involve.

Unless you have a very good reason to start from one of the western UK ports, I believe you'd be better (cost and time) starting from Calais.

 

[derek500]

As for cost, our crossing from Portmouth to Caen was £305 return (6m with bike rack, cabins both ways ((afternoon out, overnight return)) Club Voyage member with 30% discount).   

We're much closer to Portsmouth than Dover and appreciate doing the shorter run to Spain in two days.

 How much are Dover Calais/Dunkerque crossings these days?

[davidmac]

Hi, I have just booked Newhaven/Dieppe 7.5m motorhome return £304 including 20% discount for being an oldie .

Regards David 

[Brian Kirby]

On 12/31/2022 at 5:40 PM, Derek Uzzell said:

...................................................Unless you have a very good reason to start from one of the western UK ports, I believe you'd be better (cost and time) starting from Calais.

 

Plus (although not mentioned as part of your preferred itinerary) if you shop at Tesco, have a Tesco loyalty card, and so get the loyalty card vouchers, you can use these to obtain a discount on the shuttle to gain on crossing time, distance (marginal! 🙂), and cost, in both directions.

But, I've been playing with Autoroute (again! 🙂) with two options.  1, Calais to Alicante with no tolls, and 2, Calais to Alicante using toll roads.  I set the average driving speeds for all roads to their (unspecified) minimum, which I have found gives fairly reliable results for motorhome driving.

Option 1 south is Calais - Rouen - Orleans - Angouleme - Bordeaux - Oloron-Sainte-Marie - Huesca - Zaragoza - Valencia - Alicante.  1156 miles: 23 hours 30 minutes driving time.

Option 1 north is Alicante - Valencia - Zaragoza - Huesca - Pau - Bordeaux - Angouleme - Poitiers - Chatellerault - Tours - Chartres - Rouen - Calais.  1107 miles: 22hours 58 minutes driving time.

Option 2 south is Calais - Rouen - Tours - Poitiers - Bordeaux - San-Sebastien - Pamplona - Zaragoza - Valencia - Alicante.  1142 miles: 19 hours 45 minutes driving time.

Option 2 north is Alicante - Valencia - Barcelona - Perpignan - Millau - Clermont-Ferrand - Bourges - Paris - Arras - Calais.  1151 miles: 19 hours 50 minutes driving time.

So, maximum difference in distance is between Option 1 south and Option 1 north at just 49 miles (the other two lying between these mileages) and in driving time is between Option 1 south and Option 2 south, at 3 hours 45 minutes (the two non-toll routes unsurprisingly being overall slower).

Cost?  I have no idea, but for all the apparent saving in time on the two toll road routes, I would expect both to involve higher average driving speeds, and thus higher fuel consumption, compared to the non-toll routes, plus, of course, the toll costs.

So, if you drive from 09:30 until 17:30 each day with a 75 minute mid-day meal break, about three and a half days each way more or less irrespective of whether yous pay, or avoid, tolls.  Food for thought?

[flyboyprowler]

I recently did a comparison to driving from southern Spain through France at current fuel prices as opposed to taking the Santander / Portsmouth ferry. There was only a marginal difference, with driving being the slightly cheaper option, but not taking wear and tear into consideration. However, time saved using the ferry makes it a better way to go, especially if time is an issue.

[derek500]

I find that hard to believe.  Last year we were forced to do Portsmouth>Santander as the French banned Brits from entering France and our Caen ferry was cancelled.

We had to pay an additional £300 for the one way crossing!   So a return must be circa £1,000.  Compared to £300 to Caen.

Day one left home, overnighted at Portsmouth. Day two sailing.  Day three sailing, driving to Logroño.  Day four arrived Oropesa del Mar late afternoon.  682km driving in Spain.

This year.  Day one left home, afternoon crossing, arrived Caen late evening.   Day two drive to just south of Bordeaux. Day three arrived at Oropesa. 1,400km driving France/Spain.

We paid £1.62 per litre in France and £1.39 in Spain and averaged 31mpg.  9.11 L/100km.

So 682km would cost £104 at Spanish prices and 1,400km, £230 using an average of French/Spanish prices.

So an additional £126 in diesel each way doing Portsmouth/Caen, compared to an additional £700 in ferry costs and longer travelling times.  

Quite a saving in time and money doing Caen rather than Santander.

[laimeduck]

I have to say I agree with Derek500 on this ...those figures simply do not compute and are very misleading to others.

We looked at the Santander Portsmouth ferry last week for our return from Spain and the price one way for my 7.3 metre Benimar was £618 single. 

To drive from Santander to Calais is 812 miles non Autoroute which at 4.5 to 5 mpl is 180 litres. We paid €1.88/litre in France three weeks ago, so the total cost of fuel  would be €338 or £302 (@€1.12 to £) (and that is for my diesel guzzling 2.8JTD!)

P&O ferries in mid Feb are quoting £116

Add 3 nights stops for the journey at €25-30 each say £90 and the Ferry is still way more expensive! (£618 versus £508) that's nearly 22% more expensive.

Wear and tear really makes no odds on a vehicle that does relatively little mileage compared to a commercial vehicle.

Still if the ferry floats yer boat.........

Jeremy 

4 hours ago, derek500 said:

I find that hard to believe.  Last year we were forced to do Portsmouth>Santander as the French banned Brits from entering France and our Caen ferry was cancelled.

We had to pay an additional £300 for the one way crossing!   So a return must be circa £1,000.  Compared to £300 to Caen.

Day one left home, overnighted at Portsmouth. Day two sailing.  Day three sailing, driving to Logroño.  Day four arrived Oropesa del Mar late afternoon.  682km driving in Spain.

This year.  Day one left home, afternoon crossing, arrived Caen late evening.   Day two drive to just south of Bordeaux. Day three arrived at Oropesa. 1,400km driving France/Spain.

We paid £1.62 per litre in France and £1.39 in Spain and averaged 31mpg.  9.11 L/100km.

So 682km would cost £104 at Spanish prices and 1,400km, £230 using an average of French/Spanish prices.

So an additional £126 in diesel each way doing Portsmouth/Caen, compared to an additional £700 in ferry costs and longer travelling times.  

Quite a saving in time and money doing Caen rather than Santander.

I agree with Derek 500. We have just costed a return trip ±

[flyboyprowler]

Not wishing to be misguiding to others, but I included in my calculation the 800km drive to Santander from our house in Southern Spain, and our crossing was more expensive (8.3m van) than Jeremy's and it was reported that French fuel prises were north of €2.15. 

Again, sorry if anyone is confused, and it would always be sensible to make your own calculation. Previously, I agree that the drive was a more economic journey, but in the current situation, the prices are much closer.

[laimeduck]

45 minutes ago, flyboyprowler said:

Not wishing to be misguiding to others, but I included in my calculation the 800km drive to Santander from our house in Southern Spain, and our crossing was more expensive (8.3m van) than Jeremy's and it was reported that French fuel prises were north of €2.15. 

Again, sorry if anyone is confused, and it would always be sensible to make your own calculation. Previously, I agree that the drive was a more economic journey, but in the current situation, the prices are much closer.

Ahhhhh! That would explain your figures then!

The only possible direct comparison of driving and/or ferry is to start both at the same point. In this case Santander.

In my case I live within 30 minutes of Dover so don't have the 120 miles additional cost of driving to Portsmouth. (But I did not include that cost in my calculation)

So driving is still at least 20% plus cheaper.

Jeremy