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Ferry to Spain

Posted: Thu Jul 13, 2017 3:55pm
13 replies666 views11 members subscribed
tony1

Posts: 29

1 helpful points

Location: Villamartin

Joined: 14 May 2017

Hi there bought a place by Villamartin thinking of driving over next time. Where is best to get Ferry from and too? Live North West of England any advice appreciate  

Thanks

Tony 

Yorkshire Lass

Posted: Thu Jul 13, 2017 4:32pm

Yorkshire Lass

Helpful member

Posts: 343

353 helpful points

Location: La Marina

Joined: 11 Jan 2017

Posted: Thu Jul 13, 2017 4:32pm

Hi we drive over and go Dover - Calais. We usually spend the night in St Martin Les Boulogne, either PremiereClasse or B&B, which is about 25 minutes drive from Calais. We then head for Bayonne via Bordeaux. We stay in Bayonne Nord usually in PremiereClasse ( basic with own toilet & shower but clean). The Spanish border is about 15 minutes away. We drive to Costa Blanca South via Zaragoza. We always drive through France on a Sunday as there are restrictions on HGV lorries so it's only the refrigerated and perishable goods that are on the roads and believe me it makes a big difference. I can't comment on the Plymouth or Portsmouth crossings to Santander or Bilbao as we've never used them (Brittany ferries I think run these routes). Youcan do the Dover - Calais - Villamartin in less time but we like to take our time. If you look on Michelin or AA route finder it will give you a better idea of the journey. I'm sure more people will respond and give you the routes that they use. 

tony1

Posted: Thu Jul 13, 2017 5:38pm

tony1

Original Poster

Posts: 29

1 helpful points

Location: Villamartin

Joined: 14 May 2017

Posted: Thu Jul 13, 2017 5:38pm

thank you very much  tony

John56

Posted: Thu Jul 13, 2017 6:24pm

John56

Legendary helpful member

Posts: 2995

5634 helpful points

Location: La Zenia

Joined: 7 Jul 2016

Posted: Thu Jul 13, 2017 6:24pm

tony1 wrote on Thu Jul 13, 2017 3:55pm:

Hi there bought a place by Villamartin thinking of driving over next time. Where is best to get Ferry from and too? Live North West of England any advice appreciate  

Thanks

Tony 

In May this year we got the ferry from Dublin to Cherbourg, for you it would be from Portsmouth. Easy to get out of the port and mostly motorway driving all the way to La Zenia. Would recommend using the website Via Michelin for the route and a breakdown of where the tolls are and how much they are, should be around €65 total. We took our time as it was the first time I had driven a right hand drive van on the continent. Pre-booked online hotels in Nantes, Bayonne and Teruel and factored their locations into our route. Overall, the trip was easy and fun.

Delboyginger

Posted: Thu Jul 13, 2017 6:52pm

Posts: 3

Location: Benidorm

Joined: 29 May 2017

Posted: Thu Jul 13, 2017 6:52pm

tony1 wrote on Thu Jul 13, 2017 3:55pm:

Hi there bought a place by Villamartin thinking of driving over next time. Where is best to get Ferry from and too? Live North West of England any advice appreciate  

Thanks

Tony 

Hi, we drive from warrington to benidorm and have used a few ferries, we have just done newhaven to dieppe with dfds and it was a very good trip about 4 hours but you have still got a very long road journey ahead and have to stop in hotels and we always use toll roads they are so much easier. So next time we will do portsmouth to Bilbao again which we've done about 8 times and that's about 750 miles to Beni, so much easier, we still stop once or twice in hotels, very cheap. Now, the ferry is a lot more expensive but if you add the cost of the extra miles, tolls and hotels it's about the Same cost and so much easier, cheers, derek

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Fonzie

Posted: Thu Jul 13, 2017 6:57pm

Posts: 4

3 helpful points

Location: Cabo Roig

Joined: 17 Mar 2017

Posted: Thu Jul 13, 2017 6:57pm

tony1 wrote on Thu Jul 13, 2017 3:55pm:

Hi there bought a place by Villamartin thinking of driving over next time. Where is best to get Ferry from and too? Live North West of England any advice appreciate  

Thanks

Tony 

Portsmouth to Santander. Done it many times. 23 hours but get a cabin. 

271935

Posted: Thu Jul 13, 2017 9:55pm

271935

Very helpful member

Posts: 836

679 helpful points

Location: Villamartin

Joined: 30 Apr 2016

Posted: Thu Jul 13, 2017 9:55pm

NW England to Villamartin 28hrs door to door.Split the driving with the wife. Tunnel and toll roads all the way. Looked at the Bilbao/Santander ferry. However it works outo  £525 more expensive and adds 12 hrs to our journey time.

It's a tough drive but we have large dogs and just want to get there

Fuel, Tolls and tunnel around £695. WI'll cost a bit more this some as the pound is worthless at the moment

geoffllo

Posted: Fri Jul 14, 2017 8:53am

geoffllo

Helpful member

Posts: 317

387 helpful points

Location: La Marina

Joined: 2 Feb 2017

Posted: Fri Jul 14, 2017 8:53am

We have done the journey lots of times, both by driving from the north of France (Eurotunnel or ferry) and by using the ferry from Portsmouth to Santander/Bilbao.

For us, there is no doubt that the latter is much easier and more enjoyable. Also, it isn't ALWAYS more expensive, it depends upon the time of year and how far in advance you book. There is a big saving on fuel, tolls, wear-and-tear on the car and hotels and, of course, the channel crossing. You need to compare the overall cost of both options, and even if Brittany Ferries are a little bit dearer, bear in mind that it's a LOT less hassle! The drive from Santander/Bilbao to Costa Blanca is dead simple, and toll-free and easily doable in a day.

Geoff.

Hayley

Posted: Fri Jul 14, 2017 1:05pm

Posts: 37

10 helpful points

Location: Cabo Roig

Joined: 20 Feb 2017

Posted: Fri Jul 14, 2017 1:05pm

We are doing ferry from Portsmouth to Le Havre it was £144 for crossing for a cabin & car. Heading for Bordeaux booked hotel for 1 night then driving on to Bay of Roses , always wanted to have a look around there so booked for 2 nights before heading down to Lamos de Cabo Roig. Really looking forward to driving through France & Spain. Treating it as a bit of a holiday ! 

Meg27

Posted: Fri Jul 14, 2017 3:10pm

Posts: 1

Location: Villamartin

Joined: 9 Jul 2017

Posted: Fri Jul 14, 2017 3:10pm

tony1 wrote on Thu Jul 13, 2017 3:55pm:

Hi there bought a place by Villamartin thinking of driving over next time. Where is best to get Ferry from and too? Live North West of England any advice appreciate  

Thanks

Tony 

My husband and I came two weeks ago travelling on Brittany Ferries from Plymouth to Santander. We had made the trek from Scotland, breaking our journey on the way down. We were taking two dogs, hence the ferry.

Enjoyed the experience, and the drive down to Villamartin using our satnav. Took eight hours, and we have decided to stay in Madrid for a night on the way back to make the drive more manageable.

Worth getting a cabin on the ferry, we've just upgraded to one with a window on the way back!

Enjoy the trip, and the chance to see a bit more of Spain on the way!

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