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Hi TG, Read with interest as we are planning a trip to Portugal & Spain next year-our MH buddies arrive on Monday for a three day planning meeting-OK, that's just an excuse to cover the amount of alcohol and food that will be consumed! 

(Hi, commeyras-some Nobile will be quaffed, but it's from Tesco as all my Trasimeno stock is long gone!)

As you, and others, say the costs can vary wildly depending on time you travel and of course the crossing/route options. We have, over the years, used all of the cross channel routes and for many years it was cost driven with the short sea routes being most used-which as Italy was the usual destination actually worked well.

As the "drag to Dover" became more and more of a pain we priced the BF routes and were surprised, pleasantly, that with a Club ITX fare they often beat the short routes on price-we have also used Harwich a couple of times and that beat the short routes hands down.

We will use non toll routes where they are viable but, for instance in France, towing can be a pain with all the traffic calming measures you will encounter off the autoroutes, and we calculate the toll costs using viaMichelin and Mappy.

However, the question from LLM raises a related issue-that of "real world costs" of whatever vehicle you are using. Back in 2020 and having some time free time-remember that?-I decided to practice/improve my spreadsheet skills and used a holiday costs comparison exercise using excel.

I calculated my costs at my anticipated MPG towing, at current prices, but also at the Inland Revenue mileage rate of 45p/mile. I think this a good figure to use, and almost certainly still an underestimate, for a more realistic costing and  rather than doing as the AA do and considering; 

Fuel
Tyres
Service and MOT
Labour and replacement parts
Parking and tolls
Car tax
Insurance
Cost of capital
Depreciation
Breakdown cover etc!

So, using this criteria I recently calculated the costs for the trip, using BF from Plymouth, and posted the results on another forum as follows;

All the rows show the costings of the ferry, from the BF website, with a CV discount, the tolls from viaMichelin and the fuel costs based on the mileage

However, in row one the fuel costs are based on the current cost per mile for my car, towing, which comes to 30p/mile.

Row two is the cost at 45p/mile, which is the HMRC rate and more accurate as to the actual cost rather than just the fuel-my opinion.

Line three is line two plus our estimated cost for each overnight stop to include the site fee and a meal.

Via santander      via Roscoff          SantRosc

£1,821.82             £1,642.65            £1,648.90

£2,123.17             £2,110.80            £2,021.35

£2,323.17              £2,610.80            £2,421.35

As I say, these are our calculations, based on our take on things, but even in line one its clear that the oft expressed astonishment that people pay the high fares for BF Spanish routes is likely based on the ferry fare alone and with no account taken of the additional costs involved with other routes.

The line two costing is at a cost per mile rate of 45p which is what HMRC allow as the cost and, on the presumption that they won't be overpaying, seems a reasonable figure-real world costs are higher.

The line three addition of a £50 per night cost is based on our preferences and experience over many years foreign travel and covers the site fee and a meal.

Enroute sires are chosen for their convenience, and are often more expensive, compared to the norm abroad out of season, and, after a day travelling, we are happy letting someone else take care of the catering when we can.

As you can see even at worst the Santander route is app £180 more and at best its app £290 less than going via Roscoff. using row two, discounting my estimate of enroute costs, Santander is just £13 more than via Roscoff.

Another plus for us is the saving of near 1400 miles on the car which we are keen to keep as long as possible.

However, and wherever, you all end up going have a great 2024!