Ferry to Portugal?
Brittany Ferries are contemplating starting a new route from Plymouth to Porto. It could help some get around the travel restrictions but I’m not sure I’d fancy a 30 hour crossing!
https://www.business-live.co.uk/enterprise/brittany-ferries-mulls-sailings-portugal-20572719
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A bit short termism if they're only doing it because of Covid restrictions.
24 hours or 30 hours. Not much in it as long as it's only 1 night sleepover as far as I'm concerned. A lot of people go on far longer cruises, albeit with a tad more comfort (one would hope).
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If it happens watch out for additional costs. I’ve just booked a couple of flights to Gibraltar to visit family and the cost of the required 3x Covid tests for two exceeds the cost of the flights!
That said, Porto is a fine destination in its own right and well located for an Iberian touring holiday.
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I've just rebooked my flexi ticket for Portsmouth - Santander for December on the new Galicia. It is indeed now a 30 hour crossing, so an alternative crossing to Porto may be an attractive route into Spain from the west.
Incidentally, my crossing is £46 cheaper than previous bookings?!
JK
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High testing costs seem to driven by the UK rather than the green list countries. For example, Gibraltar (arrangements are still a bit vague), intend to accept a vaccine passport for entry (NHS App) instead of test. Presumably if you can’t provide this you’ll need to arrange and pay for a test before arrival? This is still subject to official confirmation.
Returning to the UK requires 2 PCR tests; one within 72hrs of departure and a further test on day 2 of arrival in the UK. Gibraltar are offering the departure test at the airport for £50 per person. The day 2 test needs to be booked and paid for with an Approved Provider in the UK. They currently charge upwards of about £170 for the test (might be less under new arrangements)! These costs have effectively doubled the cost of my Gibraltar trip, but I don’t care as I’m going to see my new grandchild 😀
I would expect the UK test fees to apply to Portugal, but the pre-departure test will be subject to local arrangements?
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My Sister & family had hoped to go to Portugal this month but has been informed of the Portuguese Govt decision to hold back opening the Country to Brits until they see how the India CV2 situation plays out🤷🏻♂️
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Update.
Portuguese govt. have announced they will welcome tourists from the UK from Monday 17th May.
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Thanks W👍🏻. I contacted her but she’s still not got the OK from Travel agent🤷🏻♂️
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Update on my earlier post.....testing costs are dramatically reducing as we approach 17 May. The current requirements are mandatory day 2 & 8 test on UK entry, costing upwards of £175 pp. However, UK entry from a green list country will only require a day 2 test, cost upwards of £50 pp. In Gibraltar the pre-departure rapid test has also been reduced from £50 to £30 pp after 17 May. So, instead of £400+ for a couple, a green list visit shouldn’t cost you more than about £160 extra per couple assuming entry is permitted with vaccine passport using the updated NHS app - Portugal?
A passenger locator form completed fully and submitted in advance of travel seems to be a requirement everywhere.
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That reminds me, I seem to recall that back in the late 60's there was a ferry connection from Southampton to Gibraltar once. My parents took it a couple of times. I remember them telling me that the border between Gibraltar and Spain was closed while they were already on the ferry the last time they took it, and although they had booked to go to Gibraltar, they had to get off in Lisbon. The closure of the border put an end to that ferry connection for good.
Anyone else remember that route?
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Don’t recall the route, but not surprised to hear it was closed. They’ve been playing political football with that one since forever. The post Brexit border solution could create the right conditions for resuming that route? The journey from UK to southern Spain/Algarve (and Morocco) by ferry might be attractive to many I suspect?
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We’re off to Porto, next weekend, short trip, Friday - Sunday. Not by ferry, unfortunately.
We need a test no more than 72 hours before departure for Portugal, then another before returning to the UK. Then a further DIY test 2 days after return.So although Portugal is on the green list, there’s still a need for a lot of tests, and they are not cheap.
This is going to be the most expensive weekend of my life 😱
⚽️⚽️⚽️
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It’s a PCR test that you carry out at home, then return the swabs by post in the supplied envelope for lab testing. The tests have to be booked in advance and the booking reference submitted with all the other test results / passenger location declaration etc before being allowed to return to the UK.
There’s a lot of ambiguous info out there on various websites, so I’m not surprised there are long queues at airports, it’s not obvious (to me, anyway) exactly what is needed. The NHS lateral flow tests are not valid for travel purposes as far as I can make out.We fly out to Porto on Friday morning. The PCR test results for entry to Portugal can take 48 hours, so we’ve booked the tests for Tuesday afternoon.
We’ll need another PCR test for entry to the stadium on Saturday evening, and that will also cover us for our return to the UK, on Sunday afternoon.
What a palaver. 😱0 -
Thanks, Wherenext.
We could have saved a lot of money by travelling on City’s free day trip flight, the cheapest match tickets are £60, and the biggest cost would have been the PCR COVID-19 test, but we’d have only needed one + the day 2 DIY test.In my student days, I would definitely have gone for that option, but at my age, just the thought of it tires me out. 😱
🙂
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Spain is reopening so B/F will sail there not to Portugal. Who says so? The CEO of the company.
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Sheesh, you sound as if you’re shooting the messenger, Euro. All I did was post two weeks ago what was in the media at that time as I thought it might be of interest to some here.
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