Santander/ Bilbao ferries
I'm thinking of a caravan holiday into Spain and Portugal. I would appreciate any members thoughts and advice on the sea crossing between UK and northern Spain. Costing etc; I would be looking at travelling around June/ July time probably doing the return trip after four weeks.
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Depends on your attitude. We have booked the Bilbao crossing for our first trip to Spain and it is more expensive than going to Calais or Caen and driving down. However at our age we don't like to do more than 200 to 250 miles a day so driving would take us four days to get to Madrid. We think driving along the toll roads is boring but takes less time and effort than the other roads and then you have to set up and put away each stop over. I would far rather sit on a boat and read my book, watch a film, go and have a snooze in my cabin for one day than be concentrating on driving for four days.
You pays your money and takes your choice for what suits you best.
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Derek, There are three Brittany Ferries ships sailing to Spain, one Economy boat and two "full fat" cruise ferries. Of those latter two I would always recommend Pont Aven, the biggest ship and the flagship of the Brittany Ferries fleet.
She sails to Santander - from Plymouth on a Sunday and from Portsmouth on a Tuesday, and of those two crossings the one from Plymouth is preferable for many people because of a midday arrival in Spain. It's a very well equipped ship and very comfortable, but as the cheapest two berth cabins have bunk beds with a ladder for one of us to cIimb we tend to pay a little more for a bigger cabin with two ground level beds.
We have gone across overnight to Roscoff many times on that ship but the whole way to Spain will be very dear in midsummer - about £1000 return I guess.
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Derek, We are going in early April returning mid June, Portsmouth to Santander and return Cap Finistere & Pont-Aven, total cost with dog £1422, I know we could have gotten it cheaper, and there will be those reading this who will throw their arms up in horror. But we are going on holiday to enjoy, after all you can't take it with you when your turn comes, but agree with some folk, if you are going to pay that amount of money you probably need to go for longer than a month. enjoy what ever you do.
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We've used this crossing many times and would recommend it, especially as, like ourselves, you live in the North West. Just towing the van through the road works on the M6 is enough for me.😱
Agree with Eurotraveller about the Pont Aven, by far the best ship on this route, and, if it runs to it, upgrade to one of the cabins with a balcony, they are absolutely superb.
Bilbao and Santander are gateways to a beautiful part of Spain, the Picos are stunning, San Sebastián has the best pinchos that I've ever tasted, the Cantabrian coast is absolutely gorgeous......
Go for it, you'll love it 😊
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Wow ! £1422 is even dearer than my earlier guess - about the same cost as return flights to Australia for the two of us on a good airline.
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We have just got back from Spain (yesterday) using the Santander - Portsmouth route. Most of the pros and cons have been mentioned so I will not go into those. All I can say is that we found the crossings very satisfactory. We went out on Pont Aven and returned on Cap Finistere. Pont Aven is the larger of the two but we found Cap Finistere less busy; despite being fully booked there was plenty of space in the bars/lounges and dining areas. We use the Cabo Mayor site in Santander for the first night as it is only 15 mins from the port and reception stays open until 22.30; this was a good thing as our outward crossing was running 3 hours late due to being delayed by poor weather on its earlier crossing - we luckily received a call from the Club advising this delay before we left home. Some people had booked their first night on sites 2 - 3 hours from Santander so wonder what happened to them? We have used the 'economy' ship where the facilities are very limited - take a good book!
So in sum, you pays your money and makes your choice but on a four week holiday it saves the long haul through France.
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Cabo Mayor told me that they dont take dogs so beware. I contacted Camping Santillana who were most helpful and just said to rock up, it is 30 Km west of Santander. It is in Snooper sat nav under Alan Rogers. Does anybody know how accurate Alan Rogers directions to sites are, I see they always give the PC and GPS coordinates if you look at the reviews on the web. I also have Archies POI's in sat nav, are the 2 comparable. ?
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I notice is seems that all caravaners prefer the ferry route! It is obviously easier driving in a motorhome and easier to find night stops at any time of the year.
£1422 wow! don't forget to add on board spending money to that which from my last and only experience of this ferry route would cover all my night stops on the overland route.
peedee
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June/July is a good time - although the ferries are big and stable, I'd not fancy the Bay of Biscay in winter months
A particular attraction for us was the special dog facilities they have so that you can take your pooch in the same cabin rather than a kennel.
We worked out that when you allowed for fuel, site costs and motorway tolls it wasn't much more than going the long way round.
As long as the weather is OK it's a very nice cruise - good food etc. We're planning on doing it again next year
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Portsmouth - Bilbao every time for us, using the 2 night Sunday crossing which arrives 0730h. Worth paying the extra £15 IMHO for an outside twin cabin rather than an inside bunk double.
We have used Pont-Aven on the Santander crossing coming back, but actually prefer Cap Finistere.
This year we are paying £345 going out (car+van+2berth outside) end of November. Out of interest I just checked exactly the same for June 17 next year and it is currently showing £385.
We tend to pay about £100 more coming back because we don't book until a couple of weeks before.
Maybe we are slightly biased as we live within 10miles of Portsmouth ferry port, and are also good sailors....every crossing has seemed flat calm to us.
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Very interesting. Did you use the Portsmouth or Plymouth route. I couldn't agree more regarding the M.6. Last time we were out of Plymouth and used the Gloucester services on the M.5 for an overnight halt, they were good. Thanks . Happy towing. Derek @ Hambleton, Nr Blackpool
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Travelling on the Spanish ferries during the winter months need hold no worries in severe weather. I've used them for the past five years in November and back at the end of February and although the sea can be rough, the ships are well equipped to handle it. The only difficulty arises if your particular sailing has to be cancelled because of bad weather. In five years I've not experienced that.
Fares must differ widely between summer and winter. My crossing in November for car and 7mtr caravan is usually around £360 which compares favourably with travelling through France. By the time a Dover/Calais fare is paid, then £130 for fuel, plus some toll charges and two overnight site fees, the Spanish ferry charge looks reasonable.
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Even today, 18 October 2017, the Portsmouth to Bilbao sailing is subject to a five hour delay, and with the weather worsening over the coming weekend there will be worse to come.
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Hi, Derek, We generally prefer to sail from Portsmouth, driving down via the M6 Midlands link toll road - a very worthwhile discount available with Club membership.
The ferry departure times have varied over recent years so we've often stopped overnight on the way at Warwick racecourse or Morn Hill sites, both handy for the motorway routes.
We have travelled from Plymouth, but only when we've been sailing to Roscoff.
Why not travel out on the Spanish route, then return via St Malo or Oustreham? Or the other way round of course!
Enjoy planning 😊
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We taken the ferry, at least one way, down to Spain or back from Spain, sometimes both, almost every year for about the last 20 years.
I've only gone to Bilbao once and hated the Cap Finistere. The Pont Aven is a far more comfortable vessel in my view.
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Yes I believe you are right a surge of motor homes are taking over the few sites available on the continent. I have considered it but don't fancy the idea of carrying my home and contents with me even on shopping trips rather be free to wander and explore all points of the compass, before coming back to the van. Besides the comradery us caravaner;s have doesn't seem to be the same with our motor home members.
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What's this "few sites available on the continent "? There are over 9000 campsites in France alone. The real fact is that most motorhomers now choose not to use them. Away from the obvious honeypots there are no problems finding space on campsites there even in midsummer.
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During the past five years I've travelled on both cruise ferries several times but my preference is to use the Pont Aven. Having said that, I'm booked on Cap Finistère in less than two weeks time. I think unloading is always done quicker on Pont Aven and also I prefer the dining arrangements. I've also travelled on the Baie de Seine which again is OK if you don't mind missing out on some of the boutiques and bar entertainment. Cabin facilities are the same apart from having no carpet on the floors. And at approximately £100 saving each way, it is worth consideration.
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Cap Finistere is about to leave Bilbao this evening and will run back to Portsmouth overnight with the shipping forecast saying the sea state in the Bay of Biscay is "rough". I would not want to be on board. The return journey south at the weekend has already been cancelled.
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The Club/Deluxe cabins weren't anywhere near as good as the Pont Aven. It's narrower and seems a bit claustrophobic compared with the Pont Aven.
There is a restaurant and a couple of snack bars, one of which was closed on our crossing in late July- early August. There isn't a self service café as on the Pont Aven or the Bretagne before it. As my wife doesn't travel well and spends most of the time in the cabin, going into the restaurant alone isn't somethin I'd prefer to do. However the opportunity to have something a bit more substantial than a slice of cold pizza or a flapjack would have been welcome.
Many people love the ferry. On my past experience I'd give it a miss. If the one crossing is still the two night trip I would consider another route to the south.
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I must be doing something wrong checking for ferry prices because i cant find a crossing for the 2 of us to Spain for less than £850, and that was going out Nov going back Dec this year for a 6.5m m/h. Gave up in the end and booked a villa with pool for less.
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