Any clues on ferry prices
Hi.
We've just got back from our first venture into France with the caravan. The trip was fantastic and can't wait to go again next year but really don't want to do the same newhaven/dieppe crossing. We stayed in the Vendee and really don't fancyanother 8 hour driveafter a 4 hour crossing. St Malo is the ideal port but when we looked last year we were already a couple of months late booking the crossings. We were getting a return price of about £1,400 and that was no where near feasable☹. Does anyone have any clues what we can expect to pay if we book when prices are released?
And by the way I can't recommend Yelloh Village Pin Parasol enough. It was just brilliant😍😍😍
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Through the tunnel paying with a purseful of Tesco vouchers is always a bargain - otherwise Portsmouth - Caen on tne afternoon boat and back on that same route at 8am is usually affordable. Talk to the nice people at Club HQ about it.
The St Malo route is always expensive but good people on here will always give you a code to save 10% if the Club cannot help you. Next summer's timetable and prices on those routes will be published by Brittany Ferries in mid October. No rush.
Anyway you don't HAVE to drive eight hours in one day - you are allowed to stop somewhere nice along the way. Enjoy your planning.
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What time of year are you looking at travelling, where in France are you heading for? these are the 2 main points folk will need to give you any idea. Where are you starting out from.
We have used Hull - Zeebrugge, Portsmouth to St Malo (very expensive) Plymouth to Roscoff, Dover to Calais, however we have all the time in the world to get there and don't mind the drive once in France, in fact we prefer to drive over there. We travel all over France never staying more than a week, sometimes just 1 night, for up 8 weeks.
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Definitely speak to the Overseas Dept of the club, around the end of October. Sounds like you need peak season with children.
If you're heading to the west again then there are crossings to Caen, Cherbourg, St.Malo and Roscoff that will shorten your drive.
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Michelle, where do you live....
we've used Newhaven before (short, cheap crossing) but a fair hike from us in Somerset and another hike west for you doing (say) the Vendee.
unless heading south east in France....or to Belgium, Netherlands, Germany etc...we tend to use Poole-Cherboug as its only 90 mins to the port, we can stay overnight and be away at 8:30 in the morning, with a good four hours driving time available after docking.
prices are better than the st malo ones, always a bit high, but roscoff or Caen might do....
again, depends where you live and where you are heading....
glad you enjoyed the trip and are itching to get back over again.
good luck.
ps...although we haven't used that particular site (bit been in the area several times) we've used other Yelloh! sites and they have all be top class.....fantastic facilities, superbly run and great value.
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It does depend where you live. We live in Lincolnshire and find the Hull to Zeebrugge or Hull to Rotterdam with P&O ferries the most economical. We managed last year to get a return crossing in May, including cabins each way for about £500 by booking very early. If you cross on a Saturday or Sunday night caravans go free. For us it cuts out a 500 mile return journey to the south coast ports with diesel savings of around £100.00, but the best bit is we can be home within an hour of docking in Hull. Driving through Holland or Belgium is really easy and depending on where you are going you can avoid a lot of toll roads. It all depends on where you live and where you are going. The Caravan Club Overseas people are very helpful.
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Dover / Calais is almost certain to be the cheapest route but it can mean extra driving in France. To me, though, this is no hardship. We count the journey as part of the holiday and, as I'm sure many will agree, generally speaking driving 'over there' is much easier than in the UK. In fact, the worst part of our holiday driving is the journey back from Dover to Derbyshire. We're fortunate enough to not have any real time constraints so give ourselves plenty of time to get to the end destination, if we even know where that may be before we set off!
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St Malo and the western crossings are expensive - no matter how early you book. Occasionally there are 'caravans go free' crossings on Portsmouth/Caen so check with a phone call when prices are released in October.
Realistically the only thing you can do is as advised above - make the journey from a cheaper port part of your holiday. Choose lovely sites for overnight stays that both you and the children will love and count the travelling days as not just 'a drive' but really part of your travels with places to see and things to do.0 -
Dover / Calais is almost certain to be the cheapest route but it can mean extra driving in France.
At times maybe but not always. Add into the mix the extra fuel night stops, for us the Hull crossing on a weekend is usually the best deal. Then if you are lucky get 4 vouchers on an ITX fare and its even cheaper
However I'm very happy with £85 from Caen to Portsmouth for our return trip later this year.
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"Strictly in terms of cost I don't think there is a cheaper way to western France than an afternoon crossing to Caen and a morning return especially if combined with vouchers to get an ITX deal for us, it saves 2 days on the road ,about 500 miles and a deal of tolls to get clear of Calais."
I totally agree with that and that definitely makes it a better option than Calais. Just remember you can book a site with the ferry to gain good rates. It is not part of the deal that your have to purchase expensive Night Vouchers
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Hi. Thanks for all the help and suggestions. It's all appreciated as we're still new to all this. We live in Cambridgeshire so the only port we really don't fancy the drive to from here is Plymouth. We're very probably going back to the Vendee so any good overnight recommendation would be very welcome. Also what's an ITX deal?
Thanks
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We almost always travel from Plymouth but never discount anywhere till we have checked prices and suitability.
An ITX fare is where you book sites and/or site vouchers with a ferry/tunnel crossing.
An ITX fare saved us over £400 this year.
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Freddy put your details in on line (size of outfit, number of people and animals, time of day etc) for a September crossing this year, then add 10% to get an estimate for next June.
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Freddy, if you're from Avon (I thought that came and went a while back) you're next door to us and we usually get the Poole-Cherbourg Frey for about 280-290 return.
obviously it depends where you're heading, Cnerbourg might be more convenient arrival spot and Poole will be a darn sight closer than Dover, and you can arrive the night before, drive down in loght traffic, and have a quiet stay on the dock with a few others, you'll be right there for the off at 8:30.
good luck.
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