# Cherbourg or Santander?



## quilkin (Nov 30, 2021)

Probably a question that's been asked many times before. I want to drive to Southern Spain in January, heading towards Cadiz first and moving slowly up the S.E. coast for a couple of months.
I live in Cornwall so normally I'd get a ferry from Plymouth but there aren't any until the end of March. None from Poole either, which I have done before.  I will have to drive to Portsmouth, (or to Folkestone and take the tunnel).
If I get a  ferry to Cherbourg, rather than Santander, it's an extra 1000 km or so of driving, and I reckon in fuel it costs me 10p per km, so on that basis it's definitely cheaper to drive through France than to get the ferry to Spain, even with a Brittany Ferries Club discount (I haven't renewed my club membership yet, I have had France but maybe will switch to Spain). I don't like driving more than 400km per day so it's an extra 2-3 days if I drive through France - I have plenty of time so the days themselves aren't a problem, but that's a lot of tiring driving (I'm on my own, no shared time at the wheel).
Also in the thought process is that last time I returned from Santander (to Plymouth, in early October) I had a force 8-9 gale all the way which wasn't pleasant. I'd prefer a shorter crossing for that reason.
Any thoughts?


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## Robmac (Nov 30, 2021)

10p a km sounds a lot?


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## Robmac (Nov 30, 2021)

Robmac said:


> 10p a km sounds a lot?



Then again. maybe not when I do the maths!


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## SimonM (Nov 30, 2021)

10p sounds too low, if you get 27mpg and fuel is £1.45litre/£6.50gal then that’s 24p per mile. 15p per km.


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## quilkin (Nov 30, 2021)

I asked the question and I get 40mpg on flat roads if I drive carefully. I don't go above 60mph. That's about 10p per km at 1.50 a litre.
But I didn't include wear-and-tear in my analysis, that might make it up to 20p per km.
But (within reason) cost isn't the main issue, it's enjoyment of the whole trip.


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## SimonM (Nov 30, 2021)

I didn’t clock your MH in the avatar, I can only dream of 40mpg, I’m really chuffed with the occasions I manage 30mpg. Wear and tear happens and you don’t want to think to much about that, I replaced 3 tyres and a battery on my last trip. Tyres are consumables, and the battery was the original 10 year old starter battery - I didn’t ever consider it lost under the passenger’s feet. Personally, I enjoy driving and not ‘ferry-ing’ so I’d say sod it and go to the chunnel, which I do from Exeter.


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## st3v3 (Nov 30, 2021)

Do cherbourg, but don't rush through France!


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## alcam (Nov 30, 2021)

quilkin said:


> Probably a question that's been asked many times before. I want to drive to Southern Spain in January, heading towards Cadiz first and moving slowly up the S.E. coast for a couple of months.
> I live in Cornwall so normally I'd get a ferry from Plymouth but there aren't any until the end of March. None from Poole either, which I have done before.  I will have to drive to Portsmouth, (or to Folkestone and take the tunnel).
> If I get a  ferry to Cherbourg, rather than Santander, it's an extra 1000 km or so of driving, and I reckon in fuel it costs me 10p per km, so on that basis it's definitely cheaper to drive through France than to get the ferry to Spain, even with a Brittany Ferries Club discount (I haven't renewed my club membership yet, I have had France but maybe will switch to Spain). I don't like driving more than 400km per day so it's an extra 2-3 days if I drive through France - I have plenty of time so the days themselves aren't a problem, but that's a lot of tiring driving (I'm on my own, no shared time at the wheel).
> Also in the thought process is that last time I returned from Santander (to Plymouth, in early October) I had a force 8-9 gale all the way which wasn't pleasant. I'd prefer a shorter crossing for that reason.
> Any thoughts?


I always take the short ferry/long drive option for dog reasons . Also drive on my own .
I just enjoy France even in bad weather . 
If no time restrictions enjoy the journey


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## Deleted member 84699 (Nov 30, 2021)

Personally I'd do 1 week in france on the way down. 6 weeks in spain. One week in france on the way back. And I'd use the tunnel and have more spending money.


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## mark61 (Nov 30, 2021)

Same, tunnel or short ferry and enjoy the drive down and back, plenty of good scenery and great places to visit.


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## Snapster (Dec 1, 2021)

Take the Cherbourg option and plan your route through France to see as much as you can and take in some nice aires. 
Diesel here is around £1.30 a litre or less ( depending on your exchange rate. ) so you will still be saving money. 
And avoid toll roads! 
Don’t forget to enter Spain now you need to be fully vaccinated


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## tidewatcher (Dec 1, 2021)

Live in the SW and use Plymouth as our closest gateway to Europe, usually to roscoff but we have on occasions returned from Santander. I reckon the difference in mileage costs to the Dover area then back to the west coast area of France oddly almost equates to the extra fuel plus time lost before hitting the SuperU. That’s a personal choice and I can understand the logic and draw of more frequent and cheaper crossings via Kent. As for taking your time through France then that is the great joy of a camper van in a camper friendly country. Never tire of the french wandering, have enjoyed Spain and intend to edge towards Portugal once the great unpleasantness settles down a little but France always draws me back.


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## quilkin (Dec 1, 2021)

Thanks all, concensus seems to be to drive through France, which I have done a few times before - but in September when the weather is warmer! I guess I may get lucky, but central France can be worse weather than Cornwall in January. I don't mind cold and dry but don't like stopping and exploring (or even driving!) if it's pouting with rain (or snowing).


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## rugbyken (Dec 1, 2021)

by preference i normally use the overnight st malo ferry but this year for some reason there is no provision for dogs just stay in the veh but molly at 11 yrs old is too old for a 13/14 hrs crossing ,, this year it looks as though we’re going to go newhaven dieppe £96 for a small motorhome + 20% old fogey discount if you phone up, double the crossing time of dover calais but saves over 120 mls on the other side


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## r4dent (Dec 1, 2021)

Why not go one route, and come back the other. Then you'll which you prefer know for next time.

We always use the 2 night ferry to Bibao and a one night Ferry back.  Last time I did the maths for Liverpool to Peniscola I factored in Tolls / Fuel / site fees / Tesco vouchers and the Ferry was under £200 more and a day quicker. So really it comes down to a personal decision.

However, for  reasons beyond our control, we had to return from Spain via the Tunnel.
I hated the French part of the journey. I now know to ignore facts, figures and statistics and use the Spanish ferry in future.

Not saying the Tunnel isn't fine for some people, just not for me.


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## redhand (Dec 1, 2021)

We are planning same trip in jan previous years we did Santander can be very rough but worth it if you have sea legs.
Now we have a dog it has to be the tunnel
Didn't consider newhaven route but will think about it for return, how old do you have to to get old fogey discount Ken


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## quilkin (Dec 1, 2021)

rugbyken said:


> by preference i normally use the overnight st malo ferry


I see that Condor are doing Poole - Cherbourg in January, whereas Brittany Ferries don't start until late March. I hadn't considered Condor, anyone know how they compare to BF? Going from Poole rather than Portsmouth saves me an extra hour's drive in the UK. And the crossing is only 4 hours.


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## witzend (Dec 1, 2021)

quilkin said:


> I see that Condor are doing Poole - Cherbourg in January,


And doing some other crossings on western channel for BF with their fast ferry during summer months


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## witzend (Dec 1, 2021)

r4dent said:


> Not saying the Tunnel isn't fine for some people, just not for me.


Tunnels the best way to cross the channel The only snag for Us is it's to far away from Cornwall


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## r4dent (Dec 2, 2021)

r4dent said:


> Not saying the Tunnel isn't fine for some people, just not for me.





witzend said:


> Tunnels the best way to cross the channel The only snag for Us is it's to far away from Cornwall



My comment referred to travelling to Spain.
It isn't the tunnel I dislike it is the long drive through France afterwards. 

When I went to see a friend in Budapest it was a no brainer to use the Tunnel.


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## Colinc (Dec 3, 2021)

The Bay of Biscay has very frequent storms in winter.  Even if lower winds there will still be a lot of swell off the Atlantic.  It is known for choppy waves due to the sea floor in the bay.  So I think your French route is better especially in winter.  If you have to park up due to rain at least the van wont be swaying around.


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## rugbyken (Dec 3, 2021)

i believe old fogeys discount is 60+ but not used it for a few years 
here you go


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## Scotia (Dec 3, 2021)

If its for Christmas you must go SANTAnder.


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## GMJ (Dec 3, 2021)

Sambarob said:


> Personally I'd do 1 week in france on the way down. 6 weeks in spain. One week in france on the way back. And I'd use the tunnel and have more spending money.



This is what we do. Tunnel (using Tesco vouchers) then down the west route of France. 6 weeks and a bit in Spain and then back up through the middle of France. By March, when we return, more places are opening up in France so there are numerous decent options for places to stay.


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## quilkin (Jan 4, 2022)

Well, you'd all (nearly all) recommended the Cherbourg option and so I decided that. But a month later that's impossible 'cos we're not allowed to drive into France. Glad I didn't book.
I was planning to leave in a couple of weeks from now. If France opens again, I'll go Poole - Cherbourg, otherwise it will be Portsmouth-Santander. But if Covid gets worse in Spain I'll do nothing until it gets better again. I don't want to get stuck in Spain if there's a lockdown there.


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## jagmanx (Jan 4, 2022)

An advantage of Santander is you only have to satisfy Covid protocols and tests for Spain and not France as well !
If you are content to use France I would use the tunnel (as has been suggested)


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## Tarmacapache (Jan 4, 2022)

We like going via France, but mindful of the weather, we got caught out with a snow storm once that came off the Pyreneee and had to be rescued. But that’s another story.


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## GMJ (Jan 4, 2022)

We are supposed to be leaving for Spain via France and the tunnel, next week. By the looks I shall be postponing the trip on Thursday. I'll ask the tunnel to convert my crossing back into a voucher (it was in a voucher after last years cancelled trip) and I'm sure the campsites where we have paid a deposit will hang onto them until we get down there.

We will be going as soon as we can any time up until late April. As we go for 2 months, after that it will be too warm for my wife come the back end of the trip.


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## TJBi (Jan 4, 2022)

quilkin said:


> Well, you'd all (nearly all) recommended the Cherbourg option and so I decided that. But a month later that's impossible 'cos we're not allowed to drive into France. Glad I didn't book.
> I was planning to leave in a couple of weeks from now. If France opens again, I'll go Poole - Cherbourg, otherwise it will be Portsmouth-Santander. But if Covid gets worse in Spain I'll do nothing until it gets better again. I don't want to get stuck in Spain if there's a lockdown there.


Thought Poole-Cherbourg wasn't operating till end March?


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## quilkin (Jan 4, 2022)

TJBi said:


> Thought Poole-Cherbourg wasn't operating till end March?


Condor Ferries, not Brittany Ferries. Anyone used them?


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## GMJ (Jan 5, 2022)

I postponed our trip yesterday as we are out all today, so no Spain for us in the immediate future until travel restrictions ease.


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## Drover (Jan 5, 2022)

We are the same regards France, we were supposed to go 29th December through tunnel. We have a dog and won't use the atrocious kennels on the ferries. Dog friendly cabins are always booked well in advance and none available when I looked.
Regarding fuel I get between 25 and 30  -2.3 fiat
though had a 2.8 iveco engine before which struggled to get 19 mpg. 14/15 being the norm.


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## number14 (Jan 5, 2022)

We have booked Cherbourg with dog friendly cabins; we live in S Wales. Outward is just after Easter but I am not sure it's going to happen if the Covid situation doesn't settle down.  We have flexible tickets so all will not be lost if we have to postpone or cancel.


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## jagmanx (Jan 5, 2022)

Beginning to think any European trips even in the summer will be fraut with covid issues.
Even though they may be manageable....It simply (almost) confirms our plans to sell up sometime over the summer.
Wait and see but ????


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## jagmanx (Jan 5, 2022)

_








						Covid: French uproar as Macron vows to 'piss off' unvaccinated
					

The president vows to make life difficult for the unjabbed, but opponents condemn his language.



					www.bbc.com
				



_
Macron seems to have put his pied et La jambe dans le Merde !

Ou est le pissoirre ?
Tante pis Tante mieux etc


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