# Spain



## Rapidoray (Oct 21, 2013)

I am planning a trip to Spain starting the end of Jan
what are the pitfalls ..I plan to use the tunnel then drive across france
But I'm a bit concerned about the weather and driving conditions.
I would be pleased to hear your thoughts and experiances .


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## Elliejane (Oct 22, 2013)

Welcome.

The only pitfall is you'll want to keep stopping in France!

Hope you have a great time.

EJ


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## shawbags (Oct 22, 2013)

Catch the ferry direct to spain,at the right time of year it doe'nt cost much more ,less ware and tear on your campervan ,less fuel ,worth thinking about,shawbags.


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## vwalan (Oct 22, 2013)

i agree ferry to spain . less than 24hrs your there . cant drive up and down in france for the cost of the ferry . and less wear n tear. 
if you have a very good mpg vehicle you might not gain but its certainly nicer than the drive through france in the winter sometimes .


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## Polar Bear (Oct 23, 2013)

*Portsmouth to Bilbao*

Hi.
We now always go Brittany Ferries. Portsmouth to Bilbao. We go Sunday night and land Tuesday morning refreshed and ready to go. If you become a member it will cost you £110 for the first year for membership and £100 to join but you get 30% of the basic ferry price. Free breakfast and 10% of food but no discount on the cabins. The second year you will only pay £110 per year. I find it works out cheaper than driving down through France as we go twice a year and you are within 4 hours of getting in the sun.. One year I did drive down through France and had to spend the night at a petrol station because the snow was so bad mid continent.
Happy times
Wil


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## shortcircuit (Oct 23, 2013)

Do your sums as I certainly could not get a ferry less than the fuel it cost.  It all depends on time and how long you have got.  I would imagine that France weather wise will not be great end of January and doubt if any campsite will be open although many of the Aires will be accessible but possibly water turned off.  

As far as a sea trip again I would imagine you take your chances with the weather at that time of the year.  Spoke to one traveller whose ferry hugged the coast  line as it was too rough to take the direct route and it was not pleasant but you take your chances and there is no way off.

Whatever once you get into Spain you will enjoy

Get the ACSI book which will give you discount on numerous camp sites and you will recover the cost very quickly


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## vwalan (Oct 23, 2013)

hi i have booked plymouth to santander . no cabin . return in april no cabin again . using a good friends discount . its only 612.20 quid . leave at 15,45 arrive spain 12,15 next day . do it most winters now . i certainly cant drive through france and gain . if i go plymouth roscoff thats expensive . if i drive portsmouth or to dover, dover is 350mls away . i only get about 16mpg . 
i say it must be about 800mls through france . at 6,50 a gallon . work it out for yourself . if you get 30mpg it would be less but every one has to make their own mind up. 
my mate from scotland reckons he can break even by doing the spanish ferry . but gains on time and wear and tear . he again 16-18 mpg .
for me to use a cheap dover crossing i reckon i would spend a grand in fuel to get to spain . plus wear and tear. now 30miles and catch the ferry its easy. 
plus i dont get pestered by daft french customs stopping me after i have got back into france . they very often hold checks to stop us bringing spanish wine and beer back .
i did portsmouth to santander last winter but it did take an extra night as the boat stopped at roscoff on the way . 
plus plymouth seems to be easier to get a seat no cabin cost. but it stops in nov till early nx year.


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## dave and mary (Oct 23, 2013)

This question comes up quit a lot cost of ferry's, for many years we used the old pride of Bilbao from Portsmouth to Bilbao when it was a P & O line and the cost was ok. The fist thing is what part of the country you live in, as this makes a difference. After the demise of P & O and trying one trip with Brittany Ferry's for us it was drive down. From where we live it is 1337 miles to Almeria in southern Spain and  it is southern Spain you need in winter. If using the ferry to Bilbao or Santanda there is still 600 miles to do to get to the south so you are paying a lot of money to save driving about 640 miles. Yes extra wear and tare on the van yes ok, but taking a few days to get there seeing different things is all part of the trip, put no tolls in the sat nav and see France.



  :drive:       :drive:


Ps Would be no good for you Allen to far to Dover lol


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## ozzo (Oct 23, 2013)

I also think it depends on how much time you have off work (yes some of us do still work & jealous of those who don't at times, hence I can only have 2 weeks of max at a time) and whether you want to spend every day driving to Spain or just get there and have and extra 3-4 days at least. I'll have to investigate the discount card though - really fancy going back to the Pico de Europa next year for walking.

Ozzo


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## Rapidoray (Oct 23, 2013)

*Hi*

Thanks for all your comments. Van does about 28 to the gallon  Tesco vouchers for the tunnel so driving through France seems the best option


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## vwalan (Oct 23, 2013)

dave and mary said:


> This question comes up quit a lot cost of ferry's, for many years we used the old pride of Bilbao from Portsmouth to Bilbao when it was a P & O line and the cost was ok. The fist thing is what part of the country you live in, as this makes a difference. After the demise of P & O and trying one trip with Brittany Ferry's for us it was drive down. From where we live it is 1337 miles to Almeria in southern Spain and  it is southern Spain you need in winter. If using the ferry to Bilbao or Santanda there is still 600 miles to do to get to the south so you are paying a lot of money to save driving about 640 miles. Yes extra wear and tare on the van yes ok, but taking a few days to get there seeing different things is all part of the trip, put no tolls in the sat nav and see France.
> 
> 
> 
> ...



hi dave . it would cost me about 500 quid just to go down to almeria and back at 16 mpg x 6,50 a gallon . never mind the drive to dover and back. 
yet bob finds plymouth suits him from scotland .


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## shortcircuit (Oct 23, 2013)

As I said on my original posting do your homework.

Ferry from Portsmouth to Santander, out 1st  November, back 26th April. £768 with no cabins or discounts. Just got this off web site, increase to £948 if you want inside cabins and then increase if you want better.

Down to Spain in September the most I paid for fuel was €1.37 and I got an exchange rate of €1.17/£ which means fuel cost me £5.27/gal.  In UK I average 25mpg but as roads are so easy I averaged about 27mpg although last tank was 29mpg.  Calais to Bayonne is about say 800 miles so that would be about 30 gallons or £158, being £316 return which is half the ferry cost.
In addition you would need to add the ferry cost across channel, however less any additional travel cost to Portsmouth.

Can somebody please check my calculations as it just looks so cheap by road.

Please do your own calculations.


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## mark61 (Oct 23, 2013)

I work mine out using 22MPG, there is a saving by road, but not huge. You also have to do a fair few hours at the wheel to match time.


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## vwalan (Oct 23, 2013)

you may be right prices change . i go as a car and caravan up to 11mtrs . out nov 3rd back end april . 612.20 no cabins just recliner both ways but wont use them . could have got it down a bit going or coming back at dofferent days . but it suits me best. 
last year inc taking a dog that was 70 quid i payed 574.20.we had to go from portsmouth then as they changed the sailings at last minute . 
mind they gave us a cabin free ,so didnt complain . m,ind i had to drive to portsmouth to catch the ferry out . came back to plymouth . like i say at 25-27 to a gallon it changes things .


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## dave and mary (Oct 23, 2013)

Don't forget the 600 miles from the ferry to southern Spain, where you need to be in the winter.



    :drive:    :drive:


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## vwalan (Oct 24, 2013)

i wasnt . i really meant to do the 640 miles i save . 
i got mixed up. i just find france too cold and wet in november . plus i cant get a ferry cheap enough to france from here .plus 20 hrs i,m there . santander . drive to the canyon near burgos . great place . 
not really in a hurry only got 6 months . 
i know the destination though . 
santander end of april .
might take us till january to get to almeria . possibly february . its along way via valencia or barcelona . hee hee .
mind we have to visit loads of friends on the way . dont tell ken he thinks he is my only friend .ha ha .


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## kenspain (Oct 24, 2013)

You mean to tell me you got more friends that put up with you lot down here I find that hard to believe now Alan:lol-049:


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## marydot (Oct 24, 2013)

We've booked Chunnel on 3rd January, back again on 31ist March using Tesco Vouchers.  It takes us most of a day just to drive down to the tunnel, as I like to stop for breaks every 3 hours or so, drives OH mad!  We are then driving down to Albufeira, avoiding toll roads, and due at the site on 7th Jan, so will have to curb our curiosity a bit on the way down, and just make notes of places that look worth a visit, and visit on the way back.  We average 33mpg, so not too bad on fuel.  Think we're going to aim for Aire in Le Mans on first night.  Our crossing is 9.50am, but we will turn up early and hope to get on earlier if we can.  Still won't get into France until mid/late morning, so don't want to go too far and end up arguing in the dark about where we are going!    Trying to regard it as a 'learning curve' although our first trip to France last year, when the sat nav packed up was certainly that.  Just trying to map out a rough route, and make sure we've got all documentation etc. before we set off.

Marydot


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## kenspain (Oct 24, 2013)

You lot wont like it here it,s cold and wet------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- not really 25 and sunny:cool1:


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## dave and mary (Oct 24, 2013)

kenspain said:


> You lot wont like it here it,s cold and wet------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- not really 25 and sunny:cool1:



Ken will you stop telling us things like that,    But must say it is now 24 hours' since we had rain, and the sun is out ( just )


           :drive:        :drive:


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## kenspain (Oct 24, 2013)

dave and mary said:


> Ken will you stop telling us things like that,    But must say it is now 24 hours' since we had rain, and the sun is out ( just )
> 
> 
> :drive:        :drive:



Got to do something to get you lot at it fed up with all this sun and heat be glad when the winter is here:mad1:


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## dave and mary (Oct 24, 2013)

kenspain said:


> Got to do something to get you lot at it fed up with all this sun and heat be glad when the winter is here:mad1:



 I think you had better move up to where we used to live (Hueneja )and then you could do a bit of skiing lol



     :drive:         :drive:


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## kenspain (Oct 24, 2013)

We do go skiing but only once a year  on Christmas day thank god, I don't do that sort of cold


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## vwalan (Oct 24, 2013)

certainly nice where ken is and that cherry valley road down to the coast is fantastic . 
it was really full of fruit as we went down last year. the colours was mind blowing .


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## shortcircuit (Oct 26, 2013)

For those of you who enjoy the blissful sea travel, have a look at Brittany Ferries web site and cancellations.  Cancelled, cancelled, cancelled, all due to bad weather. Posting on another forum indicates traveller not now getting a ferry until 7th November and others until 10th November.  How do you plan for this?

I will just stick to my leisurely drive down


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## Rodeo (Oct 26, 2013)

My 2p...Earlier this year we  booked Brittany ferries santander to portsmouth ,this was to return after a 3 week run down from Chunnel to mid spain by Trike. We broke down on the first day south of calais,so brittany ferries charged us £25 cancellation fee and we have to spend the voucher they sent us for the difference in the next 2 years. Not bad I thought TBH.Cant decide whether to go by ferry or return by ferry when we re book for next year in the campervan. I do like the Tunnel,as its so easy and more convenient than Portsmouth for us. Not sure which way or what to do yet,but must decide soon!


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