Ferry prices

[redhand]

We plan a trip to spain in February travelling through france first ever winter trip. There seems to be lots of references in this thread to aires being closed at this time of year, is this really the case

 

[Tezza33]

Until you get a long way South you will find a lot of Aires with the water turned off but we have never had problems finding somewhere for the night

 

[jaycey001]

We have gone via the boat to Spain and paid about £850 - dog cabins always fill up quickly and I dont really want to put our dog in the kennels on board. It was a rough crossing but quite enjoyable. We have also gone via the tunnel which is so easy and not too badly priced. However this summer we are going to try the Newhaven-Dieppe ferry, really good prices (better than tunnel!) and drops you a bit further south and avoids the congestion around Paris etc.. looks ideal to me!

 

[Moonraker 2]

ferry to france

We have gone via the boat to Spain and paid about £850 - dog cabins always fill up quickly and I dont really want to put our dog in the kennels on board. It was a rough crossing but quite enjoyable. We have also gone via the tunnel which is so easy and not too badly priced. However this summer we are going to try the Newhaven-Dieppe ferry, really good prices (better than tunnel!) and drops you a bit further south and avoids the congestion around Paris etc.. looks ideal to me!

As with a previous comment, I have usually taken the Portsmouth - Caen route, then it is quite a straight road south, bit of a detour round Bordeaux. However this year, on my return trip, I drove up to Dieppe, spent a week on and around the Seine which was wonderful and then a good crossing to Newhaven. Dieppe is an interesting town, parked on the aire the other side of the river and rode my bike around. Lovely.

 

[Deleted member 54954]

We have just returned from a month in Provence and used the Newhaven - Dieppe route for the first time, partly due to the 20% discount for the 'oldies' and partly for the convenience of a shorter journey for our border terrier (dogs have to travel in vehicle and allowed one check during the crossing). My only gripe was that the food was not the quality of that on Brittany Ferries but was a similar price. But with such a short journey it is a minor point.
We hope to travel to Portugal end of April to early July next year and a Brittany Ferries quote for Portsmouth to Santander was £1012.20 return, incl. Club Voyage 15% disc., and dogs have to travel in a kennel. That is not pet-friendly, in our opinion (others will have differing opinions). As much as we like the service on Brittany Ferries we will use Newhaven - Dieppe and opt for a 'plat de jour' in transit. Toll charges are minimal on the straightest route to the Spanish border.