Ferry to France

vini

Guest
Hi , we are planning a trip over to France at the end of August, hoping to go to Brittany. Have been looking at some ferry sites and the max length I have found is 6.5m on the drop down menu.
We have a LWB sprinter which is 7m long and I am sure some motorhomes are much longer.
Is there any good sites that I can look at for booking ferries. The cost is around £500 from Portsmouth to St Malo, which seems expensive. Is that about right?
Is it worth joining any clubs to save on ferry crossing?

Any advice on travelling France would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks in advance.
Vini :D
 
Hi *****,

did have lots of money before we bought the van and started conversion! ;)

Thought as we were going to Brittany it would be quicker and easier to drive west via Porstmouth as opposed to Dover and do the long drive through France.
But think we will have to reconsider the route as £500+ is a lot to pay.
How long do you think it will take to drive from Calais to St Malo?


thanks
best wishes

vini
 
We have just booked for France for end of May via Eurotunnel using our
Tesco clubcard vouchers ( worth 4 times face value). you can check your route, mileage, travelling times on the via Michelin website. We are
heading over to the Vannes area and from Calais the route is showing a time
of just over 6 hrs, which is fair. This will be our 1st time of motorhoming on the continent so it will be fun.
Why drive all the way across the south of England when your so near the tunnel and its only 35 mins across.

Scotsbob (Aberdeen)
 
Caen

I've used Brittany Ferries Caen crossing a couple of times already this year the cheapest for me visiting Brittany from hampshire has been LD lines Portsmouth to Le Harve but this year the prices are not that different and if you take in to account the tolls on the Le Harve route plus the extra mileage the extra is minimal (there are no tolls at all from Caen to anywhere im Brittany)
The 6.5m maximum on the BF web booking page is a pain, when I queried it I was advised to book on the telephone as freight, as it was a quiet time of year I decided to take a chance and book the 6.5m even though I am slightly over, I got away with it, not sure what would provoke a challenge at the port?

BTW my last crossing in late march cost £268 I guess the seasom will make quite a difference to that price
 
if you do go by tunnel check times as the cost alters loads but you can get sum bostin deals:)
 
vini said:
Hi *****,

did have lots of money before we bought the van and started conversion! ;)

Thought as we were going to Brittany it would be quicker and easier to drive west via Porstmouth as opposed to Dover and do the long drive through France.
But think we will have to reconsider the route as £500+ is a lot to pay.
How long do you think it will take to drive from Calais to St Malo?


thanks
best wishes

vini
Click to expand...
Go Dover/Calais, its less than £100, plus £100 or so in fuel to Brittany, and you will see more of the countryside too, instead of the sea, and the robbing ferry prices for food & drink. Plus, you can stock up with food & drink ic Calais on your way there and back too.
Cheers, Pete
 
Definately go Dover to Calais, we are 7.5 M and paid £34 (one way) last week.

St Malo can be done in a day no problem but why not have a night in Normandy either at a nice Aire on the Seine or do some of the WWII stuff at Pegasus Bridge or the landing beaches and then maybe Mont St Michel before arriving at St Malo. Some great spots along the North Brittany coast. Loads of wildy places!
 
Vini
Is this your first time to France and is there a reason for going to Brittany? We went to France for our first time last year and started in Normandy which is absolutely magic. The second time we went further down and got into Brittany and it ticked all the boxes that Normandy had.

We went Dover/Calais and drove down off the toll roads, which is no problem. Ferry fares, both ways, would total just over £80 for a 7.4m Kontiki, so if you take that off your £500, you can see a lot of France.

Unless you specifically want to go to Brittany there is a lot of beautiful France without traveling miles and miles

Edit

Going back May/June and Normandy will provide all we need. Will go back September/October and will go further south for better weather
 
Last edited:
500 wow

we too ventured into france for the first time last year. so good, were going again in august. dover - calais £75 return with p n o. must admit the sailing times are unsociable but hey, £75 for august is unbelievable.
 
Brittany used to get packed in season but miles of sandy beaches on the charente maritime coast. I'm hoping to go next year when the pup has had his rabies jabs.
 
I think Ive done just about every region in France by now and Brittany is still a firm Favorite along with the French Alps. Definately worth the drive from Calais. The whole of the North coast is really lovely but it can be Motorhome city which can add or detract from the appeal depending on your point of view. Certainly MH friendly though.

The only place we havent been is the French Pyrenees and we will be doing them next week. Currently sitting in the warm sunshine in the Dordogne (just to be smug)
 
fance

Yes 1st time driving to France in a van. Neither of us used to driving the big beast so a bit nervous. We are planning to go to Bath in a couple of weeks so get a chance to test drive the tramper van.:D

After all the comments we will go via Calais and head west.
No reason going to Brittany except better half thinks it will be hotter there.

Think Normandy sounds a good start and then onto St Michel, We have a teen son & a boder collie to keep entertained! Any ideas of dog friendly wildy sites would be helpful.

Thanks for all the suggestions & feedback:)
 
Is a LWB Sprinter really 7m? My XLWB 2008 Ducato is only 6.2m and I thought longer than a Sprinter, most ferry companies are ok upto 6.5m, I have booked return in May with 2 dogs(£60 admin fee) for £96:)
 
France

Just checked, length is 6.65m, so above the 6.5m limit.

Will have to start looking for ferry crossings soon. Waiting for pet-passport to kick in at the end of August so will be there in peak time.
Looking to stay in quiet sites and wild camping and maybe check out some of the Aires. Just found out a neighbour lived in Normandy for a couple of years. He said it would only take 3 hrs to drive from Calais to St Malo, which is much closer than we thought. He also said he knows great places to go all along the coast road, mentioned a farm we can stay in. The farmer keeps horses and arranges rides along the beach. Will post more info when we get it.

Thanks
 
My reply is always the same: for the cheapest fares, stay on the narrowest part of the channel- the further yiou go South from Dover, the higer goes the price. Lok at Norfolk lines- they are very sympathique to MH and the new LD lines are goodish on size. The others-P&O, Brittany, et all preferas many cars and as many people inthem to spend spend spend aboard on their long crossings!
And now the planes are buggered, don't expect to see the spate of offers that were abouit when cheapie flights were serious competition- the ashes to ashes situation is having an even bigger effect on ferry prices than Ryanair's insane baggage charges rapidly being copied by others) which was (is?) making driving with ferries much more popular. Bon voyage!
 
sea france

Hi,
we're booked next month on seafrance ferries Dover Calais return for 90 quid and that is a flexi ticket which entitles us if we arrive earlier to jump on an earlier boat (good if you're coming from Scotland, unpredictable traffic etc) We're heading down to Italy for a month but before we had the motorhome we had a caravan when the ankle biters were wee and that stretch between calais and st malo is worth a drive just for the scenery. Also I wouldn't worry about driving on the left, just practice in this country for a couple of weeks before you go!!! Seemples!!:D:D:D
 
You need to shop around the ferries to get the best deal and you get an extra few percent off if a member of one clubs. So far P&O have come out best for me, 7.4m MH, on 4 crossings.
 
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