Long ferry verses long drive

Wes

Guest
Hi people

Does anyone have any advice/experience in the comparable pricings between a ferry trip (with motorhome;) to santander/bilbao in north spain, and driving down in the van incorporating fuel, tolls, channel crossing etc..??

South of France/North of Spain is our destination this September and bidget is most influential factor for us.

All the best

Wes
 
spelling..!!

Sorry, meant to say that budget is the main factor, not really sure what a bidget is?:D
 
depends on your vehicle fuel consumption. i have just returned from winter in spain. my ferry cost 576pound plymouth-santander return.including a passenger and a dog (dog cost about 60quid).
i live 30ml from plymouth ,if i drive to dover its 350ml return is 700ml.
at 16 to the gallon and the drive through france i would have spent alot more. work it out .of course the ferry cost goes up in summer so depends when you travel.
i travel november and return end april.
my mini artic is classed as a car and caravan upto 11.5mtr.
my mate from fort william used the same ferry this year and reckons he saved money this year. he uses a daf 45 truck.
it can be cold in france in nov. and we get to spain in a day.
cheers alan.
 
Wes said:
Hi people

Does anyone have any advice/experience in the comparable pricings between a ferry trip (with motorhome;) to santander/bilbao in north spain, and driving down in the van incorporating fuel, tolls, channel crossing etc..??

South of France/North of Spain is our destination this September and bidget is most influential factor for us.

All the best

Wes
Click to expand...

Hi Wes
Can't specifically help with this route, but we recently went to holland and it still worked out cheaper to drive from Calais to Holland than getting a ferry, we also enjoyed the 'journey' which we find is all part of the experience and can't really be included in the budget. But as someone said you need to do your sums. Take an average MPG for your vehicle, be realistic :) then find out how much the ferry will be. Oh yeah and remember that being stuck on a ferry for an extended period can get expensive and BORING :D :D
 
hi *****, just as a matter of interest as i never drive direct when in a camper. can you give us a direct run to bilbao/satander mileage guess.
i have driven it but wonder every where so cant give an accurate figure.
 
if its 750ml driving then its cheaper at 16 to the gallon. i drive a mitsubishi canter with a 20ft lynton 5th wheel trailer behind .i drive slow last time took 3days roscoff to andorra. that was 3 yr ago. i never take toll rds ,but do drift all over cant say mls . never actually driven direct .even when driving for work always had to go all over the place. usually via germany or something. i normally would have said 750 to 1000 but if we say 250quid there 250quid back its still the same as ferry but i didnt drive to dover =250quid.
cheers alan.
 
vwalan said:
depends on your vehicle fuel consumption. i have just returned from winter in spain. my ferry cost 576pound plymouth-santander return.including a passenger and a dog (dog cost about 60quid).
i live 30ml from plymouth ,if i drive to dover its 350ml return is 700ml.
at 16 to the gallon and the drive through france i would have spent alot more. work it out .of course the ferry cost goes up in summer so depends when you travel.
i travel november and return end april.
my mini artic is classed as a car and caravan upto 11.5mtr.
my mate from fort william used the same ferry this year and reckons he saved money this year. he uses a daf 45 truck.
it can be cold in france in nov. and we get to spain in a day.
cheers alan.
Click to expand...
gob smacked at that mileage just checked it:eek: and yorkshire is a 100mls closer to dover :eek:
 
vwalan said:
if its 750ml driving then its cheaper at 16 to the gallon. i drive a mitsubishi canter with a 20ft lynton 5th wheel trailer behind .i drive slow last time took 3days roscoff to andorra. that was 3 yr ago. i never take toll rds ,but do drift all over cant say mls . never actually driven direct .even when driving for work always had to go all over the place. usually via germany or something. i normally would have said 750 to 1000 but if we say 250quid there 250quid back its still the same as ferry but i didnt drive to dover =250quid.
cheers alan.
Click to expand...

and if you convert to wvo ermmmmmmmmmmmmm nowt :)
 
hi, have tried all the different ways to save on fuel bills .had problems with old veg oil furring in pipes .at moment clean is priced ok . in some countries clean veg oil is dearer than diesel. did once inadvertantly make the trip through spain on red by mistake of course. in spain last mnth diesel pound a ltr. in gib in feb 89pence i can carry 500ltr so i got from gib up the west coast of portugal and galicia on gib fuel . if i go southern maroc its even cheaper so not worth messing around.
like i say its cold in france in november so get to spain quick and have fun. all the north coast of spain is lovelly. or drop down to barcelona and follw the med . too cold in center of spain come late nov/dec.
i like francebut its getting too expensive to visit.
 
hi artur, i was born at balby near the little white church. lived in warmsworth ,left in 64.
every where is along way from us down here ,london 250 ,birmingham 250.
do use dover if going germany ,holland etc.
 
Ferry

Hey

I have a ferry booked with Norfolkline going from Dover to Dunkerque and its cost £101 return for me and a dog in a 26ft Hobby. It was the cheapest I could find and takes about two hours. I am going down to the Vendee, but have loads of time to get there.
 
I have just booked a Ferry to Calais for my Hymer £28 one way , you can drive all the way to SANTANDER for free on very good roads , stay on Aires for free en route and only pay for your fuel, however much that is, the crossing to Santander for my van would be about £300 based on previous checks so if you have time and we all have 24 hrs in our days you must save money driving down .:D:D
 
hi malc .remember some of us dont do as many miles to the gallon . i work it out as 250 quid to drive through france. and i live 350 ml from dover. but good for you see you somewhere . cheers alan.
ket us know the price of diesel in france if you can.
 
We try working it out every time as we would like to take the long ferry but it always works out dearer for us. As we have to travel from North Wales it doesn't make a lot of difference which port we go from. Dover or Eurotunel (with Tesco vouchers) & driving down always work out cheaper by a long way. If we were able to use the Tesco vouchers for the long trip we would chance it but I don't think you can anymore.:mad:

We find we can do the drive down in a reasonable 2 days without any toll roads but usually plan on a 3 day drive if we are heading straight to Spain, when we go after Christmas we are planning taking a bit longer but going to head towards the west coast of France & depending on the weather see how it goes.
 
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hi ed. beware after xmas below bordeaux can be very cold day and night. hope you dont get it too cold . have knowm it below freezing. but cross to spain on the coast can be ok.
you and malc can do it cheaper with your vehicles for me its a no go. even my mate from scotland finds the ferry to spain cheaper but again we are in trucks. in the summer we would have to drive as the ferry gets really silly ,like over 1,000quid. but its not too bad in winter. have fun. cheers alan.
 
Its not only the fuel costs, you have to factor in vehicle wear and tear, which if considered may well make the short route the cheaper option. Having said that I usually take the long route to Southern Spain, leave early November back Mid April.
Usually spend 2 weeks each way in France, travelling as slow as possible even if the weather is cold. April in France is usually ok.
Once in Spain its as quick as possible to the Costas. As nearly everybody is aware, due to elevation most of inland winter Spain is brass monkey weather.
Always seems a shame to me to rush through France or miss it out altogether.

,
 
Hi,Current fares being charged by some operators means we take the long mileage route. As mention in another thread this is very annoying for me because I live within 10 miles of poole ferry terminal & 50 miles of the Portsmouth one. The logistics however work out that getting 33/35 mpg means its cheaper to trundle along to Dover for the cheap fares, then from Calais all the back to the Rouen / Caen area before heading south to Spain. Just treat the journey as part of the holiday & stop at some interesting places on route.

Dezi
 
vwalan said:
hi malc .remember some of us dont do as many miles to the gallon . i work it out as 250 quid to drive through france. and i live 350 ml from dover. but good for you see you somewhere . cheers alan.
ket us know the price of diesel in france if you can.
Click to expand...
Hi Alan, we are on the 9-15 pm boat Thursday 16th no plan just wander see what happens I will be looking out for you, have fun Malc.
 
have a good trip malc . hope to leave early nov. crossing to maroc about the 14/15 dec. cant put up with the rain again. drive safe .will look out for you , byronic and all you adventuous wilders . keep smiling . cheers alan.
 
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