Driving thru France

I normally go via Ferry to Bilbao in northern Spain in order to get to the south West coast of france, Andorra or Spain, but I cant afford the £850 fare this time round just for me and my car (meeting friends out there)

London to Perpignan....what is the best most direct ferry route to go by?

(other than Dover or Chunnel)

Also how much would I expect to pay on tolls North to South, and is there any known speed traps/dodgy speed traps on tolls etc?

Any help or adviceof any kind would be much appreciated...I'm going in September btw.

£850:eek: The ferrys really do take the piss with their prices.

Portsmouth- St Malo would be better but its still a long way from Bilbao!

Originally posted by toyotasuprauk

£850:eek: The ferrys really do take the piss with their prices.

 

Portsmouth- St Malo would be better but its still a long way from Bilbao!

Yep its a nice boat though and ya get a cabin for two nights, and when everyone gets tipsy.....funny things seem to happen on that boat.

but its a mad amount of money to spend to get to Spain.

Thanks for that bit of advice I'll check out the St Malo route...I'm desperate for any more advice!!!

I've been on that boat too, pride of Bilbao? I liked the trip. Sadly my girlfriend hated it as she felt sick and will never go on a boat again.

Isnt there another boat that goes from Plymouth to Santander, is that any cheaper?

jeeeeeeeez big $$$ i was just saying to the wife the other day how i'd love to take my car to france spain or italy and drive and stop off at different places but not at that price!!!!!!!!!

Hi mate,

Ok i just drove from Stoke-On-Trent, through EuroTunnel, Paris, Toulouse, Perpignan, Barcelona, then Ferry to Mallorca.

There are a few speeds cameras, TOLLS are not cheap but the roads are quiet and really smooth. Petrol is not much cheaper than over here to be honest

Get European Road Breakdown cover Just in case....

Emergency phones every mile on toll roads, easy to find your way around except when you get in Paris,

try http://www.mappy.com (i think) for directions, tells you toll charges and speed cameras as well

I loved every minute of it, 1300 miles in 12hrs on the way back

Originally posted by toyotasuprauk

I've been on that boat too, pride of Bilbao? I liked the trip. Sadly my girlfriend hated it as she felt sick and will never go on a boat again.

 

Isnt there another boat that goes from Plymouth to Santander, is that any cheaper?

As soon as you get on it you must eat straight away, never go on 'The Pride Of Bilbao' on an empty stomach.

Ive been on it quite a few times even know some of the crew and they are all absolutely lovely, The Food has improved greatly, best place to eat on it is the Brasserie, The Al a carte resturant has had the same menu for a couple of years.

One time i came back on it and the Bay of Biscay was very angry...it was v scary....I was in the restaurant and the sweet trolly took off by its self and crashed into a table full of 'stuck up snotty nosed twats' which made me laugh really loud.

Carlos in the 'Posh' bar always gives me free cocktails....not sure why but hes really nice bloke.

And I got chatted up by a really nice Spanish gal who worked in the Brioche (cant spell) she gave me free coffee's and her phone number and email address and told me I could come stay with her in Barcelona...unfortunetly I lost my phone a few weeks later and didn't back up the data.

I think its a great boat..and I always feel totally relaxed on it two days of no driving, and no mobile phone signal, and all the other travellers are very friendly..

Then there are the Mini cruise passengers...which sometimes piss me off, they pay £60 to travel and they are really rowdie and abusive to the staff and complain about every tiny little detail..I had a go at one of em, I said what do ya expect for £60 u idiot, I paid £750 and I get the same service and I'm not complaining (for a change lol)

Its not that they complain about P&O they make it personal, which isn't on, those people on that boat get paid shit money but they work really hard and are always really helpful.

Brittany have a new boat that takes just 16 hours to Santander, but its about the same price if not more expensive and dosn't have as much facilities.

Shame I cant afford to go on 'The Pride Of Bilbao'this time...does anyone work for P&O that can get me a huge discount?

I'd drive it, but bear in mind it'll cost you over £300 in petrol alone. Only saw one speed camera driving from Calais-Med back in May, south of Calais, went thru it considerably over the speed limit (toying with a Porsche at the time), never had any comeback. Must have only seen 2 policecars on the toll / major roads in 2,000+ miles, and neither of those looked like they could do a tonne.

I'm thinking of going over there later in the year.

Whats the story with preparing the car lights for travelling at night ?

I bought some "universal" light beam adjusters from Halfrauds - has bewildering array of 135 different ways they can be fixed to 135 different cars. Sadly only post 97ish cars, so no instructions for Supras (obviously people with older cars can't afford holidays). In the end just took an educated guess based on some similar looking lights. As long as you've taken the effort to fit them, nobody's gonna care (chances are they wouldn't care anyway - although I got stopped at a police roadblock on the Belgium-France border and was glad they were fitted). Worst case scenario, accident at night blamed on dazzle from your lights if not fitted, probably makes them worthwhile.

Angie and I are off to France at the end of September.

A new ferry company started up earlier this year called Speed Ferries. Website here

They have based their business model on Easyjet, so the earlier you book the cheaper it is. We got the car and up to 4 passengers for £50 RETURN!!! (Yes, return...that's £25 each way - bargain!)

Cost me £165 to go from Newhaven to Dieppe in the summer when travelling to Le Mans. DOH!!

Anyway, Speed Ferries go from Dover to Bologne and it's only a 50min crossing. (Not much longer than the Tunnel!)

Went from Portsmouth to Le Havre - nice and cheap, the tolls were about £60 £70 each way roughly but if your driving straight from Le Havre to Spain without stopping it's a good idea to get a cabin....mind you i couldn't sleep and ended up watching Euro '04 football in the bar

Cheers everyone...keep the info rolling in its always useful for others too....

I might go the 'Castle' route I like the adventure of overnite ferries

I'll see how cheap i can get it...at the mo the cheapest I found was £286 with no cabin.....standard seat......but thinking of stopping halfway because I know I'll be really excited and wont sleep on the ferry...

Hope me cars ready in time..