Driving to the UK

[Tetley]

Ditto i brought a 7.5 tipper truck over,700 quid one way and i think 2 pints of stella and a bread roll was abought another 900e.....lol

o and then that ramp on the ship driving off....scarry 

[Iberlynx]

When I moved to Spain over 12 years ago I came on the ferry to Santander and found it to be extremely expensive as since then I have travelled quite frequently back to the UK using the ferries from Boulogne, Calais and Dunkerque. Luckily my car is very fuel efficient and I use about 60-65 litres from home to the French border and the same to the Channel ports. Journey time is usually 10 hours through Spain and the same for France without using the toll roads. I always check ferry prices before I go and the Channel ports always come out the cheapest even taking into account the extra fuel used.

[Lynden]

I normaly drive direct Arboleas to Hull/Yorkshire through France ,saves me having to deal with non Yorkshire English  types ..... as some of the bxggers can be quite menacing  infact il be glad when were Independant. 

Anyone in a classic car (or bike) with flat cap and a cup of Tetley is fair game Tets 

[Tetley]

I normaly drive direct Arboleas to Hull/Yorkshire through France ,saves me having to deal with non Yorkshire English  types ..... as some of the bxggers can be quite menacing  infact il be glad when were Independant. 

[webejamin]

Best of both worlds Lyndon, drive on, then drive off

[Lynden]

I'd be well chuffed if they ran a ferry from Tilbury to Garrucha would suit me perfect

I think they call that a cruise Webe 

[webejamin]

I'd be well chuffed if they ran a ferry from Tilbury to Garrucha would suit me perfect

[zilnor]

And me Lynden. I get seasick . We always go through the tunnel. 30 minutes and you're across. Great !
Dogs are welcome at almost all French hotels, another bonus.

[Lynden]

Love driving through France. With the exception of Parisiens the French people I've met along the way have been kind, generous and pleased to help. Even my High School French gets me by, and with lovely clean, inexpensive hotels and fab scenery you take your time and enjoy the trip. Food and drink is pretty darned good too.
Over a day on a ferry would drive me nuts.

[Fishery]

We also live in East Yorkshire and much prefer to drive through France. Sometimes at a leisurely pace, sometimes just a couple of stops. It's really not arduous. Much prefer that to sitting on a ferry for 23 hours, or like someone we know recently endured a 42 hour crossing due to adverse weather.

[zilnor]

raysun,
I can assure you that I have never had any problems with the French people. I had a house there for 15 years and found them mostly friendly and helpful. One or two bad apples but that applies wherever you go.

[Anna123]

Thank you Tandas very helpful 

[tandas]

Driven back many times via Bilbao.  Plenty of good motorway services offering usual teenage food of burger chips or pizza or good quality menu del dia or baguettes.  Look out for Area 105s they're always good.  We usually take 9 hours stopping three times for refreshments and lunch and usually go up the day before stopping at the Ibis in Bilbao so we can go to the Mack centre nearby for shops before getting ferry next morning easy drive from hotel.

[raysun]

Having gone both ways a few times and through france for the past 30 years i would prefer to go santander , treat it as a cruise , bring your own goodies , stop overnight around burgos and relax after that.
Whatever the french are zillnor they do not like the english and its become so expensive.  France is a beautiful country but. But.  But.!!

[Anna123]

Hi all

Can anyone recommend a place to stop please between Bilbao and Mojacar for a leg stretch and a bite to eat, say 3 hours from the port and then another 3 hours, planning to do the drive in one day...:worry:  will be travelling with a fussy teen so ..maybe not completely Spanishy I know I know....we would eat anything but in the interests of keeping the peace ha ha

[hartcjhart]

Hi Tets, the Portsmouth - Bilbao/Santander is just under €1000 each way and that is for a shared cabin and as I said at this time of year they are putting 3 or 4 drivers to a cabin. The old Pride of Bilbao, all drivers had there own cabin and a decent drivers lounge with tv, endless supply of tea and coffee. It was a sad day when P&O pulled out of the Bilbao route. The Poole - Cherbourg route costs me €360 each way and I get to sleep in the comfort of my own bed in the lorry without other drivers snoring or far**** in the cabin.

ey up Jimbo,yes the old 'BillyBoat' was the way,rumour has it that P&O are thinking of coming back,

that aside, I have done both routes,Dover/Calais then down to Mojacar,had a night at Jonquera arrived at moj knackered lost a day just sleeping to recover, now I always go bilbao/santander an easy 10 hour drive.
sorry just realise the thread is about the 'other way' on the way back I stop at the hotel arando tudanca right next to the motorway,good rooms good food

[jimbothescot]

Hi Tets, the Portsmouth - Bilbao/Santander is just under €1000 each way and that is for a shared cabin and as I said at this time of year they are putting 3 or 4 drivers to a cabin. The old Pride of Bilbao, all drivers had there own cabin and a decent drivers lounge with tv, endless supply of tea and coffee. It was a sad day when P&O pulled out of the Bilbao route. The Poole - Cherbourg route costs me €360 each way and I get to sleep in the comfort of my own bed in the lorry without other drivers snoring or far**** in the cabin.

[Tetley]

Jim
just out of intrest how mutch is you truck one way on britani ferrys,when i was driving over i used Hull PO i had a 7.5 t daf with a 22 ft box on ad one way it was 285 but the plymouth santander job was around 600 quid this is going back to 2004.

the hull ferry was great as yer got free food and yer own cabin within the price were as the Brittany ferry was open wallet surgery....

just wondered what they were charging yer these days.

[jimbothescot]

Lately Ive been using Poole - Cherbourg and running down via Rennes , Nantes and Bordeaux. At this time of year Brittany Ferries are putting 3 and 4 drivers into one cabin which I feel is unacceptable and because the ferry is so busy there are no spare cabins to upgrade to, so I run through France.
Even with the tolls, I can save almost €300 each way, that however does not take into account of tyre and brake wear.
If only there was some decent competition against Brittany Ferries !!!

[dude]

I cannot compare ferry costs from Spain but have driven to UK many times through France. I use roughly 5 tanks of diesel for the round trip (driving to the Midlands) and have 2 overnight stops in each direction. I use the cross channel ports but personally prefer Dunkirk to Dover. My total costs are roughly £500 return which includes ferry, hotel and food, tolls and fuel. This varies with the exchange rate - last costed when it was around 1.25 to the pound.

[Iberlynx]

Tolls to Calais from as little as 2-19€, fuel cost in my Galaxy 130€, F1 hotel 35-40€, ferry (August) from 70€. Total 237-259€. 20 hours driving time + one and a half hours ferry.

Tolls to Santander/Bilbao from 0€, fuel 70€, ferry next available sailing Santander - Portsmouth 4th Sept 494€ + 11€ for a seat or 93,50€ for a cabin. Total 505-597,50€.
10-12 hours driving time + 23 hours on ferry.

[jonnno]

Although lots of people have replied to this post none have really done a true comparison. If I was doing a true comparison I would have done a true spreadsheet comparison which showed items such as:Travel time, cost (inc overnights and tolls if driving) side by side. I realise thats asking a lot but I suppose someone must have done something like that. Any offers? 

[Iberlynx]

I used to travel a lot to the UK (Lancashire) sailing from Boulogne, Calais or Dunkerque, price wise there was no comparison it was probably about 300€ cheaper each way than using Santander. Time wise it was 10 hours to Irun and the same to Calais including the dog exercise stops every 6 hours.

[zilnor]

We have been driving across France for over 30 years. Never once had any problems. Found a couple of inexpensive hotels.
I get seasick so in recent years we have used the tunnel. Love it ! One advantage of driving is that we take our dog with us. France in general, is more dog friendly than Spain.

345s comments on Calais are right.

[345 Challenger]

Well if you drive to Santander you have already done half the journey to the UK. You have to workout if you don't mind putting the miles on the car if you drive the rest of the way. Driving is definitely cheaper during the summer, and probably about the same in the winter.
Personally I haven't had a single problem driving through France in 14 years, curious to see what sort of issues people have had in France. I'm with Lynden, you can avoid most of the tolls if you want in France, I'd recommend a couple of small tolls purely for time saving, we have used Eastern and Western routes through France, the West is definitely the cheapest.

The only thing that raised an eyebrow this time was the huge overhead gantry signs in Calais saying " pedestrians and objects on road", saw plenty of migrants but nothing else. One word of advice, if you are contemplating using Calais as your port of entry to the UK do it in daylight, heard one or two adverse stories from people who have done the crossing from dusk onwards, it can be quite dangerous, I kid you not, none of this reaches the media.

[bagwash]

purely based on cost, flying from Alicante would be considerably cheaper, easier and sress free, even renting car in uk could still workout cheaper.

[Lynden]

I'd go stir crazy on the ferry so always drive. Take your time and France will delight you. Cheap overnight hotels great food and lovely people .......as long as you avoid Paris. Calais is fine via the tunnel. Cost wise, the ferry is cheaper in winter and the drive cheaper in summer. Road tolls in France are extortionate, but you can find a reasonably fast route that avoids most of them. Fastest road route is via Lyon up the eastern side on past Reims, but tolls all the way from the Spanish Border to Calais.

[JohnJones]

France has become so punitive to non-French that it is not worth it, to me, plus the tax on fuel is just absured.

I like the sea so go via Bilbao and take 24 hours off, no fone, no internet, bliss, and arrive in portsmouth well rested ready to go, French tax free.

[Hosm]

Thanks for the advice we are looking at going over
early next year so now I have some options to
look st

[Fishery]

We also drive through France and Spain to East Yorkshire. No problem. Usually try different routes,have usually done Newhaven Dieppe or Dover Calais (tunnel). Prefer Newhaven Dieppe but timing of ferries doesn't always work well. Have used the Portsmouth to Bilbao ferry once but didn't like it. We usually stop 2 or 3 times. Lots of very reasonable and convenient hotels en route. Give it a go!

[telcaz]

I have done both journey's over the last 16 years, and i much prefer driving up through France, i went to the uk last Christmas, but this time i went via Santander and returned via Bilbao, and hated every minute of both trips, but it was a matter of time that made me go that way. Over the years i have done just about every crossing into France, but now i use Portsmouth to St Malo, i have even used Poole to St Malo, but not sure if that route still operates, it's a long drive through France, but i spent 40 odd years of my working life as a lorry driver, so that was no sweat for me, and i love France. So you make up your own mind, but think about France particularly at this time of year.
                                                                      Terry

[Rtis]

If you don't have a deadline why not "DO" a bit of France on the way, you do not have to go anywhere near Calais !

[verwood]

The cheapest ferry is from Dieppe to Newhaven.

[chevyrecycler34]

Hi, we brought partners honda insight hybrid down thru spain earlier in the year, ok opposite route but still valid.
We left portsmouth and travelled to bilbao on what is a long semi cruise of just over 24 hrs.
We broke up the trip down by staying in an air bnb in madrid we'd booked beforehand which was lucky in a way as by the time the ferry had docked and we'd got going and into madrid it had gone dark.
We got to eat and have a drink and got going early ish but the further south we got the wetter it got lol.
Madrid is roughly halfway between bilbao and i think it took us around 4 and a half hours to get to Urcal which is close by Huercal Overa in almeria.
We didnt fancy driving through france having read all the horror stories, going back especially going anywhere near calais we wouldnt entertain at all.
The people we bought this villa from drove thru france and took the ferry from st malo.
Just which route you take is up to you, us, we'd probably do what we did last time.

[Hosm]

Has anyone a comparison between driving through
France and taking the Chunnel or driving to Santander and taking the ferry to the UK . We live in East Yorkshire so have a fair way to travel.