Uk to Spain , Drive or Ferry ?

[Tjay]

first ,we always drive, both retired so no rush, drive as little or as much as you want each ,its part of the holiday and second we also have a dog and he is 12 years old and never ever been in a kennel and never will.
We would never subject him too 12 hours plus in a dirty smelly kennel on any ship !!
Lots of lovely stops and sites still open enroute, just chill ,take it easy and enjoy.
Been doing it now for 20+ years and never get tired of doing the run south.

 

[Jack Alfie]

We were lucky on last visit to Portugal, in Feb, the local vet gave us the tablets and signed for four days before we had tunnel booking in May. She said she was happy that we would administer them on right day. Not sure legal but very useful and cost 2euros.

that's excellent ,I'm afraid some vets are just ripping us off

 

[Deleted member 3048]

Ive looked at booking the Tunnel myself and expected a measurement for height etc to pop up, but the selection just allows for "campervan" and comes out at £95.00 ew

Does 1 size fit all on these things then? surely not. Mines 7.5m L and 3.2m high

 

[Rec]

Ive looked at booking the Tunnel myself and expected a measurement for height etc to pop up, but the selection just allows for "campervan" and comes out at £95.00 ew

Does 1 size fit all on these things then? surely not. Mines 7.5m L and 3.2m high

Given the DVLA refusal to register our van as campervan, compared cost of van with campervan.....same price

 

[Deleted member 3048]

so they just filter you for height on arrival then ? strange they arent charging higher vehicles more money .

 

[mark61]

so they just filter you for height on arrival then ? strange they arent charging higher vehicles more money .

After passport control, just follow sign for high vehicles.

 

[Deleted member 144]

I've use a similar route in recent years, presumably you divert to Dax to avoid the old RN 10
which is now Tolled? Between Le Mans and Dax is a long gap so where do you get to before
Dax without adding a fair few miles? After Dax did you mean Biarritz?

Vitoria-Gasteiz, reminds me;
I know a few people get a bit confused in Basque country with the double barrel place names
such as Vitoria-Gasteiz or San Sebastian-Donostia, just Spanish and Basque for same place.

No we stay on N10 for one junction payage, then off for Dax but not always as we are wanderers so routes vary greatly Yes Biarritz but just used the word to signify the general route,Our Aire route January this year were Calais to Montreuil ser Mer, Pont de L'Arche, Le Mans Aire , Vivonne Aire, Dax Aire, Victoria Gasteiz, EL Encinar nr.Salamanca free aire, Zafra aire , Rota aire [ Wild camped here on beach}Bologna wild place,Tarifa Beach wild ,Tarifa Town [defunct Aire so that was also wild , but water and loo dump still operative.San Roque wild, then Estepona Harbour wild, so as you can see we just go where the fancy takes us but take our time doing it, some days we only move about 10 kilometres , as we want to experience as much as we can on route.
Nesac Aire is a good stop over as is Marboue and Bonneval, they can be fitted in on route if you want to deviate a bit as can other stopovers, nothing is set in stone, St Jean de Luz is a good stopover lovely town to wander and shop, the Aire is OK but now pay and busy .Sergovia Aire and town Spain is a must visit place super Roman aqueduct and town and Castle to wander.

 

[daygoboy]

Much the same route as I've taken myself in the past when heading to Portugal after Francia,
even nowadays I end up turning off the A63@ the 1st A10 toll head to Mont de Marsan then on thru' the
Somport Tunnel or over the Col dependant on weather, on to Tharagotha, and hit the costas at Valencia,
can't wait to get to get warm these days!

 

[Donrevy]

Sorry , I may be picking you up wrong here , but any time I have checked tunnel against ferry prices the tunnel has always been at least 50% more ?

Try a one day return (return within 24 hours) they tend to be cheaper than the ferry, just throw the return part away. Phil.

 

[Donrevy]

There is another advantage to using the train over the ferry that isn't all that obvious. If your van is anything like mine with a long overhang at the back, whenever I go up any sort of ramp the towbar srcapes the ground as it's quite low. You don't have that problem with the train. Phil.

 

[Neodafyd]

I'm probably getting confused about various insurance types but there was a thread recently about needing a return trip booked to ensure cover.

Just picked up on this thread and it is a requirement on C&C Health Insurance that you need a return booked ticket. We book and change if necessary.

 

[Trompete]

In February we are going to Spain , we are weighing up the advantages also cost of driving through France or taking the ferry to Santander , baring in mind we have got a dog but we have also got all the time in the world . What do you normally do if you are doing this trip ? and why . Thanks regards Jeff & Lorraine

Wander down through France and enjoy the journey.

 

[Haaamster]

Came back on the santander ferry yesterday, very smooth sail but i still felt icky, was so glad we booked a cabin for sleeping. Food was suprisingly good and not overly expensive, £12.50 for dinner and a pudding or dinner and a starter.

 

[Markd]

Ive looked at booking the Tunnel myself and expected a measurement for height etc to pop up, but the selection just allows for "campervan" and comes out at £95.00 ew

Does 1 size fit all on these things then? surely not. Mines 7.5m L and 3.2m high

For Eurotunnel as soon as you can't fit in their double decker carriages the only relevant factor is length.
Presumably they reckon that a single charge on average length is easiest to use.
They close off each carriage so have to calculate an average number of vehicles that fit in each carriage.
The ferries have much longer lanes so they may charge by length.

 

[DAVE AND MARY]

We have been going down to Spain for the past 20 years, lived there for seven, many years ago we used the ferry from Bilbao to Portsmouth , The Pride Of Bilbao run by P @ O and it was a very reasonable price now very expensive. Now we always drive down and do a different rout each time put a town into your satnav say 500miles on then no Tolle roads and go, you see lots of France and there are plenty of fee Aires. Most people want to get down to the sun so say Almeria, now for us ( depends where you live ) it is about 1,350 miles from home, what people tend to forget that after you have paid a lot of money for the ferry you still have almost 600 miles to do after to get down to Almeria. So for us its the tunnel then a leisurely drive down.