PORTSMOUTH TO SANTANDER OR BILBAO

Billieblue

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I’ve only ever done the Portsmouth to Santander route. Anyone done both? Is one better and why?
 
Depends what you mean by better. We do the 2 nighter to Bilbao. You leave 11:30 (from this winter TT, was 10:30) on Sunday and arrive Tuesday morning early so we get a quick start and get to our first stop at Navajas. Yes, it can be a bit boring but we have a decent meal on the Cap Finistere Monday night. It wont suit everyone. We've also done the Santander crossing, both ways. Always used the Cruise ferries, the Cap or Pont Aven. The Pont has a superb buffet in the restaurant, but it's out of commission for a few months over the winter. The Cap has pet friendly cabins, which is another reason for choosing that ship.

I can't say one crossing is any better than the other. It depends on the weather.
 
Santander to Navajas is about 650 kms that seems a hell journey to me, early this year I did Segorbe to Vitoria Gasteiz that was a hell trip too , I don't usually do long days , except in dire needs, each to their own but I won't be doing that again I know nothing of Bilbao or Santander trips as I always use Dover Calais,
 
@ Trigger, as you say each to their own. I've just checked my log and the three trips we've made to Navajas took 7hrs 2min, and 7hrs 20min (twice), including 2 stops. Last year we went to Valderrobres, in Matarrana, and that took 6hrs 15 mins, including one stop as it was a bit shorter. We left the boat between 8 and 8:15 each time. It's about 360 miles, mostly on motorways. We share the driving, but I know from talking to others that frequently it's the man who does all the driving. After that we usually make shorter journeys.
 
Like you we’ve only used Santander. That was purely because the sailing times suited us better and Santander shaved some mileage off our onward journey.
 
We used the Portsmouth to Santandar crossing but we were not too pleased to find our motorhome was put on the outside deck of the Cap Finistere on the way home. It was a rough crossing too so has put hubby off and we are not going this year. I hope he changes his mind when the days and days of rain start here.
 
We would not do a long ferry
The tunnel for us maybe £250 return
Non-toll route Mr & Mrs Google say 800 miles so allow 900
For us we would think about 150 miles a day so 6 days maybe plus rest days
900 miles =30 gallons so 135 litres x £1.50 say £200 (X2 = £400)
Depends if you have the time and it does not mean "not long enough in Spain" (assuming a 90 day B limit)
Just what our plan would be...
I know some "like the overnight Ferry trip" not us !
 
We would not do a long ferry
The tunnel for us maybe £250 return
Non-toll route Mr & Mrs Google say 800 miles so allow 900
For us we would think about 150 miles a day so 6 days maybe plus rest days
900 miles =30 gallons so 135 litres x £1.50 say £200 (X2 = £400)
Depends if you have the time and it does not mean "not long enough in Spain" (assuming a 90 day B limit)
Just what our plan would be...
I know some "like the overnight Ferry trip" not us !

That’s an excellent mpg, I doubt if many members vans are returning 30mpg.
 
I know it is good, dropped to 25 mpg in the Swiss mountains but I have got 32+ on M=ways keeping under 55
I have aTun-it fuel enhancer (similar to re-mapping
The mpg has been consistently good over the last 5 years.
I fill up every 250 miles or so and the average is worked out over the whole summer !
Renault 2.5 DCI engine 6 forward gears

395 miles​
28.3 mpg​
240​
28.8​
195​
32.1​
325​
32.5​
315​
30.0​
200​
27.9​
260​
25.4​
300​
30.2​
285​
33.0​
200​
28.5​
250​
30.1​
 
We'eve done this trip every year for the past 18 years on our way down to the costas, the only good thing about Bilbao is the cheap fuel fill up at the docks before getting on the ferry. We much prefere Santander as we stay at Cabarceno on the way back, just 30 minutes fron Santander. There's a huge nature reserve there with every animal conceivable in natural suroundings and a cable car which flys you over them. It's free to stay there and has all the amenities.
 
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We'eve done this trip every year for the past 18 years on our way down to the costas, the only good thing about Bilbao is the cheap fuel fill up at the docks before getting on the ferry. We much prefere Santander as we stay at Cabarceno on the way back, just 30 minutes fron Santander. There's a huge nature reserve there with every animal conceivable in natural suroundings and a cable car which flys you over them. It's free to stay there and has all the amenities.
Yes, that’s where I’ve stayed. It’s lovely isn’t it?
 
We'eve done this trip every year for the past 18 years on our way down to the costas, the only good thing about Bilbao is the cheap fuel fill up at the docks before getting on the ferry. We much prefere Santander as we stay at Cabarceno on the way back, just 30 minutes fron Santander. There's a huge nature reserve there with every animal conceivable in natural suroundings and a cable car which flys you over them. It's free to stay there and has all the amenities.
Cheap fuel now available in Santander: check out
We'eve done this trip every year for the past 18 years on our way down to the costas, the only good thing about Bilbao is the cheap fuel fill up at the docks before getting on the ferry. We much prefere Santander as we stay at Cabarceno on the way back, just 30 minutes fron Santander. There's a huge nature reserve there with every animal conceivable in natural suroundings and a cable car which flys you over them. It's free to stay there and has all the amenities.
Check out easygasgroup.com. There's now cheap fuel in Santander not far from the docks. Easygas is an expanding group with aggressive pricing shown on their website.
 
For us Portsmouth to Santander then a night or two in the Cabarceno Aire 30 minutes drive from the port, this ferry usually docks around 17.00hrs so it’s an easy option rather than driving miles through the night. However if we want to motor South especially in winter we use Portsmouth to Bilbao which usually docks around 08.30hrs or thereabouts, that then allows onward travel in daylight for as far as we wish. We usually stop at Camping Haro on ACSI about 85 miles down the toll road. On outskirts of Haro there are 3 supermarkets with good parking for motorhomes, the Simply one has the cheapest fuel in the area we paid 1.11 euro per litre two weeks ago there is also a Lidl to stock up on food. Works for us.
 

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