Travelling from the uk to spain

[Pauljenny]

Thank you. The ferry may be the best bet, but I don’t fancy the Biscay in December, also we’re taking our 2 dogs, so need plenty of stops and exercise for them to. Thanks

Look at Portsmouth/ Caen.
5 hours on the ferry.
Dog exercise area on the top deck.
Gets you well down France.
No worries about Biscay.

 

[Mobilvetta]

We are doing this ferry this time as there were no cabins available on the Portsmouth to Santander route, due to holding off booking until the consultant give my wife the all clear to travel after her hip operation, although we could have reserved a reclining seat, but not for a two day sail. I'm hoping there are a few service points open on the way down through France so we can top up with water when needed.

 

[Ardachaidh]

We’ve done Portsmouth - Bilbao (on the Cap Finistere 2 nighter) 6 times, P - Santander 2 times and P - St Malo 3 times - all in winter. They all have their advantages/disadvantages. We have never had a rough crossing, but it’s always a worry with the Bay of Biscay.

We have always managed to get a pet friendly cabin on the Spain run by booking as soon as the new timetable was online. We now have 2 dogs so we decided to go to St Malo end of November ‘22 because the dogs can stay in the van overnight - although there wer pet friendly cabins available right up to our sailing day on the Pont Aven.

We had 2 overnight stops in France and one in the north of Spain before reaching our first campsite. We always use the toll roads and towing a trailer average around 30-40mph including coffee stops.

 

[Burge]

Look at Portsmouth/ Caen.
5 hours on the ferry.
Dog exercise area on the top deck.
Gets you well down France.
No worries about Biscay.

We been thinking about this route and doing a couple of weeks around Northern France as wife only has a 2 wk holi coming up so can't go too far, looking on search for sites seems to be a few sites on the Northern coast.

 

[Pauljenny]

We been thinking about this route and doing a couple of weeks around Northern France as wife only has a 2 wk holi coming up so can't go too far, looking on search for sites seems to be a few sites on the Northern coast.

Plenty of Aires ..
Check online. Park 4 night...
The French have a pretty relaxed attitude to discrete wild camping.
Look at Hermonville , near D Day Gold beach.
The weather should be kinder, if you don't go too North.

 

[We Luv Freedom]

Hi,
I,m booked on the Portsmouth to Santander boat in 2 weeks time on the 20th Jan,,, We have done the route to Southern Spain via Calais but prefer the direct route now to the sun with the 90 day limit & now fuel prices / distance / time / toll roads its swings & roundabouts. We have been every year for the past 6 yrs apart from Covid restriction 2020. Fortunatley the Bay of Biscay has been a smooth crossing each time - ( as i touch wood ),,,,
We have never come across any issues as travel along the autovias which are kept clear.
If in doubt just do it in this present MadMad World ?????,,,,

 

[rabW]

This Christmas we were at Sitava Milfontes Orbiter campsite. ( NOT the site in Milfontes)
A vast campsite but only 4 vans for 3 nights and 2 for 2 nights so lots of space and quiet.
Poor for nearby shops.
Lovely empty beach 800M away and cliff top walks are spectacular.
We are now on the Algarve coast, perhaps a little warmer but very many more people.

We were just north at porto covo, the costa do vizir site. Most hard standings were taken, but space elsewhere. A really well maintained site, beautiful clean facilities. A few shops and restaurants in porto covo, about 10 mins. walk.
Beaches and coves nearby, spectacular walks. Out for some cycle runs, went past your site on the way to milfontes.
Rab

 

[Suepaskins]

Hi I’m looking for any advice on travelling to Spain next winter. We have travelled to Portugal, but that was during the summer. Any advice greatly received.

Make sure you are either on refillable autogas or have a way of exchanging cylinders as heating eats through gas and continental cylinders are different sizes to ours.

 

[marchie]

UK Government Travel Page has been updated to reflect Spain's decision to test all Chinese arrivals for Covid. Trips to the ubiquitous Chinese Shop might require extra care. I didn't see any reference to needing to wear a mask, but it might be advisable

UK Government position [supported by Prof Chris Whitty and 'Covid' Professors at University of Anglia and Edinburgh University] is that Airport Covid Testing has a failure rate of around 60% and UK Transport Secretary said today that the UK approach will be to rely on Covid vaccination for protection of its citizens, and will just take sample groups of tests from Chinese arrivals at the airports

Suspect this will the start of an ever increasing number of Travel Updates ...

Steve

 

[rugbyken]

i’m off in a weeks time portsmouth/st malo after 15 years doing this malarkey it’s my favourite route just over 12 hrs on board comfortable night in pet friendly cabin easy access to dog walking area , good breakfast in the morning 320 mls due south & your past bordeaux , cross spanish border lunchtime next day , last year there was snow at burgos to salamanca so at bordeaux we cut across to narbonne & went down the med coast the joys/flexibility of a motorhome holiday ,

 

[TJBi]

Plenty of Aires ..
Check online. Park 4 night...
The French have a pretty relaxed attitude to discrete wild camping.
Look at Hermonville , near D Day Gold beach.
The weather should be kinder, if you don't go too North.

The WildCamping.co.uk location app has a good range of aires and wilding spots in France and www.campingcar-infos.com/view.php is another very good resource.
I have seen suggestions that it can take some time getting through border control at Ouistreham (or Caen as BF insist on calling it). Could be worth looking at ferries from Poole or Portsmouth to Cherbourg as well. BF have a couple of crossings late in the week doing one Portsmouth/Cherbourg rotation with their ferries used on the service to Spain. Prices on those crossings from Cherbourg to Portsmouth appear to be quite competitive versus other BF central Channel crossings. Outbound, however, they are overnight services, so you have to factor in the cost of a cabin or reclining seat.

 

[marchie]

The WildCamping.co.uk location app has a good range of aires and wilding spots in France and www.campingcar-infos.com/view.php is another very good resource.
I have seen suggestions that it can take some time getting through border control at Ouistreham (or Caen as BF insist on calling it). Could be worth looking at ferries from Poole or Portsmouth to Cherbourg as well. BF have a couple of crossings late in the week doing one Portsmouth/Cherbourg rotation with their ferries used on the service to Spain. Prices on those crossings from Cherbourg to Portsmouth appear to be quite competitive versus other BF central Channel crossings. Outbound, however, they are overnight services, so you have to factor in the cost of a cabin or reclining seat.

DFDS Crossing Newhaven to Dieppe is staggering back to pre-Covid opening hours and the discounted price for over 60s, including a cabin discount, makes it very competitive against The Tunnel. The loading/unloading delays as vehicles wait to clear Customs/Passport Control means that some hairy manoeuvres were deployed; in April, we were loading as the last few arriving cars/caravans were still being unloaded, with a quick swerve to reach the gap in the traffic! Newhaven is also subject to the Border Guards strike action, so there may be more delays

Steve

PS Just refreshed the Guardian Webpage. 'Border Force strike action could be extended to Dover and other Ports' article has appeared!

 

[Deleted member 127]

If you have dogs or other pets then do buy veterinary supplies in Spain or Portugal, we have found them about half the UK price. They are of course available from Vets but a.so from many Chemists though you might have to wait until the next day if not in stock.
I have also found that a Fiat Professional van service is much cheaper, we saved nearly £400 by getting ours done in The Netherlands, I guess this will apply to Spain and Portugal though do check what is included, we were charged €40.oo an hour for work in Portugal but oil was extra.

 

[Pauljenny]

BF do a discount scheme for regular travellers.
They are not too bothered if it's shared with friends and family.
You often see posts on WC and here, asking for the code..
It works.
Believe me.

 

[GMJ]

Have you folks who use the ferries noticed any uplifts in prices for them? The tunnel is now typically around 300 quid for a return crossing when we choose to go (usually mid morning, not a weekend). It has gone up around 50% in 5 years by my reckoning.

 

[We Luv Freedom]

Have you folks who use the ferries noticed any uplifts in prices for them? The tunnel is now typically around 300 quid for a return crossing when we choose to go (usually mid morning, not a weekend). It has gone up around 50% in 5 years by my reckoning.

We found the boat from Portsmouth to Santander the same price as the previous year ... it cost us £1.183 that includes meals & an outside window cabin / cycle rack / & up to 8mtr van ... Got an e mail yesterday to say that any bookings made now do NOT include meals as people prefer to be tied to times or meal sittings so u can purchase as required so I assume when booking from now on will be cheaper ....

 

[We Luv Freedom]

We found the boat from Portsmouth to Santander the same price as the previous year ... it cost us £1.183 that includes meals & an outside window cabin / cycle rack / & up to 8mtr van ... Got an e mail yesterday to say that any bookings made now do NOT include meals as people prefer to be tied to times or meal sittings so u can purchase as required so I assume when booking from now on will be cheaper ....

Whoops forgot to say that's Return & includes three course meals & breakfasts

 

[marchie]

UK Government has signed a contract for £200k a years for a Veteran Servicemen's charity that normally operates in War Zones, to distribute water and food to the queueing passengers at Channel Ports, AFTER they have been waiting for longer than 48 hours. So the ferry prices are perhaps the least of our worries ...

Steve

 

[GMJ]

UK Government has signed a contract for £200k a years for a Veteran Servicemen's charity that normally operates in War Zones, to distribute water and food to the queueing passengers at Channel Ports, AFTER they have been waiting for longer than 48 hours. So the ferry prices are perhaps the least of our worries ...

Steve

The tunnel looks a better and better option then....

 

[marchie]

The tunnel looks a better and better option then....

Depends on how far back the queues stretch, Graham? A 48 hours queue is going to contain a lot of vehicles and last Summer's 17 miles [IIRC] could block the carriageway before you could reach the Tunnel ...

Arguably, it makes Newhaven a better option from the west, because you could leave the M40 at J9 and pootle down the A34 before switching to the A27 and driving past Brighton [in the event that the M40/M25/A27 more direct route to Newhaven is caught up in the Dover queues]

Steve