Travel to France dilemma

[RockinNRollin]

I realise variations on this theme have surfaced previously, but pricing seems far more acute these days so trying (and failing) to decide what to do.

Aim: get from Manchester to Bordeaux area as painlessly and ideally fast as possible (noting we have a 4yo on board), circa late May/early June. Costs are in round numbers.

Option 1: via Dover/Calais on Ferry. Cheapest (£300). Involves most driving. 2 hour ferry sailing intervals mean either a very early start for a 10am crossing

Option 2: via Chunnel. Expensive (£500!). Most driving along with option 1. Plenty of departures and a fast crossing, but risk of disruption.

Option 3: Overnight from the south coast (Poole/Portsmouth) to Caen or similar. Expensive (£700). Less miles (on both sides), but Portsmouth/Poole area is no quicker to get to. Questionable if there'd actually be any meaningful sleep by the time we've settled a 4yo who already is going to be disrupted because of boarding at a time he'd normally be fast asleep at (and he has high sleep needs!). Return crossings don't seem to have overnight options, although there's nothing saying we'd have to do the same return route.

Option 4: Early ferry from Poole to Cherbourg, "camp" at the Ferry terminal. £600ish return crossing I think, not sure how safe it is to camp there too. Long-ish crossing.

I keep kicking this around in my head and keep ending up at Dover/Folkestone as the better option and preferably the Chunnel just for the convenience/timing, just conscious that if/when it goes wrong, there's no bail-out.

 

[tobyprivett]

I usually travel from Portsmouth to France because it's nearby. If I was driving from Manchester I would just go to Dover and take the ferry. Then book a campsite near Calais eg

Camping Pommiers Des Trois Pays​

 

[pchmlk]

We did Dover/calais this year as opposed to the expensive tunnel and wouldn’t hesitate to do the same again. Pay the extra £18 for premium lounge and you get a reasonable meal, free drinks and comfy seats. It is a long way to Bordeaux from there but we found Loire as a nice area to break it up.

 

[Blackbrogue1962]

We travelled from Edinburgh to South of Bordeaux recently via Portsmouth - St Malo. Having previously used ferries on the Dover - Calais crossing, Brittany Ferries was a much more enjoyable experience. The drive from St Malo to Bordeaux was very easy and quick using the toll roads. We’d definitely use this crossing again to visit SW France (but don’t have a child’s needs to take into account) benefiting from a good nights sleep allowing a refreshed start to the journey on arrival in St Malo at 7am.

 

[andyinluton]

I would have said more chance of disruption using a ferry than the Chunnel, we always use the flexiplus tickets, even more expense but free food & the ability to just turn up, skip the queue and go with no stressing about missing the booked time.

 

[Julesverne2000]

Driving from the north is a real pain. We did Portsmouth-St Malo from Yorkshire with two young kids last year. The 8pm-8am crossing is ideal and the cabin’s comfortable enough to get a reasonable amount of sleep. We were then fresh to get a chunk of distance covered straight from the ferry. To me this beats the hassle of camping in northern France for a night, which is ok if it’s just two of you but for a family trip I could do without all the unpacking/packing.

 

[RockinNRollin]

Thanks all. I think on reflection the Chunnel is probably the way to go! Interestingly when I just plugged in the details (and it recognised the Cali as a campervan) the return was now £330! More palatable although it's still slightly ridiculous to be paying £10 a minute for a train journey . . . I suppose it helps keep seawater out of the tunnel . . .

 

[ChrisTravel]

Some nice sites near Dover etc to break the journey from Manchester if your not in a hurry

 

[dspuk]

Chunnel, all day every day. In, out, on the motorway in minutes and paired with a toll pass is the most stress free and easiest way to France I can imagine. 500 is steep, we just paid 250 return but it was a weekend saver. Don't forget you can get 10% off with CAMC membership. We go 3x a year so pays for the membership very quickly.

 

[colintfcolintf]

The Tunnel needs to bring back it's Frequent Traveller scheme. used to be £100 return

 

[tedgina]

I realise variations on this theme have surfaced previously, but pricing seems far more acute these days so trying (and failing) to decide what to do.

Aim: get from Manchester to Bordeaux area as painlessly and ideally fast as possible (noting we have a 4yo on board), circa late May/early June. Costs are in round numbers.

Option 1: via Dover/Calais on Ferry. Cheapest (£300). Involves most driving. 2 hour ferry sailing intervals mean either a very early start for a 10am crossing

Option 2: via Chunnel. Expensive (£500!). Most driving along with option 1. Plenty of departures and a fast crossing, but risk of disruption.

Option 3: Overnight from the south coast (Poole/Portsmouth) to Caen or similar. Expensive (£700). Less miles (on both sides), but Portsmouth/Poole area is no quicker to get to. Questionable if there'd actually be any meaningful sleep by the time we've settled a 4yo who already is going to be disrupted because of boarding at a time he'd normally be fast asleep at (and he has high sleep needs!). Return crossings don't seem to have overnight options, although there's nothing saying we'd have to do the same return route.

Option 4: Early ferry from Poole to Cherbourg, "camp" at the Ferry terminal. £600ish return crossing I think, not sure how safe it is to camp there too. Long-ish crossing.

I keep kicking this around in my head and keep ending up at Dover/Folkestone as the better option and preferably the Chunnel just for the convenience/timing, just conscious that if/when it goes wrong, there's no bail-out.

Have a look at Newhaven /Dieppe crossing 4 hour sailing ,much better than driving to Dover,we have crossed this way many times.

 

[B J G]

When going to that area in France a few years ago 2 options that were used.

1) Portsmouth to St Malo on the night ferry as it gave day hours to travel to Portsmouth, overnight sleep. early start with mostly Toll free run down on fast route and arrival in time to get settled in during the afternoon. Return on morning sailing after an overnight site stop close to St Malo.

2) P'mouth to Caen afternoon crossing but gets in late and soon stopped for the night in a Service Aire. Not the best option for you with a 4 year old.

I found Poole took quite a bit more driving time to get to/from compared to Portsmouth.

Dover route I found a long drive as going diagonally across France with Tolls to pay plus traffic heavy at times which after unpredictable UK traffic didn't make for a good start to the trip.

Cheaper channel crossings can have additional fuel and toll costs to take into consideration.

 

[CaliforniaCylus]

DFDS Newhaven to Dieppe is very cost effective.

Also why not take the ferry from Portsmouth or Plymouth to Santander or Bilbao? Whilst it may seem expensive, once you've factored in fuel, tolls and overnight stops there's not much in it.

 

[acer]

DFDS Newhaven to Dieppe is very cost effective.

Also why not take the ferry from Portsmouth or Plymouth to Santander or Bilbao? Whilst it may seem expensive, once you've factored in fuel, tolls and overnight stops there's not much in it.

 

[CaliforniaCylus]

I'm confused by this reply. What am I missing?!?!?

 

[Gavinskii]

I'm confused by this reply. What am I missing?!?!?

Probably the Bay of Biscay!! However on the Pont Aven I’ve never experienced anything bad

 

[2haw]

Thanks all. I think on reflection the Chunnel is probably the way to go! Interestingly when I just plugged in the details (and it recognised the Cali as a campervan) the return was now £330! More palatable although it's still slightly ridiculous to be paying £10 a minute for a train journey . . . I suppose it helps keep seawater out of the tunnel . . .

Do the booking on size and type, NOT reg number. Worth a go. I’ve never had an issue.

 

[Karlos]

We have just come back from Spain via Dover in a 6 metre van and it cost £85 each way. We used to use the tunnel but the saving I make using the ferry pays for a lot of fuel. Really nice free park up just north of Bordeaux at Braud Et St Louise on the banks of La Gironde with 24 hr toilets.

 

[B J G]

With Brittany Ferries you can choose different outbound and inbound routes.

Worth costing using Plymouth - Roscoff for you with the M5/M6 for either both ways or just one with one of the shorter crossings.

Road from Roscoff south is quite long/slowish

 

[acer]

I'm confused by this reply. What am I missing?!?!?

Sorry. Sea sickness. But I’d have trouble on a pedalo!

 

[AdamsFamily]

Option 4: Early ferry from Poole to Cherbourg, "camp" at the Ferry terminal. £600ish return crossing I think, not sure how safe it is to camp there too. Long-ish crossing.

Poole - Cherbourg crossing is probably the cheapest BF option - its only 5 hours and you could always get a Cabin if you think you need it for about £45.
Mid may will set you back about £500 including Cabins
Parking up down there is pretty safe too - the compound is gated and often see a few Campers/Motorhomes and Caravans waiting for the morning ferry.

For me its all about the drive, especially the other side - I prefer to be on the right side of the Country and minimise tolls.
3 Hours less driving and a couple of hundred quid more - no brainer for me.

 

[BristolCali]

I’ve done all but the Dover Calais crossing with kids and the only thing I would mention that’s not obvious is in the summer with good weather my kids love the ferry. Brittany Ferries do a good job on play room and entertainers in high season. We saw dolphins, it was great.

 

[RockinNRollin]

Thanks all. Going to do a bit more research. I'm quite tempted to look at Poole - Cherbourg on the way down (park overnight at the ferry terminal as it seems to be "a done thing"), return times don't really work for us on that route but we might even consider the Spanish routes for the return journey as loosely we might spend half the time near Bordeaux and half the time in the Pyrenees, linking that area back to the north coast of France is nearly 600 miles (realistically 1.5 days of travelling with a kid) and circa £200 in fuel/tolls as a minimum. I know there are comments above about an "undulating nature" to the route across Biscay but I don't think we'll have too much of a problem (I'd be more concerned about someone's vehicle rolling into ours!).