Ferries from UK to Spain
 

I'm planning to take a ferry from UK to Northern Spain in April, one bike, one rider, one way. Have not done this route for eight years and I'm seeking any advice about which operator to use? I understand Brittany ferries have a few boats; is there an alternative? Is it best to book direct with the ferry company or through an agency?

I believe it's Brittany Ferries only now the competition didn't last long :(

They have the normal or economie service which is a little more basic and cheaper. Not used it myself thoug

We have used Brittany ferries. Not cheap, but think think it as part of the holiday. Plan your food to save money-there are microwaves and hot water for free. In some senses the expensive ferry is almost free, if you compare with the cross channel ferry plus fuel plus tolls.

Absolutely, especially when you factor in a share of vehicle servicing, tyre and chain/sprocket costs.

Brittany Ferries are the only operator now, I use them four or five times a year. There's four boats, all of which I have used multiple times.

Two are mini-cruise standard and are the Pont-Aven and the Cap Finistère, the other two are 'economy' service and are the Etretat and the Baie de Seine. Personally I now go only for the economy boats as they are fine and in fact I reckon the food on the Baie de Seine is the best. I will be using it again in three weeks time, all being well.

I will PM you with my Club Voyage number which gives you 10% discount off bike and passenger fees (nothing off the cabins).

Ferries and routes info
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I ferried across from Santander to Plymouth last October (2015) aboard Brittany Ferries' flagship cruise ferry, The Pont-Aven.

The food in the self-service restaurant was of the highest quality. Remarkably good cuisine. Top marks to the French [I assume] chefs that prepared the excellent lineup of dishes. :thumbup1:

All-in-all, a very pleasant Biscay crossing.

Just go on the Brittany Ferries website, from the UK they sail from Plymouth or Portsmouth to Santander or Bilbao. You have more options from the UK to Northern France.
Really you need to weigh up whether you want to cut yourself out a load of riding or not. Like Keith1954 said the crossing from Plymouth to Santander on the Pont-Aven is like a mini cruse, the boat is lovely.

I went on Pont Aven last year, April I think. It was about £350 return with a month in between.

in my opinion, it was money well spent. Comfortable, nice staff, tolerable entertainment, not too expensive food and beer and really good presentation by the whale watchers.

Dolphins on the way back too!

If you haven't got time to give France the justice it deserves, then it really is a good option to let Captain xxxx do the driving. Also a little less Vibration Clear Finger when riding a big single!

Given the choice I would use the Economie service every time as you are not paying for a lot of things that I have no need for. In reality the boat you go on is more likely to be determined by the dates and route you can travel on. Although I love riding through France if you take this route in April you are also less likely to run the risk of having to do the miles in some poor weather.

This one come's up so often.


It all depends. Where you are starting from. If the Portsmouth ferry is on your door step then take that. If Dover is closer use the Dover crossing. Crossing at Dover will get you in to Spain in less than 24 hour's. So that one cheap over night stay. And the petrol money down. I live in King's Lynn. So Dover is the best one for me.


John933

Thank you everyone for your advice; it seems there is no choice so I'll be sailing with Brittany.
I'm planning one way UK to Spain to keep the mileage down reducing tyre/chain/sprocket wear and avoiding potentially bad weather through France in April.
Returning in May when hopefully it'll be warmer and drier, I'll ride through Spain and France to Calais, approx 6 weeks away:thumbup1:

These are the comparative figures I researched for my last Morocco presentation at 2014 HUBBUK. These are actual figures based on the return trip prices for October 2014. Obviously if you have an old bike then depreciation on excess milage might not come into it.

riding 700 miles each way through France
return cross channel ferry.........................£65
overnight hotel each way @£25 ............... £50
1400 mile share of servicing/tyres/depr... £140
1400 miles @ 45mpg ............................ £140
total (assuming no toll roads)................. £395

return ferry Portsmouth to Santander
solo with cabin ..................................... £340
two sharing cabin ..................................£275
four sharing cabin .................................£255

I haven't checked how the prices have moved for 2016, perhaps the gap has closed. But if you chill out for 24 hours on the Santander ferry, take in a movie, have a few drinks and relax, you are more inclined to make good progress through Spain on the way to Algeciras.

Def the way to go, could not get a return from Spain last year as I didn't book a return and they were all full. The costs of tolls alone travelling back through Spain and France
will seriously dent the old wallet, the Spanish charge bikes at car rates and I think I personally paid for the construction of the peage once I crossed the border doh never again. If you could leave your trip till October I have a spare bunk in my cabin you could have for free :thumbup1:

There is also the budget no frills ferry that Brittany Ferries pulled out of the the hat last year that has a no frills boat. But way cheaper.


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The initial 'economie' boat that Brittany put on the route was the Etretat which was OK, now they have allocated a better economy boat, the Baie de Seine. The economy boats are cheaper for vehicle and passenger, cabins are about the same price.

I've booked a one way from Portsmouth to Bilbao sailing on 3rd April. The Cap Finistere departs at 22:30 arriving at 0745 on 5th April. One bike, one rider and a cabin for two nights £210 (thanks for your help Tim).
It's a longer crossing but I like the late departure as it gives me all day to get to the port and the early arrival in Spain means I should be able to get to southern Spain, close to Algeciras in a day.

I live 20 minutes from Dover, and a little over 10 from the Channel tunnel. But for my Morocco trip in April we've booked Brittany, crossing Plymouth to Santander on April 3rd. We've got something like 5,200km planned, so relaxing on the boat will be fine for me.

what about cost of sea sick pills........arghhhhhh.....

And tie ya stomach down as well as the bike......:(

It's not bad. The boat has stabilisers. I take travel pills because I can even feel sick in small boat in the harbour. On the last trip I took paracetamol instead by mistake and I was still fine. Perhaps I'm cured.

Any feedback following your trip? Or anyone else in the mean time?

Hubby on K1300 & me on R1200RS are just back from 2 weeks in the French Alps & have itchy feet to plan Spain Picos & Portugal for next June. Brittany Ferries release their Winter 17 & Summer 18 crossings in the next week or so & we are weighing up Cap Finistere on the Friday evening crossing or Baie de Seine Economie on the Saturday morning in a Premiere cabin.

How do the respective bike parking areas/strap down help compare on the two and is the smaller Seine less stable if it is rough? We both have reasonable sea legs but I stress about the bikes if it is rough!

Keen to cut down on the miles to get there as I have neck/back issues that worsen the more miles I do. We previously did Portsmouth-Caen 2 yrs ago when we did the Picos & Portugal but we wanted to try Santander on the way out to save some miles & Caen on the way home.

Helen

I've been in force 6 seas in the Baie de Seine and didn't really notice it.

The crew tie down the bikes whilst you wait and watch.

I've sent a PM with Club Voyage discount details which will save 10% off vehicle and passenger fees.

Thanks for the info Tim & thanks so much for the discount code, that is very kind of you. Roll on later this week when we can book it!

Woo hoo we are booked on the Cap Finistere to Santander in a swanky deluxe cabin for next June! Thanks Tim.

Hi there,

I am thinking of a trip to Morocco later this year and have never done the UK - Spain ferry but it looks like it could actually save money, as you say. And I quite fancy relaxing in a cabin for a couple of nights.

If I ask nicely could I use your discount details please?

PM sent with code.

Have fun.

Which ferry route would you recommend - Tarifa - Tangier or Algerciras - Ceuta (I'll be travelling by car)? Keen to avoid hassle!

Is it still fine to just rock up at the ferry port and get a ticket? And is the fuel still cheap in Ceuta?

Thanks!

The last time I was in Ceuta fuel was cheaper in Morocco. But since then fuel prices have changed with deregulation, so I don't know.

I always cross Algeciras to Tanger Med, and invariably find the cheapest is http://www.trasmediterranea.es

Ferries to Morocco: France, Spain, Gibraltar, ferries and ports

I've only ever done Tarifa - Tangier (and that was in 2007, I think) and my abiding memory is one of chaos! Is it still the same? I'm thinking of getting my passport stamped on the boat, getting the car stuff sorted out at the port etc.

Cheers.

Any ferry landing in Morocco from Spain has the passport control on board.

Thanks. Do they do the temporary vehicle importation stuff on board too? Or must that be done at the port of arrival?

And what would you recommend for vehicle insurance? I remember that it was possible to buy cover at the port but just wondering if cover with my UK policy would be cheaper/easier to organise. I will be in Morocco for about two months, I think.

EDIT - have just checked with my UK insurer and they don't offer cover for Morocco. Just wondering if you have an idea on roughly how much it would cost to buy two months cover on arrival in Morocco (for a car)? Thanks!

You can fill out and print your temporary vehicle importation docs in advance online with Moroccan customs.
Details with links here:
https://sahara-overland.com/morocco-documents/

UK green card extensions for Morocco have been difficult to get for years.
Read tee this recent post:
http://www.horizonsunlimited.com/hub...nsurance-95949

Moroccan prices have been the same for years: 1 month = 950MAD or 78 quid.

Tan Med is the port with the least (if not zero) hassle.
Nador is my second choice, if wanting to see the east.

Port maps here:
https://sahara-overland.com/morocco-getting-there/

Cheers for the information. It's beginning to look a little too expensive for me....

Just done a mixed journey,

Travelled from Norfolk to Folkestone, wild camped the night before the early crossing- free
Channel Tunnel folkestone to Calais: £39
Took D roads from Calais to Lourdes over 2.5 days, camped twice, 12 Euros per night.
Fuel cost £110. I know the frenchies have just lowered the speed limit from 90 to 80 kph, however most of the roads we plodded at 99kph and only saw about 10 speed cameras the whole way. Even the arctic trucks were cruising at over 90 kph.

Spent one week staying with family in French Pyrenees and then went over into Northern Spain.

Got a one way crossing on the Pont Aven, arrived back to UK on Tuesday. Single crossing with bike £190 each, £380 total, 2 bikes, 2 riders, one internal cheapo cabin. Crossing was great, saw whales, had a coffee in one of the cafes, but we went to the Spanish supermarkets (eventually found one that was open on a monday morning) and stocked up with enough food for 24hr crossing.

Luckily we had a cabin right in the middle of deck 5, as we hit a big storm. People in the more expensive cabins were being thrown out of bed all night long. Must have been over 100 bikes on board. We were 2hrs late getting into Portsmouth due to the storm, which made for an interesting ride home in the dark as my headlight doesn't really work.

I think If I was alone I would just pay for a reclining seat and lay out somewhere with sleeping bag, but for the two of us it was nice to get a cabin with en suite especially as we had been camping a lot.

I had to kick up a fuss about the bike being secured, the strap was so loose I could still pull my sheepskin off from under the strap. Also the deck hand pushed my bike into another bike and scraped his shiny plastic panniers.

Tip. Queuing to get on the ferry was a nightmare in the heat (especially with an air cooled bike!). Pull up in town, and bungee your bike trousers and jacket to the back of the bike before you get in the queue. They send you through to a canopy to wait for boarding in the shade, however even in 36c it was hot work, and I dread to think what it must have been like earlier this year when it was 48c in the heatwave.

All the paperwork for the temporary importation of the motorcycle is done on board the boat before you arrive. The process is quite straightforward, the Moroccan customs officers set up a desk in the boat and you show up with your passport and vehicle ownership document. They are pleasant people to deal with, they fully appreciate the value of tourism to Morocco.

You buy the insurance at a booth in the port, immediately after you get off the boat in Morocco. That is also a fairly straightforward procedure. Ignore the touts that sometimes hang around trying to direct you to one insurer or another.

Michael