Any experiences of using these to get to the South of France - Med Coast?
The only reason I am considering it is because I will be in S Devon and it will reduce the return mileage to Dover via home by about 300 miles (and reduce the foreign mileage as well). We normally make one overnight stop thro France - although the 750 miles has been done in one go in the past.
I get bored with a standard ferry 2hr crossing so the thought of it does not really appeal, although if the food is good? Any experiences - is the Bay of B a big deal around early April?
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Many moons ago I drove to Tenerife via Dover and Cadiz ferries then returned via www.brittany-ferries.co.uk/fleet/cruise-ferries taking in Portugal on the drive from Cadiz to Santander
Excellent ship the (I think it was) Mon St Michel, I well remember waiting for it to dock and being most impressed when the floating hotel came into view.
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I used the Santander-Plymouth route a while back when the last fuel protests were happening in France, and was lucky with the weather - should imagine it could be "fun" at times. Found it saved a day overall and was comparable in money terms taking account of fuel, tolls, hotels, meals, Channel ferry fares. However,depending on where in the South of France, it could be up to a day's drive from Bilbao/Santander - autovia/autoroutes involved are not continuous/direct.
Last edited by: lancara on Sun 10 Mar 13 at 11:49
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My only thought would be to check the distances, timings and costs carefully. Somebody here recently mentioned travel times from Bilbao to Galicia of best part of a day.
Presumably you'd cross into France around Irun/Hendaye then A64/61 to Narbonne then A9. Looks like most of a day, particularly if you start from Santander.
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I wouldn't mind being bored for 2 hours if it meant avoiding a nasty overnight return from Plymouth to Roscoff. The cabin was very cramped and airless and the food horrible. If I had to go this way I would opt for a lounge chair and snooze the night away in that.
I think a short crossing plus an extra night on France would be much better. There is at least one fast catamaran service, Poole to St. Malo, but that only seems to run at peak season.
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Forget Roscoff. It's a long, long way from there to northern Spain by road.
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Plymouth / St Malo (Brittany Ferries) might be a better proposition.
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We returned using the Santander/Portsmouth route.
I haven't checked if it's still going, but it helps the journey time in the UK and the trip to/from the western Costa del Sol is easy and may be done in a day.
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Brittany Ferries Pont Aven is a pleasant ship to sail on overnight provided you plan on having dinner in the rather good Restaurant Le Flora (the self service is so-so and pricey) and book an outside cabin (I especially like the forward ones on deck 6 which give a view forwards but are sheltered by the promenade deck).
Between the cinema, bar etc. you won't be short of something to pass the time, but that said, I like being at sea and have happily slept through some rather lumpy crossings...if I haven't sat up with a pint to watch the sea state instead.
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I like the Pont Aven, its a nice vessel. We've done Plym/Ross a few times, and mostly upon her. Going again at the end of August, and I think its out on the new ship (Armourique) and back on the Pont which is good for the kids as they can have a swim in the pool while I have a pint in the poolside bar :-)
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>> Plymouth / St Malo (Brittany Ferries) might be a better proposition.
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Unfortunately does not appear to run in April!
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If I chose not to go direct to either Santander or Bilbao I would drive as far as Portsmouth in the UK and go direct south from Caen to Tours (now 99per cent autoroute) and then just take the A/N10 via Bordeaux to Spain. Not so complicated as trekking all the way across from Roscoff, just boring. I understand that in the last couple of weeks the dual-carriageway N10 south of Bordeaux has been re-designated an autoroute with new toll sections where it used to be free.
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I have just done Portsmouth/Bilbao and returned Santander/Portsmouth - both 24 hour crossings. Outward ship was the Cap Finistere, as Brittany Ferries call it a "boutique hotel".
Our cabin was at the front, so we got the full benefit of the choppy seas. This was worst in the channel and rounding the cape off Ushant/Finistere. Bay of Biscay was a millpond. You'd probably miss out on most of that bit sailing to Plymouth. Our crossing was delayed by 24 hours and was the first to go after 3 cancellations, so the weather was always going to be iffy.
Coming home from Santander, the Pont Aven was much bigger and seemed better stabilised. And our cabin was midships. Once again, BofB was smooth, the fun only started round the cape and into the channel.
Food was, as is normal with BF, excellent but comes out a bit on the expensive side. However, you do have the luxury of being able to enjoy a glass or two with your meal as you've got time to sleep it off before having to drive. Duty Paid shop on the Cap Finistere was small but better bargains because the stuff in there was Spanish Duty Paid (Gordon's Gin was 47.8% proof, which is getting hard to find now). Shop on PA was much bigger but tended toward French Duty paid prices, so a bit dearer.
This was our first time on the long crossing and we did splash out on de luxe cabins as we regard the cruise as part of the holiday. Would we do it again? Yes, we're already planning our bit of Spanish winter sun for 2014.
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>> Coming home from Santander, the Pont Aven was much bigger and seemed better stabilised. And
>> our cabin was midships. Once again, BofB was smooth, the fun only started round the
>> cape and into the channel.
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Interesting comment - quite a few people complain about the Pont not handling rough seas - not noticed it myself, although it can develop a corkscrewing motion
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pmh - I don't contribute often but I try to make it relevant!
Mikey: there is some talk on various BF sites that the PA has had some work done on her stabilisers recently. Could account for the improvement!
Terry
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I've done the (late lamented) P&O Portsmouth Bilbao several times - though not for a good decade. I quite like being at sea. Biscay can always be rough, having only ever done it in July/August I can confirm that it can be jolly rough indeed in the summer. (ON will think I'm being wussy, but that's a different matter!)
Plenty of people on board were always doing a 'mini cruise' - straight out to Spain and back again after a day in Spain.
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Plymouth Santander/Bilbao or Roscoff? - Dog
