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Route Planning Where to go, when, what are the interesting places to see
Photo by Daniel Rintz, Himba children, Namibia

The only impossible journey
is the one
you never begin

Photo by Daniel Rintz,
Himba children, Namibia



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  #1  
Old 20 Jul 2007
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Cheapest Ferry to Spain

Having fun booking a ferry! Cheapest I can get at the moment is £350 with Britany Ferries down to Santander :-( Sailing Sun 02/09 returning Mon 24/09 - I'm quite flexable about those dates moving later in September but how on earth can I drive that cost down? I seem to be able to get the return journey for £128 and the outward journey seems to be costing a bomb... any suggestions anyone? Going to Morocco and want to spend as much time there as possible. Cheers. m
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Old 20 Jul 2007
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Originally Posted by mattcbf600 View Post
Having fun booking a ferry! Cheapest I can get at the moment is £350 with Britany Ferries down to Santander :-( Sailing Sun 02/09 returning Mon 24/09 - I'm quite flexable about those dates moving later in September but how on earth can I drive that cost down? I seem to be able to get the return journey for £128 and the outward journey seems to be costing a bomb... any suggestions anyone? Going to Morocco and want to spend as much time there as possible. Cheers. m

Matt,

£51 return is the best price I have managed with Norfolkline, Dover - Dunkerque, and then ride where ever you like! That way you are not a captive passenger on the ferry, paying whatever they want for food & .

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Old 20 Jul 2007
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Thanks Dave,

At the moment I think I'm going to have to ride down through France rather than fork out £350 for a ferry return to Spain - which would be a shame because I would lose 4 days in Morocco :-(

m
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Old 20 Jul 2007
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Your welcome.

Forgot to mention that Eurotunnel advertise cars one way for £49 and they go on to say, in the small print, that bikes go for half the cost of a car.
Therefore a bike = £49 return in theory (that is going solely by their advertising blurb),

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Old 20 Jul 2007
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Eurotunnel is quite good actually - you can go for £17 each way if you book well in advance and go out of peek hours - but like I say that means I lose 2 days on the way down and 2 on the way back - or rather I suppose I only lose 1 each way because the ferry takes 1 day...

m
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  #6  
Old 20 Jul 2007
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Hogal has the answer Matt:-

http://www.horizonsunlimited.com/hub...ng-via-27839-2

So, 24 hours+ on the briny ocean or the backroads of France and the Pyranees crossing?
No contest.

Eurotunnel = 35 minutes, the ferry = 1 3/4 hours as well.
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Old 20 Jul 2007
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Or alternatively take teh newhaven/dieppe ferry and take the back roads to Spain. Of course I am biased because we are halfway between the channel ports and Spain, so benefit from people staying overnight at our BnB. Currently bikes are £44 and cars £67 return via Dieppe. From Dieppe we 5-6 hours on teh side roads, as is Spain.
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Old 20 Jul 2007
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Yes very good point there! It's basically loosing 2 days in Morocco, but as you say 24 hours on a bath tub or 48 hours blasting across spain and france? oldbmw - please tell me more about your B&B sounds great! Perhaps I can work this in to the trip....
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Old 20 Jul 2007
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Or alternatively take teh newhaven/dieppe ferry and take the back roads to Spain. Of course I am biased because we are halfway between the channel ports and Spain, so benefit from people staying overnight at our BnB. Currently bikes are £44 and cars £67 return via Dieppe. From Dieppe we 5-6 hours on teh side roads, as is Spain.
That's another route I have looked at + the Newhaven-Le Havre crossing (LD Lines) but the last price that I got online was £94 return, for the latter, and it seems to increase as the time gets closer (but I think most companies are doing this nowadays).

I second that; lets hear about your Chambre D'hote.

Matt,
Are you riding/owning a cbf600?
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Old 20 Jul 2007
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Just done the ferry booking for that route and I can get a return for £64 - guessing that will increase as time goes by - I'm planning to make the call this weekend and get it booked - that way what-ever I do I'll get the best price for!

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Old 21 Jul 2007
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Who with and when?

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Just done the ferry booking for that route and I can get a return for £64 - guessing that will increase as time goes by - I'm planning to make the call this weekend and get it booked - that way what-ever I do I'll get the best price for!

m

Who is that with Matt (& at what time of year)?; I had not realised that there is more than one company operating ferries out of Newhaven in the summer.
Eurotunnel are quoting me about £84 online, depending on exactly which train is used on a particular day (they have loads of timings of course to choose from).
I would much prefer to travel from "peaceful little Newhaven" than busy, busy Dover!
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Old 21 Jul 2007
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Looks like a very nice crossing actually - I used this site Newhaven to Dieppe Ferry Crossing - Ferries from Newhaven to Dieppe and chose mid-week crossings - which is where I think the saving came from. m
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Old 21 Jul 2007
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I used Newhaven - Dieppe when I trucked my XR400 to Morocco in April. I booked the late night boat out, took my thermarest on board with me, and slept on the floor. My Navara Outlaw is 5.5m long, but I classed it as a commercial vehicle and got a £10 discount (go figure?).

The return journey took forever, though this might have been because they were waiting for high tide.

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Old 21 Jul 2007
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I agree with most people who have replied. Take a short crossing and make the trip to southern Spain part of the holiday. £54 on Eurotunnel - make sure you book low rates however. Try the Parador hotels in Spain, an experience in their own right.
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Old 21 Jul 2007
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Commercial plug

Our BnB details can be had here Le Frene


or visit http://www.horizonsunlimited.com/hub...t-france-10472
for more info. and couple reports from HR members

regards

If you use Via michelin, input le frene and post code 79200, it will show our farmhouse.
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