After reading the other post about the cost of ferries UK to Spain I decided to ask some more questions with regard to the short morocco initiation I've got planned for the Christmas holiday period.

I had also considered the same route over christmas, and was about to start looking for prices myself, for SIII, two people, for the same time period, for the same reasons, but at those prices (over £700) it looks like I'll be taking the long route. I'll be interested to hear if you get any further with your enquiries, and find a better price.

So, questions...

1) Roughly how long would it take, in a SIII Diesel with OD, from Calais all the way down, if you really pushed it driving through the night rotating sleeper/driver?

2) Also, as this'll be my first time in my own vehicle, if you've got any other tips or info with regards to the SPAIN/Moroc crossing, do I need to book in advance during this busy period, and roughly how much will it cost nowadays? the websites are quite confusing

3)Any any ideas for a good first time itinerary of this length (a couple of weeks)?
My Co-Driver with probably require a few days in M'Kesh and Casa'B on the way down, so any tips on the safest thing to do with the vehicle if you want to go into town for the day? Other than that all I've got planned so far is to do the west to east M route from Sahara OL, though not going all the way down to TanTan. Alfred is undergoing a full revitalisation programme as we speak so hopefully will be up to it by then, but the budget is extremely tight. If there's anything anyone considers vital for a first, but hopefully not last, trip, please let me know.

Hope to see some of you out there at Christmas!

James.