Ferry Prices

[RickStevens]

Ive just been doing a bit of research as we're possibly looking at taking the caravan abroad for a couple of weeks.

Am I missing something here? I just priced up Brittany Ferries from Portsmouth to Bilbao sailing in June, and stopping for 14 days, and its come back at a whopping £1450!!!!

I then (just our of interest) priced up PO Ferries Hull to Zeebrugges (with the thought of thought of touring around a bit), I priced it for next week, stopping for 1 week just to get an idea, and that came back at £845!

The Dover Calais route came in at £200 if I take a night sailing.

Do people really pay this amount of money??

 

[LesleyP]

People only pay out that sort of money if they want to. We have booked two holidays this year, easter & august, both sailing with Brittany from Poole to Cherbourg and returning Caen to Portsmouth. The sailings are the ones that offer "caravan goes free" - one through Camping Cheques - one through Caravan Club. Both sailings only work out to about £290 and that is including over height car and over length caravan! With Camping Cheques you pay for another 3 camping cheques as part of the deal but can then purchase more to cover your hols. with Caravan Club you have to book a min of either 7 camping cheques or 7 nights sites.

 

[ValA.]

Camping Cheques are still offering the 'caravans go free' with Brittany Ferries - see my other post for details.
You can do it even cheaper if you look out for the offers and book well in advance - Dover to Dunkerque using Norfolk Lines was just £58.00 return for car and caravan, for a May outward sailing, homeward June, any day, any time sailings (in low season - £78.00 in high season) - but we booked back in October.

 

[Tony_5041742]

There has been a massive movement in recent years in ferry pricing, Norfolk Lines have driven prices down to an incredibly low level on the short channel routes (as per the £58 offers mentioned earlier), but at the same time prices for western channel routes have risen massively too. For those of us where Dover/Calais or Dover/Dunkerque isn't too bad a route, well we're getting crossings at historically low prices. For those people who need to use longer crossings - you have my sympathy!

 

[Clive-Cardiff]

I am a member of the Brittany Ferries owners abroad club, as such any "guest" of mine can use my membership to clain a 10% discount on the ferry cost (except cabin cost).
If anyone wishes to use my membership for this please PM me.

 

[CaddyClan]

We've done just about every ferry route there is. Living in Mid-Wales, Dover-Calais is rather a long trek, especially if we are doubling back on ourselves to drive to the west coast of France. However in the past we have done this route due to the ferry cost and figured in an overnight stop both ways.

However, with increasing fuel costs (which is made many times worse when towing a 6-berth caravan) increasing site fees (overnight stops) and increasing toll costs - it all needs to be weighed up carefully.

i.e. Dover - Calais sailing approx £250 return.
2 x overnight stops @ £50 each = £100
Fuel from home to Vendee and back = £320
Tolls = £150
12 nights at campsite = £560
Total = £1380

Compare this with what we have booked for this year (through the Caravan Club)....we are paying £1012 for 12 nights at a Castels site in the Vendee in peak season, sailing Portsmouth to St.Malo on the way out with cabins (mpv + oversize caravan + 3 adults, 2 children) and Portsmouth-Caen on the way back. This avoids paying for any additional overnight stays and dramatically reduces our fuel & toll costs.
Add on fuel (£200 rtn) and tolls (£16) = £1228

So we are actually paying less for the longer crossing with cabins and considerably less driving!
If you are members of the Caravan Club, get a quote from them - you may be pleasantly surprised!

 

[nelmo]

i.e. Dover - Calais sailing approx £250 return.
2 x overnight stops @ £50 each = £100
Fuel from home to Vendee and back = £320
Tolls = £150
12 nights at campsite = £560
Total = £1380

I think you're trying to justify your costs there:
- £250 for the ferry?! I'm paying £80 going at peak times in August.
- Overnight stops at £50 pn?!!

I think you'd have to be trying very hard to find a site costing that much

. French municipal sites are normally £10-£20 pn max.
- Tolls £150 to the Vendee?! Maybe to the south of France - we paid about £80 return to the Vendee (going toll all the way).

 

[ValA.]

I agree, those costings can be 'trimmed' substantially. We're paying £58.00 return in low season for our ferry crossing, and £71.00 in peak season. Last year we stayed in municipal sites on the way down to the Mediterranean and back - and one cost 11 euros, and the other 9.75 euros including electricity. Both had good shower blocks, tarmac access roads, and good sized grassy pitches. Both had supermarkets nearby to fill up with cheaper fuel, and both were walking distance into a pleasant little town. You could pay up to £50, I suppose, but I certainly wouldn't!
We also manage to do the whole journey down to the Mediterranean paying only around 10 euros in tolls, in total - and with just one overnight stop in each direction.
I do agree that it's worth getting a quote from the Caravan Club - their price for the ferries we booked were the same as booking with Norfolk Lines direct, but on some of the Brittany Ferries routes they're offering 'caravans go free' as in the Camping Cheques/Alan Rogers offers.

 

[CaddyClan]

i.e. Dover - Calais sailing approx £250 return.
2 x overnight stops @ £50 each = £100
Fuel from home to Vendee and back = £320
Tolls = £150
12 nights at campsite = £560
Total = £1380

I think you're trying to justify your costs there:
- £250 for the ferry?! I'm paying £80 going at peak times in August.
- Overnight stops at £50 pn?!!

I think you'd have to be trying very hard to find a site costing that much

. French municipal sites are normally £10-£20 pn max.
- Tolls £150 to the Vendee?! Maybe to the south of France - we paid about £80 return to the Vendee (going toll all the way).

I always go on Via Michelin France for Toll costings as the UK version is way out of date... so here was the estimate from Calais to La Rochelle:Coût estimé 132.29 GBP
Péage 75.12 GBP | Carburant 57.17 GBP | Vignettes GBP Temps 07h59 dont 07h02 sur autoroutes
So that would be £150 return via autoroute, right? You're saying it's only £80 return....which is quite a discrepancy on the Via Michelin guide. I'm also pretty sure that we paid more than £80 rtn from Saumur to Calais last year.

£80 peak time sailing? What are you towing? We have NEVER found a sailing for our unit + occupants for that amount. I've just tried P&O Dover-Calais and they have just come in at £352 return.
Sites: Again...this depends on your unit and occupants. Our costings are based on 3 adults and 2 kids. Granted, we could find a municipal site, but that's down to me being fussy I'm afraid.

 

[ValA.]

I think the problem with these sorts of pricings, is that they vary depending on when you book things.
For example, Norfolk Lines (Dover to Dunkerque) had an offer at the Caravan Show at the NEC of a £58.00 return in low season, and £78.00 return in peak season, for car and caravan, any day, any sailing. Extra length was charged at (I think) £12.00 per metre, over and above an outfit length of 12 metres, so still a good price. To get these prices, though, you have to be any early bird - but at the time of the offer amendments were free, so some canny people booked their ferries, and then changed the dates later once firm holidays were booked at work. You can take up to 5 people per car, generally, without paying extra.

 

[emmerson]

£1,000 for 12 nights? What sort of sites do you use, Caddyclan? In all the years I've toured in Europe I've never paid more than 21 Euros per night, and this years ferry is dear at £74! As for tolls, there are much more interesting alternative routes, often running almost parallel to the toll roads.I'm afraid I couldn't afford holidays on your costings.

 

[ValA.]

To be fair, a site which costs a couple 21 euros for a couple (perhaps in low season) is likely to be about 6 euros for each extra child/adult - adding another 18 euros to the costs for Caddyclan and family. I think us 'couples' often forget how much extra it can be to travel in peak season, and have to pay extra for children. There are some campsites where the supplements for children are less, of course, but some campsites can charge up to 8 or even 9 euros for each additional 'person' - and that can include anyone over the age of 7. These children's supplements seem to have gone up, where the base price of a lot of sites remains almost static. Also, those with children often want Children's Clubs, and entertainment - which generally bumps up the base price of a site.
However, it's still possible to get a holiday in the school holidays, whilst still not paying over the odds, if you can compromise on the sort of site you want, look out for early booking ferry offers, use 'discount' schemes such as Camping Cheques, Touring Cheques, or similar (which can be used on some sites during the school holidays). You also need to spend time rather than money on getting somewhere. Using non-toll roads, for instance, could save Caddyclan and family £150 (return) but perhaps take them half a day each way longer. If the ferry timings were appropriate this could still be done without any additional overnight stops.
I think, too, for those living in the West of England, it becomes a 'psychological' barrier, travelling east to Dover. It's not so bad going to Dover if you're heading towards the Alps, or even the Riviera, but going back west to Brittany or the Vendee must seem a real pain - where for us in the North of England it really doesn't matter which port we use, and in fact the shorter crossings make more sense because we have the distinct possibility of missing a ferry due to traffic/roadworks/roads closed. If there's only two sailings a day that's a real problem, but not so much of a problem if the crossings are every hour.

 

[ScouseIan]

I've just priced up a holiday through C&CC. Carnac area of Brittany. Thats 230 miles from Cherbourg or 410 from Calais. Total holidat cost with Poole - Cherbourg crossing is about £1000 where as the Seafrance crossing from Dover - Calais is coming up at £417. This is including campsite for 7 nights at £271

So if I drive an extra 360 miles overall I will save about £500. I will of course use quite a lot more fuel. With regards tolls, last time I went, the route along the coast (A28) it was nearly all free. My 2010 Autoroute now shows some of this route is chargeable.
The system has you whichever way...

 

[emmerson]

Some good points there Val. Yes, you're right that costs for two tend to be lower, and I apologise to Caddyclan for not taking that into account. However I stick to my point re toll roads.Minor roads are much more interesting, and as we very rarely have a set destination, then we use them most of the time. We did once leave it a little late leaving Saumur for Dunkirk and used tolls, but from memory it was only about £35. As I thoroughly enjoy driving in France, I must admit that journey times are unimportant, but I can imagine that with a car full of kiddies it must be a different game alltogether! As my "kids" are now 45 and 46, I can't remember what it was like!

 

[ValA.]

We do non-toll too, these days. When our sons were with us we 'rushed' to a destination and tended to pay some tolls along the way. That was when we were 'solo' driving to a Canvas Holidays tent. Once we bought our caravan things changed as the tolls were more expensive, and we didn't have much money, so the first caravanning holiday we used a cross-country route, which we still use now, Chateau Thiery, Soissons, Troyes, and down the Seine to Burgundy, then parallel to the autoroute down the Rhone Valley. We even used real 'rural' roads to Lac de Grebes in Marcenay, and discovered that empty country roads were much more of an interesting drive than busy autoroutes and that overall the journeys rarely took that much longer than those you had to pay for. We compared journeys, often, with people who'd used the autoroutes, and perhaps we arrived on a campsite a couple of hours later than they did - but that was generally all.
A few years ago we discovered the Rouen/Orleans route, ending on the A75 to get you free of charge down to Montpellier or the A20 down to the Dordogne. We do tend to do a couple of short sections where we pay a toll (around Abbeville to get an overnight on Baie de la Somme and around Orleans as the through route can be a bit convoluted).
These days we generally don't have a destination, and the journey and stop-overs are part of the holiday! Like you we actually enjoy the non-toll roads, and OH maintains that on some roads (and with no tractors full of grapes in front of you) you can achieve the same speed as on the autoroute, given that he prefers not to go at more than sixty anyway with a caravan on the back anyway. Another big advantage of the non-toll roads, is that I can pop into a supermarket for picnic items for lunch, whilst OH fills up with cheaper diesel!
As far as the original post is concerned, regarding ferry prices, the one thing I would say is to shop around, and start looking early - around the time of the Caravan Show. This tends to be when the keenest offers are available - and if these include free amendments then you're on to a winner. For the longer crossings the Caravan Club, and Camping Cheques/Alan Rogers often have a 'caravans go free' offer on limited sailings, but if you can be flexible, book early, and use these sailings then you can achieve quite a saving.

 

[CaddyClan]

£1,000 for 12 nights? What sort of sites do you use, Caddyclan? In all the years I've toured in Europe I've never paid more than 21 Euros per night, and this years ferry is dear at £74! As for tolls, there are much more interesting alternative routes, often running almost parallel to the toll roads.I'm afraid I couldn't afford holidays on your costings.

Castels sites mainly. I shudder to think what kind of campsite we would get for 21 euros in peak season for 3 adults and 2 children!

 

[CaddyClan]

Some good points there Val. Yes, you're right that costs for two tend to be lower, and I apologise to Caddyclan for not taking that into account. However I stick to my point re toll roads.Minor roads are much more interesting, and as we very rarely have a set destination, then we use them most of the time. We did once leave it a little late leaving Saumur for Dunkirk and used tolls, but from memory it was only about £35. As I thoroughly enjoy driving in France, I must admit that journey times are unimportant, but I can imagine that with a car full of kiddies it must be a different game alltogether! As my "kids" are now 45 and 46, I can't remember what it was like!

Here's a bit of a comparison for you....L'Etang de la Breche near Saumur for 14 nights in mid August for 2 people = £348 (so quite a respectable £24.85 a night). For our family of 3 adults and 2 children (one of whom is in the 'teen' age bracket) £541 = £38 a night. There are many sites in the UK charging in excess of £50 a night for a fraction of the quality.

As seasoned overseas travellers, I take your point re: toll roads, however our holiday time is very precious to us and after already having driven from Mid/West Wales to Dover, the last thing we want to do is meander through pretty little villages towing a 7 metre caravan and a car full of kids

. We have looked at the time taken toll roads V route nationale and it just doesn't do it for us. I know that many of the non toll roads run parallel to the autoroute and you can often see them....but we would rather have one meal out less and pay for the toll roads and reach our destination sooner (for that wonderful first glass of chilled white wine!).

I guess it's just all about doing your homework and working out what suits you & your family best. Half the fun is in the planning anyway!

 

[SpudDog57]

The first good ferry tip we were given was to travel Norfolk line Dover to Dunkerke.I think we have paid for caravan and car less than a 150 £.
It's a little different for us as one off vistors to UK and Europe, we've more to gain from longer road trips than hours on a ferry.

 

[emmerson]

Caddyclan, we too travel from Wales to Dover, and I must admit that that is the bit I hate! Once over the Channel, however, we switch to holiday mode, where time has very little meaning. BUT, there are only two of us!!
As in all things, to each, his own!
Just enjoy.

 

[ValA.]

Here's a bit of a comparison for you....L'Etang de la Breche near Saumur for 14 nights in mid August for 2 people = £348 (so quite a respectable £24.85 a night). For our family of 3 adults and 2 children (one of whom is in the 'teen' age bracket) £541 = £38 a night. There are many sites in the UK charging in excess of £50 a night for a fraction of the quality.
[/quote]
Perhaps even better than that (as not many couples choose to go in mid-August which is 'family holiday time'), Etang de la Breche, in May, June and September, takes Touring Cheques, (which cost £12.95 per night - which pays for a pitch, two adults, car and caravan (tent or motorhome) and electricity) and is a 7 for 6 site, so fourteen nights for a couple would be just £155.40! Even with the supplements for two extra children (14 x 4 x 2) and one extra teen (14 x 6 - supplements paid for fourteen nights) it would still only cost an additional £171 so a family of five could have a fourteen night holiday at Spring Bank Holiday for £327.40. Quite a difference for those who are able to travel outside the July/August holiday period.
I must admit, when our sons still came with us, we often used to go at Spring Bank Holiday - when the schools they were at still had a two week holiday - and that was a really lovely time to travel so we've kept to it ever since! In the latter few years of them coming with us, we used Camping Cheques on sites like Val de Cantobre, Ranc Davaine, Lac de Panthier, Domaine de Champ Blanc, Les Pecheurs, Chateau des Ormes, and many others (not all still in the scheme). We then had another cheap holiday using Camping Cheques, again, for the last two weeks in August. We used to choose to stay on Eurocamp sites where there were plenty of other families around over those period - so they never felt 'low season'. Only once, I think, did we book at Les Ardechois in the Ardeche, when we had friends of both sons with us and coming down to meet us on a coach, and they'd particularly asked to go back there.
As Caddyclan says, it's easy enough these days to do some homework before you book anything, and if your holiday dates allow, then it is still possible to get a family holiday and a ferry crossing at a reasonable price either using these sorts of schemes, or looking at smaller, perhaps family-run sites, and booking your ferry crossing early when the bargains are around.

 

[anotherDavid]

We've done just about every ferry route there is. Living in Mid-Wales, Dover-Calais is rather a long trek, especially if we are doubling back on ourselves to drive to the west coast of France. However in the past we have done this route due to the ferry cost and figured in an overnight stop both ways.

However, with increasing fuel costs (which is made many times worse when towing a 6-berth caravan) increasing site fees (overnight stops) and increasing toll costs - it all needs to be weighed up carefully.

i.e. Dover - Calais sailing approx £250 return.
2 x overnight stops @ £50 each = £100
Fuel from home to Vendee and back = £320
Tolls = £150
12 nights at campsite = £560
Total = £1380

Compare this with what we have booked for this year (through the Caravan Club)....we are paying £1012 for 12 nights at a Castels site in the Vendee in peak season, sailing Portsmouth to St.Malo on the way out with cabins (mpv + oversize caravan + 3 adults, 2 children) and Portsmouth-Caen on the way back. This avoids paying for any additional overnight stays and dramatically reduces our fuel & toll costs.
Add on fuel (£200 rtn) and tolls (£16) = £1228

So we are actually paying less for the longer crossing with cabins and considerably less driving!
If you are members of the Caravan Club, get a quote from them - you may be pleasantly surprised!

Like a lot of the others replying to this to this we to have all the time in the world to potter along saving a few ( or not so few) euros in tolls but I have not forgotten what it was like when holidays were 2 or 3 weeks not 3 months. Even so we use the Western channel crossings to save (dependant on port) 4 or 500 miles and 2 days driving. From Caen or St Malo its virtually toll free down the west coast but its not that easy to get away from Calais without using toll roads unless you really enjoy driving through built up areas.
With these longer trips costing us over £4000 these days, making life uncomfortable to save ( taking into account fuel and some tolls) possibly £150 by using a Calais instead of Portsmouth does not seem worth it. It all depends on where you are starting from how important your time is to you.
Dave

 

[Gafferbill]

……just to add that fuel prices have also rocketed on the Continent aswell as here.

Last years prices in France and Spain are a distant memory so do not use those in any calculation.
Diesel was between € 1.28 and €1.45 on a February 2011 trip through the two countries.
Spain is no longer cheaper than France for Diesel either!

 

[JulieT1]

We've recently booked our August holiday and went through the all the various prices first. It came out cheaper to book with the CC&C than booking direct, the site and elec were less and so was the ferry due to the offer - 50% off the van on the return crossing in high seaon (if booked before the end of March with at least 7 nights site fees). I priced up the Dover/Calais route - round trip of 1310 miles, with fuel and tolls and it was £191 cheaper than using the Plymouth/Rosscoff route - 630 miles, no tolls and less fuel. From Calais we would need a couple of stopovers say at least 30 euros per night for 4 of us, meaning that we would only save £130 but have an extra 2 days driving...no contest I'm afraid, Roscoff it is.
School holidays and exam results have restricted our dates for a few years so we prefer to have as many nights on site with as little time spent driving as possible, often this means using the longer crossing. We've chosen early morning ferries both ways and will stopover at the ports to cut costs slightly. I also checked the prices between the CC and the CC&C, picked a random site in Brittany and prices were very similar, with the CC&C coming in £26 less, but both were cheaper than booking direct. Tesco vouchers on the tunnel would have saved expense but again the extra driving would eat into our holiday.....one day, hopefully, we can take advantage of some of the deals that some of you are enjoying out of main season

 

[SpudDog57]

Dover Dunkirk booking today for July to August 122 £ for car, caravan and passengers.
Dover Calais 250 £ approx according to previous post. Dunkirk to Calais 28km, with extra fuel included that still gives a saving of over 110 £ and adds 1 hour road time.
We found that Norfolk line ferry was a better experience than PO.

 

[ValA.]

Dover Dunkirk booking today for July to August 122 £ for car, caravan and passengers.
Dover Calais 250 £ approx according to previous post. Dunkirk to Calais 28km, with extra fuel included that still gives a saving of over 110 £ and adds 1 hour road time.
We found that Norfolk line ferry was a better experience than PO.

Using Dunkerque doesn't have to add extra miles, unless you particularly want to use the A16. You can use the A25 towards Lille and Valenciennes to take you east or south. If you want to use the A26 then you can take the D600 then the St Omer bypass, to come out at junction 4 which 'cuts off the corner' - ie you don't have to drive back along the A16 autoroute to Calais. You can also fill up at the Carrefour supermarket (24hrs) at Watten which is amongst the cheapest fuel around the area. According to Viamichelin the journey time to junction 4 on the A26 is the same 50 minutes, but going via the A16 is 71 km and 2.70 euros in tolls, where the D600 is 47.3 km and 0.00 in tolls.
If you're heading west and then south on the Rouen route, as we do, we use the above route, then cross-country to Hesdin and Abbeville, joining the free autoroute at junction 23. This is a pretty country road, through some small villages, but there are no real hold-ups (unless you happen across a train at the level crossing). Even the tractors generally pull in to let you pass, and there are no HGV's to cope with!
If you're going east or north then you've saved 28 km anyway!