normandy, campsites, and travel

[ed1]

hello all,

im just looking at normandy, just for 4/5 days, travelling from west yorks, cant decide on ferry choice, dover (calais) or portsmouth,(to caen)dont know any sites either, and not sure if its worth taking the van, maybe just do a hotel, (i cant believe ive just written that).ive realised that its costing me £50 more because i have an overheight car, i dont remember having been given more space on dover routes, but on brittany its the extra money, anyway back to the question,ive done a quick search and portsmouth with car and van is approx 344 and without van is 184..and booking hotel is 518 inc ferry (possibly cheaper)...now im confused... any advise would be most welcome....regards ED

 

[ValA.]

To be honest, going for four or five days taking the van all the way from West Yorkshire, is a bit of an ordeal whichever ferry crossing you use. If you get the cheaper ferry then you've another half or three quarters' day drive at the other end. After all would you really drive all the way to Cornwall, and then pay the additional cost of a ferry just for four days?

For a similar amount you could get a cheap flight, fly to Dinard from East Midlands, or Nantes from Liverpool, hire a car for four days and pay for a French hotel - and save all the travelling.

I'm a caravanner, and love it, but being realistic taking the van for just four days for me would be a definite NO NO!

 

[ed1]

hello val,

unfortunately i am unable to fly, to us its not a problem with driving distances, we normally do paris for 4 days , albeit without van, i know what you mean though, i think i might do ferry and hotel, its just to go look at the area, with view to purchasing property, so is not intended to be a hol, we see it more of a business trip. i just hate going without the van, just wondered if the distance from calais was worth the cheaper ferry, thankyou. ED

 

[ed1]

hello val,

unfortunately i am unable to fly, to us its not a problem with driving distances, we normally do paris for 4 days , albeit without van, i know what you mean though, i think i might do ferry and hotel, its just to go look at the area, with view to purchasing property, so is not intended to be a hol, we see it more of a business trip. i just hate going without the van, just wondered if the distance from calais was worth the cheaper ferry, thankyou. ED

sorry val a. forgot to put a.

 

[ValA.]

Hi Ed, I think then I might just take the car. Book yourself a lovely French hotel (or Chambres d'Hotes - where there are some gems to be found - try the Gites de France website, bed and breakfast section) and I'm sure you'll have an easier four days.

Good luck with the property-hunting! We'd love to live in France and have a little look around every year. Three or four years ago we found a gem of a place, but unfortunately timing was wrong and my mum was very ill, so it wasn't a good time. We're still looking though - but now the Euro exchange rate is so poor we thought prices might come down, but they don't seem to have in the areas we're interested in.

 

[AndrewWimborne]

Hi.

Try LD lines Portsmouth to Le Havre. We have used them several times and have booked again this summer, they took over the route from P&O.

The service is a bit more basic than Brittany for example only a self service reataurant instead of a choice on Brittany.

Prices are normally far better than Brittany,

 

[ed1]

thankyou to val a. and andrew, im having alook, it doesnt matter if its got all the fancy stuff on board ...i spend most of my time on top of the ferries, due to a bad case of claustrophobia, but its fun,thankyou again, ED