Brittany Ferries, when to book and average price

[Lamby80]

Hello,
We are considering camping next year in Brittany during August. Do Brittany Ferries have offers on? When do they release their bookings for that month? We are a family of 4. Would we need 2 cabins? And what is the average price for 10 days ish? Sorry for all the questions, I am trying to convince my husband that this is a good option and won't be too expensive (we are not planning on flying anywhere next year to save some money). Any great campsites that you can recommend would be good with the option of walking to a town or a beach. Thanks!

No idea about when you should book, but I know there are day crossings when cabins are much cheaper, so you could have just one, as a base to keep your stuff in or if anyone needed a snooze.

This is Plymouth-Roscoff - day crossings are 6 hours

Their prices are pretty stable, not like flights. You only really need a cabin on overnight crossings. For next summer you can probably wait until Dec/Jan to book.

Otherwise they have 4 berth cabins. Check out the website all the info is there.

They do have offers but more often on their holidays (ferry plus accommodation) than just on the ferry crossing. They do have some campsite accommodation if you are considering that rather than taking your own equipment. We book in early October and always get 20% off.
There may be ferry discounts too so get yourself on their mailing list to find out when they are. I'm not sure they have many ferry offers in August as it's a busy time but you may get one for a mid-week crossing. Day crossings are definitely cheaper as you don't have to get a cabin and if you do get one they are much cheaper. They have an "economie" no-frills route which is cheaper and I think runs from Portsmouth to Le Havre.

However, if cost is your main consideration you may do better to book a Dover to Calais crossing and drive. Brittany Ferries is more expensive because it's a much longer crossing to the Western side of France and people pay for the convenience of not having such a long drive if they are heading over that way.

As for when to book, sailings for next summer are released late August early September I think. I usually get an email beforehand. The only ones I've known to sell out quickly are the four-berth cabins on a Friday night sailing to St Malo or Caen. We've sometimes had to get two 2-berth cabins instead which is a bit more expensive.

We've just booked eurocamp for next year and we've been advised by customer services that 2020 routes are expected to be on sale in September. We've booked the package option with eurocamp, given them our preferred sailing times and they will do the rest for us when the ferries are released. Could this be an option for you?

It’s a long drive west from Le Havre (& even further from Calais!) if you’re set on Brittany.

Roscoff (for W Brittany) or St Malo (for the rest) are much handier - or Caen at a pinch. Cherbourg is a shorter crossing, but then a very long drive down the peninsula.

You need to look very carefully at driving distances both sides, & fuel costs, vs ferry fares.

Also avoid Black Saturday, when half of France is on the road - usually the first Sat in August.

You can join their club voyage to get 30% off the travel, but this is usually only economical if you plan to go every year. Otherwise, ask on here or on UK campsite for a members 10% code (I used to have one but don't ATM). I believe that the caravan and motorhome club, and the camping and caravan club offer discounts if you are a member so that's another avenue to explore.

I tend to use an overnight ferry and I have found that the most expensive day to travel out is Friday. Saturday is cheaper, and Thursday cheaper still so it is worth being flexible with dates- likewise for the return. We are a family of 5 and just get a cabin for 4- we take a SIM and sleeping bag for the 5th person now. It's worth booking as early as you can if you do want a cabin- they take something like a 30% deposit and you can make changes to your booking if needed.

We tend to have something to eat in Portsmouth before getting on board as they depart 8:30/10:30 ish. We also either take our own breakfast or when we were CV members, use our allowance to grab a breakfast picnic to eat later, as otherwise you are eating breakfast at something like 6am which is far too early. If you travel in the day you can take a coolbox and picnic on to save money and I would recommend like a PP has said, get a cabin anyway to put your bags in and have a quiet space.