Anyone give me advice on ferrys to France??

[lisad123]

We have a found a lovely place in France that we want to hire next summer.
It's in Normandy so north and easiest way seems to be ferry from Portsmouth.
I'm trying to work out prices, but seems so costly, thought maybe I was looking at wrong website.
Anyone have any advice??
Travel in one car with two adults and two kids.
TIA

Brittany Ferries look well pricey! It is too early to book Dover/Calais or the Eurotunnel yet for next year, but it is not THAT far to drive from Calais to Normandy - and will probably cost you far less.

Agree that Brittany Ferries are extremely expensive, If you keep watching the sites, you should be able to do the tunnel for about £70 ish and the Dover Calais ferries for less. And they'reflexible - book cheapest ticket but if turn up early you can still go

its a much longer crossing that dover/calais so bound to be much more. you can do either portsmouth/st malo which is probably most expensive as overnight and longest, or have you looked at cherbourg or caen? i think the road out of cherbourg isn't great, but since you are so near anyway - what i mean is that its not a big motorway.

if you do midweek its cheaper, without a roof-box or bikes

My advice re ferries with kids and busy travel times would be don't! Go via the tunnel instead. Yes longer drive but sat in your own car for 35mins across and you can walk/go to the loo etc on the train and stop at services/just pull off the road for a break either side as often as you like.

Ferries are crowded chaos. Difficult to get kids out of car up/down steep stairs, entertained etc on route . The western ferry routes are many hours long too.

Having a cabin is good but more expensive, we used to go overnight but then someone wouldn't sleep and it was miserable!

we actually enjoyed the ferry. got a great spot in the bar and watched loads of really good entertainers. you do need accommodation for overnight crossing. don't know how people can do it on seats. wouldn't use a catermeran again, as very bouncy if weather not great - 50% of people being sick

Yes, I agree about the catamaran - see this thread

Portsmouth to Caen

Agree about eurotunnel. If you have Tesco vouchers you can use those to make it cheaper. Next years timetables will be out soon do keep checking the website. We usually book October / November for the following August.
Also bear in mind that some crossings are cheaper than others such as early or late and mid week can be cheaper than weekends. Prices can go up nearer to the date too.
If you want to use the ferry look at Portsmouth le havre or the Newhaven Dieppe crossings. They are mostly lorry freight and cheaper but less plush than Brittany Ferries. These are still longer than the tunnel but they do cut off distance from your drive.
Bear in mind that if you do overnights you may need to pay extra for cabins etc.

and ours was late as well as one of the engines had broken

Ferries are great fun. The nice thing about Brittany ferries is you are off the boat and straight into holiday, Dover Calais is a bit of a toil but loads cheaper.

Thanks loads to consider

That's strange - I have this evening booked a Portsmouth-St Malo ferry for next year and I agree - it's expensive!

I have previously gone to Normandy and got the Dover-Calais ferry but it is a long drive - probably 5-6 hours minimum. We live in the north and I'm the only adult in the party so I'm trying to minimise the driving. Also, it's an overnight crossing which is probably more exciting for the dc!

mavis - i hope you have booked a cabin (ideally for both ways)? I can't imagine what a nightmare the crossing is for people who don't, who then have to drive the following side.

Yes, definitely book a cabin for the daytime trip too, it gives you a private toilet and somewhere to keep bags, coats, things from the duty free shop etc that you want with you but don't want to carry all day.

Hi Lisad123. would love to know about the place you have found in normandy. Looking myself for holiday in france. :)

www.cjfrenchretreat.com/index.htmlhere

Try again www.cjfrenchretreat.com/index.html

Have you tried LD lines going from Portsmouth? They tend to be cheaper than the other ferry companies.

Sign up for all the promotional emails from the ferry companies now so you can book when a good offer comes along. We got a really cheap deal from Brittany Ferries that way last year, under £250 all in IIRC. We did have a very lucky flat crossing on the fast-cat. To be on the safe side I went to Boots and asked for the strongest anti-sick medication in the pharmacy.

We have just come back from a holiday in Brittany and we used LD Lines from Portsmouth to Le Havre - they seemed very efficient. On the face of it it looks more expensive then the tunnel but we realised there were other things to factor in.

For us the drive to Folkestone to get the tunnel is much further and we would have had to get a hotel on the way down and probably the way back too, whereas from where we live to Portsmouth is doable in about 3 hours. Also the drive from Calais is much further.

We booked a cabin for the overnight crossing on the way there and then on the way back (day crossing) decided to get a cabin too. On a day crossing the cabins were only £12 and they are 4 berth with a private bathroom so defintely worth it.

I think it can be difficult to book the Brittany Ferries Portsmouth - St Malo crossing for a Friday night unless you are booking nearly a year in advance! It is a great crossing though if you can get it.

Thanks for the top tip re cabin both ways. I had booked a cabin for the outbound overnight crossing but you're right, it makes good sense to have use of a cabin on the way back too! I have duly ammended my booking.... The ferry is now only £100 cheaper than the rest of the weeks holiday!