I'm sure I've seen a fast ferry from France to UK....

[SpeccyBat]

...that took just 3 hours or so, and would cost me less that £100?
Crossing the 24-25th August.

I can't find it now and I really don't think I imagined it?!

Cherbourg to Portsmouth? That's 3 hours and under £100 (on the Sundaay goingthe other way) but I can't find out how to do single crossings sorry

The fastcats are known as the vomit comets, we tried the Portsmouth-Caen , 4 hr one once, never again.

Dover-Calais is 90 mins, and you can get good deals if you book ahead - although possibly not for bank holiday weekend.

Western Channel will obviously take longer.

Dover to Dunkirk or Calais, with DFDS is usually about £65 return if you book ahead, or it was the last time we did the trip!

Eurotunnel is quickest

but not so handy if you live eg near Portsmouth!

& if you have Tesco vouchers \link{http://www.tesco.com/clubcard/deals/product.aspx?R=3223&%20bci=4294967191|Travel*4294966445|Trains%20%26%20Buses\it's 3 for 1 so even the most expensive crossing is less than £50 of vouchers}

\link{http://www.myferrylink.com/uk?packedargs=site%3DSF_Pax_Uk\myferrylink} is the replacement for Seafrance since they went bust

We live near Portsmouth, it is always a dilemma, the Western Channel routes are a lot more expensive, but save a great deal of time driving.

Sorry but the title says "France to UK" are you going from Portsmouth then. Do you need a return?

Sorry - have not made myself clear.
We're driving to France this summer. Last year took the Eurotunnel and the journey over was ok. We stopped overnight at Rouen, then drove south until we got to our site. The journey home was a nightmare though - kids v tired and we just wanted to get home, so....

We have a little more money this year so am considering doing a single overnight Portsmouth to St Malo with cabin. Going home, we will be driving from the La Rochelle area so hoping for a short crossing. Don't want to do the extra miles to Calais, and would really prefer to NOT be on a ferry all day (as opposed to a long ferry, overnight).

If you can make sense of any of this, and actually give me some advice, then I will owe you a large bottle of vino. I'm absolutely SHITE at organising, and DH is even worse. Doesn't help that our internet connection at home is very, very slow. In fact, the only thing it's decent at doing, is MN!!

We usually take the Poole Cherbourg crossing, but they are reinstating the Poole St Malo crossing for the summer only too, so this could be a possible for you.

However this year we're taking our caravan for the first time. I got very depressed with the prices, but then found Condor Portsmouth to Cherbourg for £250 return (free caravan on Sundays) in August via The Camping and Caravan Club. So there may be some good deals there to be had.

Our total 2 week hols in August - ferry and supersite - is under £600!!!!

Feeling very smug!

Wow NewForestPony - well done. That's a really good deal. And great advice too. I shall investigate thoroughly tonight after work.

The Portsmouth-Caen ferry might be worth looking at as well (?6 hours?) - we booked it as it was several hours shorter than going to St Malo, but only about an extra hour in the car, and a slightly shorter drive than going via Cherbourg. I think we paid about £250-ish with Brittany Ferries, and got a free cabin for the day crossings as it's national ferry fortnight or something. So while we are on a ferry for some hours, we can at least get a bit of privacy and rest. They do overnight crossings (7 hours-ish) but the cabins aren't free for those.

Also, if you travel via the A84, there are hardly any tolls, so that helps balance up some of the extra cost of the ferry.

We are so looking forward to our holiday, and have been going into slightly too much detail to make up for the crap weather/depressing job thingy going on at the moment!

If you are going on the Portsmouth-Caen Fastcat be prepared for seasickness, the DCs and I were sick both ways and the weather wasn't particularly bad. Lots of others were sick too.

There are various cats from Portsmouth and Poole, but as others have said be very aware they have all the names given above also the 'sickcat'. When it is bad you can not get too the loos for vomiting people everywhere.
To minimise the effect to yourself sit in the middle of the middle of the cat you will feel the roll and yaw much less so are much less likely to be sick.

When I went many moons ago there was a small outside space for smokers. I spent all my time here as only being outside on boats stops me throwing up ( don't smoke).

There is a fastcraft this year running from Le Havre to Portsmouth.

Just to add - the Britanny Ferry to Caen is a big proper ferry, not a fastcat (thank goodness, from the sounds of it!)

What about Plymouth Roscoff? It would be a bit more driving on this side (depending on where you live) but a bit less in France. The day crossing takes about 6 hours I think?

I wouldn't go on a fast ferry if it was free of charge, I have never felt so sick. I'd second earlier advice to get a cabin too.