Best ferry to go to France please!

[cornsilk]

We are looking at Vendee, booking direct through the campsite and have no idea about which Ferry to go for. Which is the easiest to get to and from by car?

We always go with Brittany Ferries. The facilities (especially the children play area) and the food are fab! Its always a pleasent experience for us and the kids.

Thanks will have a look at that.

I'd second the western channel crossings, but avoid the fastcraft aka vomit-comet if you are not a good sailor. An overnight crossing makes for a relaxing start to the holiday.
Depends where you are travelling from in the UK too.

We go on the vomit comet from Poole to Cherbourg as it's a faster crossing, plus we're only 10 minutes from the port. The other thing I like is that the seats are allocated. The downside is that it doesn't get it's nickname for no reason.

Last time we couldn't get on it for the return journey and had to go on the conventional ferry. We were the 2nd from last car on and by the time we got up to the decks there was nowhere to sit. People had put their bags and coats on seats then gone to the restaurant so were effectively taking up two seats. We ended up sitting on the floor in a corner and it was a really uncomfortable, long journey - and it was an evening sailing so dd was shattered too. I said I'd never go on it by choice again.

I don't know where you live, but we always go by SeaFrance from Dover to Calais. It's a much longer drive to the Vendée from Calais, but the ferry part is only one and a quarter hours and is great. You can book a table in the restaurant in advance too. We usually do that and it takes up the whole ferry journey anyway. Then we can go at our own pace in the car.

I'd say Portsmouth - Caen or Cherbourg as the route is fairly direct to the vendee from there.

Not cheap i.e. over £600 in the summer but worth it if you want a relaxing start to your holiday

We went Brittany Ferries this summer and found it a hellish experience not to put too fine a point on it. We usually go on the Channel tunnel but I was trying to save dh some driving time. We all agreed afterwards the drive would have been better than hours and hours (Portsmouth to Caen) on an overcrowded ferry.

To be fair, our main problem was that the agent for the gite company (it wasn't Brittany Ferries) who took the booking did not book us the recliner seats I requested so we had nowhere to sit. It would probably have been much better with some 'accommodation' - make sure you book seats or cabins as there is insufficient general seating on a crowded Summer crossing.

Channel tunnel every time. Fed up with rest of family laughing whilst I am horribly sick.

ahh yes I need a cabin to vomit sleep in.
That sounds hellish coffeecrazedmama

Eurotunnel is way better than ferry!

depends where you live though hulababy - we are sooo much nearer to the ports on both sides of the channel than the tunnel, we would also need an overnight stop before arriving in the Loire.

We're trying the Euro tunnel this year for the first time.
Normally we take the Dover to Calais ferry, but for an extra £14 and only a 35 minute journey, I figured this is worth a go. The children are fairly excited about it.

The main reason (apart from it being our nearest) we take the Dover to Calais route is because it is short and there's not much worse than a crowded ferry when you're near last to board with three young children and no real facilities for them. At least in the car they're 'contained' and easily enough occupied with various activities, so w don''t mind a long drive with plenty of breaks.

We are happy cheapskate Speedferries customers. Fast ferry from Dover to Boulogne. I think we must have some freakish bad effect on the Eurotunnel because despite always checking in well ahead of schedule for our three attempts at crossing with them, and having paid a handsome price for the tickets, we have never left on time, on the crossing we paid for
From our POV they are shite. Those squalid little toilets on the train (which your dcs will insist on visiting, take a clothes peg and some Flash wipes), that mean 1970s lighting...give me Qwells all round and some sea air and the feeling you've actually crossed a border any time
We like the roads in France, we tend not to go South of the Loire, we enjoy a stopover and usually find somewhere really interesting, and it still works out a lot cheaper than Brittany Ferries, whose peak prices are usually more than the cost of our gite hire

overnight to ST malo is the best - get a cabin though!! BUT hifeously expensive!! We usually got Dover/Calais and then it's 6 - 7 hours drive in France. Whent eh kids were v small we stayed overnight in Rouen but now just get an early ferry and do the drive. If we could afford Brittamny ferries overnight we'd take it any time.

HATE the tunnel. keep remembering about that time when all the power went and people were stuck in the tunnel for hours!! No thanks!!!!!

We have only ever done Portsmouth or Poole to Cherbourg. I prefer the longer ferry because it is a change of scenery having already spent a few hours in the car to get to the south, the DC can stretch their legs etc. but is expensive.

Was it you who stayed in the same place as us near Dinan a couple of years ago bozza? I kept trying to remember who it was! Might have been someone else altogether! Lovely gite though.

Yes it was us aero! We did have a slight problem though, in that DD was scared of the hens. But the coastline along there was lovely and we also really liked Dinan.

We are trying the Condor ferries form Poole to St Malo.

Yes - we liked Dinan too. We're off to Normandy this year........can't wait.