Getting from London to Brittany (with DC) - anyone done this?

[tigermums]

We are looking at going to Brittany in the summer holidays as we have the offer of a very discounted holiday let near to Benodet thanks to a family member. I’ve always ruled out going while my child was young as the travel seemed a faff, but now he’s 6 I’m wondering if we could make it work this year.

From London what do people recommend for travelling to that area please? I know there’s ferries to Roscoff, St Malo and then flights to Brest I think, plus other alternatives. We would pick up a hire car somewhere so could potentially get a train to Portsmouth?

The drive from St Malo looks quite long but Roscoff better.

Has anyone done this before?

Brittany ferries are very good though not cheap. The ferries from Portsmouth ususlly go at night arriving in the morning. You could then hire a car in roscoff which would probably be cheaper than taking your car on the ferry. Have a look at the BF website for more details.

My family have a house on the north coast of Brittany in this region (Côtes-d’Armor) so I know the travel routes reasonably well. In your case, I'd probably go to Plymouth and take the Armorique to Roscoff, and then drive from there. Where you're thinking of going is quite far west, so the more westerly crossings would probably work best. In one sense they're more expensive as the crossing is longer, but they tend to be a little cheaper by comparison as less busy, and the big plus is they get you further west in France. Brittany Ferries are a good operator and provide a nice service. There are day crossings (6 hours or so), or overnight crossings - if you get a cabin you son might find that fun. You mentioned hiring a car? You could take the train from Paddington to Plymouth, then travel as a foot passenger (much cheaper), then pick up a car in Roscoff. Or if you have access to a car here, drive to Plymouth, car on ferry then under an hour from Roscoff to Benodet. That's what I'd do.

To the poster above who says that Brittany Ferries aren't cheap - yes, usually, but you can find cheap tickets if you're flexible. We're travelling from Plymouth to Roscoff in August this year (high season, school holidays) as foot passengers, day crossings, and have bought tickets for £250 return for 2 adults and 1 child.

Also, the Portsmouth Ferry goes to St Malo, if you want to get to Roscoff you need to go from Plymouth.

Or another option if you don't mind packing lighter could be Eurostar London to Paris, then by train from Paris (Montparnasse) to Quimper (3.5 hours), and then a bus or taxi to Benodet. Lots of options!

I think the Plymouth- Roscoff crossing is usually a night crossing nowadays? Which annoys me as I feel it's a gambit to sell more cabins, and it's difficult to get a good night's sleep when you know you'll be woken up at 5.00am British time 🙄

Portsmouth to st Malo ferry come back from Caen

We're crossing during the day this summer. Still plenty of day crossings available, though you do need to get to Plymouth early in the morning!

Hmmm....maybe it's changed back 🤔 I know a couple of years ago we crossed from Plymouth- Roscoff and I was quite annoyed to see that every crossing in August was an evening one.

Thank you so much! This is all so helpful. @glddthanks for all the details.
on balance I think we are going to try the ferry from Portsmouth to st Malo, and pick up a hire car in st Malo. We can do an overnight cabin and it leaves at 8pm and arrives at 9am in France - so perfect!
our son will be excited to stay overnight. The ferry from Plymouth to Roscoff wouldn’t work as it doesn’t depart till 10pm and our son would end up staying awake too late! Plus the train journey is much longer and less convenient from Paddington (we are East London).

On the return I think we will fly from Brest to Gatwick - just 1hour! As the ferries don’t do overnights and we won’t want 9 hours on a daytime ferry. But one way is good because it makes the journey something different and part of the holiday for our son.

There is one overnight ferry from St. Malo every Tuesday . Do check where the car hire is in relation to the ferry terminal. We use that route several times a year and I don't recall any hire car firms. But you might be able to get a car delivered to the terminal for you. Roads are very good and fast from St. M.

Depends on the day, by the looks of it. I've booked a day one this summer and several days of the week it was daytime, with some night ones.