Cheap ferries to portugal (1 Viewer)

zac

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You are totally right... horses for courses... (I wouldn't have Spain as a destination in the first place) but I have never, ever found "most places are shut" in winter!

If time is such a vital factor, and driving a mororhome is such a pain, why not just fly and stay in hotels? They are often highly affordable in Potugal in winter time.

I love motorhoming... come rain or shine (mostly shine where I hang out in winter).

I hate big boats... yuuk yuuk yuuk... :sicker:

JJ :cool:
I have never said motorhoming is a pain i just disagree that there is no point taking a boat, When we drove through France and the many towns we came across almost all the shops were closed, this was on both trips. Now this could be because it was so close to Xmas around 22nd Decemer i think but either way people have different views so what is a waste for one is a blessing for another :)
 
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zac

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We always travel down the West side of France when going to Spain and like you mostly in late December early January. We have yet to experiance any snow on our journey due to the proximity of the Atlantic ocean and once we hit mid France the weather starts to improve anyway. (Maybe we have been lucky on all of our trips).
Anyway, you may want to consider this as a better route than driving over the pryanees, should you choose not to take the ferry.

I certainly will if i did but we hit the snow going back but i am sure that was because i thought i was going back a different way to what we actually did, we ended up going over the Pyranees and once we reached the ski lifts and coaches with the skiers on we knew we had come the wrong way lol but continued as the snow became bad as we were going down as opposed to up. With hill assist on (this helped) we limped down the other side. We passed loads of cars trying to come up getting stuck and abandoned. It was certainly an experience and time for a stiff drink once we got down and i dont even drink lol.

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DBK

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Time isn't a factor with us but we still use the ferry to Santander because we enjoy the little mini-cruise and the chance to see whales and dolphins on the outward leg. We were spectacularly lucky last year with glimpses of Pilot and Sperm whales.

We were going to use it going out on this trip but technical problems with the vessel meant we had to get the ferry to Roscoff. We enjoyed our leisurely drive through France, taking well over a week to get to the south west of France but we will be using the ferry from Santander next week. Living close to Plymouth is a big factor I think. We can leave home and be in Spain the next day - a bit like flying really so it just suits us to use it. However, I wouldn't dream of criticising those who go the overland way. It would be very boring if we all did the same thing! :)
 
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We did the ferry to Spain last January for the first and last time.
Small boat got a text message twelve hours earlier to say it will leave at midnight instead of 6am the following morning.dew to bad weather.
So mad dash to the boat, when we set of ok then all he'll broke loose cups glasses all sliding of tables.
Ceiling tiles falling lights dropping out of their fixings.
Then requested that we should stay in our cabin's as it was not safe to walk around.
Never again.
 

kcy

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We did the ferry to Spain last January for the first and last time.
Small boat got a text message twelve hours earlier to say it will leave at midnight instead of 6am the following morning.dew to bad weather.
So mad dash to the boat, when we set of ok then all he'll broke loose cups glasses all sliding of tables.
Ceiling tiles falling lights dropping out of their fixings.
Then requested that we should stay in our cabin's as it was not safe to walk around.
Never again.
What fun, where's your sense of adventure::bigsmile:

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May 8, 2016
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Hmm, January in the Bay of Biscay:sick:

We love the mini cruise aspect of a biggie such as the Pont Aven, but I think I would be a bit too much of a coward to try a January crossing
 

vwalan

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better to leave earlier from plymouth then its less than 24 hrs very often only 20hrs .

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kcy

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Wife spent most of time in bed nowt to eat the crossing was 32 hours.
Sorry, my O H has suffered once also. I've got an iron constitution when it comes to the sea, the above was said tongue in cheek:blush:
 

kcy

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I've never, ever, ever understood folk who have motorhomes, which are designed, built and equipped to explore the highways and byways of the world, who then go and stick them on a vomit inducing boat which only has wobbly blue(ish) stuff to look at out of the round windows.

Just saying...

JJ :cool:
Could be something to do with living on an island, I've always wondered why if I live on an island I chose one in the northern hemisphere when I could be in the S Pacific.
 
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redbox

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My reason for this post was to gather information and others experiences.
For me driving a larger rear wheel vehicle in possibly heavy snow is not an attractive option ,having already done so in the past !
We are newly married and retired and looking for the solution that works for us collectively,personally I love boats and ships sailed my own boat and don't suffer,however my wife felt the motion on Hms Warrior tied up alongside the quay in Portsmouth !,
We have decided Portsmouth-St Malo as it s our local home port and drive the rest.
To us it will all be new as we look forward to hopefully avoiding the "busy" routes and "enjoying our retirement" our way.
Many thanks for all the constructive input : )
 
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redbox

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Thanks to "all "some very helpful words.
We are off to St Malo end of October for a "taster"back for a month over Christmas then off to Spain/Portugal hopefully for some winter sun ?
Got to be better than sitting indoors : )

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kcy

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Hope you have a good trip, we are newly married and retired too.
We get a lot of enjoyment from travels in our motorhome especially to Portugal, I'm sure you will too.
 
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redbox

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Hi Linda,
Thank you for your good wishes, are looking forward to new adventures and places it will "all" be new to us so here we go !
 

Geriatric Germ

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We tend to use Dover/Calais tunnel or ferry (cost) mostly Mainly for
a-- Two little dogs.
b--Santander costs for 15 metres. Plus lack of Doggy Cabins.
c-- We make the trip down to Spain / Portugal part of the holiday and embrace Germany / Belgium on the route. Even going straight down the cost, with the occasional Toll and 18 mpg is about equal to the Long Ferry, most major roads are kept fairly clear and Mud/Snow tyres are Mandatory in Germany/ Switzerland so makes sense to use them anyway (think wet grass camp sites anywhere).

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Aug 18, 2011
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I've never, ever, ever understood folk who have motorhomes, which are designed, built and equipped to explore the highways and byways of the world, who then go and stick them on a vomit inducing boat which only has wobbly blue(ish) stuff to look at out of the round windows.

Just saying...

JJ :cool:
Never had my vomit induced on a ferry. Use long ferry to go down in the winter to avoid the usual lousy weather driving through France,,,We enjoy the drive in the better weather though,,BUSBY.
 

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