First time MH user and Spain (1 Viewer)

Jul 18, 2009
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Yes, I'm surprised you haven't been enrolled yet. I did wonder if the fact we'd invested in the easyJet Plus scheme made a difference? No idea?

I only buy tickets for the two of us and don't think we've ever had quite as many as 30 flights on the go at any one time; though I've used the airline on and off ever since it first launched in the mid-90s with the original routes from Luton to Glasgow and Edinburgh.

I signed us up for EasyJet plus the day before my last (currently booked) Ryanair flight on the 12th March. £368 for us both. Got £170 of that back on three one-way flights already. Thats without using the other benefits.
 
Aug 18, 2011
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Not sure why you have arrived at 1000 miles when it's just over that in Kilometers from Calas to Irun (1056K) ? Anyway,let me try and answer your question. In my case, a 3.5 T motorhome 2.3 euro 4 engine, I have calculated the following costs. Ferry crossing, € 75.00 (Each Way), Parking is free, using Aires that are open and free along the N10 route. Fuel costs, Calais to Irun, approx. €147.84 (Based on 1056 K @10K per Ltr. @€1.40 per ltr). Toll fares. Jct 19-23 of the A10 to get through the city of Tours (€1.80) and a further € 8.90 for the A 63 toll road south of Bordeaux, from Jct 6 to the Spanish border. As for food costs we have a fully stocked motorhome and as we now regard the food & Drink in the UK cheaper than France, we eat and drink our own stuff. So, I estimate for the two of us, as we clear France in 2.1/2 days of driving, say €30.00. As for wear and tear on the vehicle I'm not sure how to calculate this cost. So, all in all I estimate the total cost is close to €265. each way.
What is the cost of the Ferry ?
I pay about £290 to £310 with my little 5.5 mtr van Bilbao to Portsmouth,,only use it to return in Nov/Dec when the weather in Franc is usually naf,,BUSBY:D:D
 
Aug 18, 2011
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That sounds like a great price, £450 return. Playing around with the Brittany website the cheapest I could find was around £300 each way. Do you pay extra to use this service or is it open to anyone ? I wonder how you get any sleep if your not in a cabin ? I thought the idea was to arrive rested. Lastly, assuming you eat and drink on the ferry how is the food and drink priced. My experience on the DFDS ferry is that food and drink is quite pricey.

Always have a cabin,,,BUSBY.

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Aug 18, 2011
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@PhilandMena

We travel 4x per year so it pays for us but in the first year of membership there is not much of a saving as you have a £105 registration fee plus membership fee.

Each year after that costs £125 and the discount is only on the ferry fare not the cabin cost.

You get £8.35 off the cost of your breakfast on overnight sailings and 10% off on-board dining.

A lot of people just ask members for their discount code so they can travel as a friend or family member. That saves up to 10%.
On the sailing I posted earlier the saving was around £180. :xThumb:
If you share your membership no you get a £10 reward,,i usually get between £100 and £150 a year which i can use against my ferry bookings,,BUSBY.
 
Aug 18, 2011
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Yes! I just saw that on the website. Almost booked out too. However, when looking for a return crossing the first available return crossing in March was £425.00 and both these prices are without a cabin. As I understand it this is the cheapest and most basic crossing with few facilities on board. I cant see many doing that crossing without a cabin, well maybe the first time but never after that LOL. Not for me.
That price was with a cabin,,Busby.
 

Allanm

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Jun 30, 2013
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It’s becoming a choice of drive the tunnel route with a 1000 plus mile drive or ferry over to Billy Bob and shorter drive to southern Spain.

Now me I think I would like the shorter distance but what put me off was the cost of the ferry with cabin and that worked out at close on £1000 return then a day or so drive south so it’s 50/50 for me.

Will I trust the Mah we have to do a 1000 plus miles possibly twice regardless of our euro breakdown cover I might stay to the UK.

Brian
Our last van we had for two years and was 21 years old when we sold it. We drove around 20000 miles in it. Each trip back to the U.K. was around 2000 miles after visiting family, we drove all over France and into Northern Spain a couple of times, covering around 3500 miles each time.
Never had a problem but we had EU breakdown cover just in case.
On our travels, we’ve seen loads of older vans thousands of miles away from where they live, some of them look like they wouldn’t get to the end of the road, but they seem to carry on forever.
If you think the van is up to it and has been regularly serviced, go for the drive. Once your in the van, you are on holiday.
And yes, it’s worth it.

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Aug 21, 2022
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I personally would not travel on economy ferry and we always have a cabin but the price was straight off their web site with my club membership discount applied. (Which is about 30% if I remember correctly.) As a friend/family you would get 10% discount.

Most of the boats have more than one restaurant/cafe/self service.

You can eat for what I consider a reasonable price. Whilst you are a captive audience they don't really take a huge advantage of this.

I thought the price of a food/beer was about the same as in a bar in France.

It's a no brainer for us to travel via the ferry as I don't want to drive huge mileages each day and we tend to stay on sites.

So France would be near a week for us. We don't tend to cook on board much either so eating out for a week adds up.

Tolls in France are at a stupid price now and together with the 50mph speed limit on off motorway routes it does not add up anymore to visit France en-route to Spain anymore.

The post was to show u can travel economically on the ferry if you are so inclined.
When you mention club discount for Brittany ferries which club are we referring to?
Thanks
 
Jul 29, 2013
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When you mention club discount for Brittany ferries which club are we referring to?
Thanks
This is a four year old thread however still applicable the club they talk of is Brittany Ferries members club😊
 
Aug 21, 2022
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This is a four year old thread however still applicable the club they talk of is Brittany Ferries members club😊
Is that a « closed » membership then or can anyone use it?

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Jul 29, 2013
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nigel dewbery I have done a comparison excercise leaving Jan 20/23 and return April 23/23 and ferry would be £1466 return with cabin each way less 10% = £1320
same dates driving from Calais to Zarutz Spain £500 tunnel return and approx £500 in fuel for return trip and tolls if used approx £250 return trip = £1250
so not a lot in it really except that on the ferry you will gain six extra days by not driving through France🤔and of course 2000 of miles less wear and tear on your van😊
 
Feb 9, 2008
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Before Covid the cost of driving to Spain from the UK for a typical motorhome was significantly cheaper than taking a ferry and there are numerous threads on here discussing that very subject including costings. Now that Covid has impacted on ferry costs it may be worth costing it out again as if anything its going to be significantly more expensive. Also, the partial toll road route down through France as also discussed on here, is very cost effective.

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Feb 9, 2008
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nigel dewbery I have done a comparison excercise leaving Jan 20/23 and return April 23/23 and ferry would be £1466 return with cabin each way less 10% = £1320
same dates driving from Calais to Zarutz Spain £500 tunnel return and approx £500 in fuel for return trip and tolls if used approx £250 return trip = £1250
so not a lot in it really except that on the ferry you will gain six extra days by not driving through France🤔and of course 2000 of miles less wear and tear on your van😊
 
Jul 29, 2013
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I think I will still be driving as the tunnel is so easy and if you want it’s easy to change dates? we enjoy our drive down it’s all part of our winter break but each to their own? 😊
 
Feb 9, 2008
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£500.00 for a return tunnel crossing ! That cant be right surely and £500 for fuel, Calais to Zarutz return. I had a look at that for a 3.5T motorhome averaging 30miles to the gallon and came up with the following. (Of Course if your a big RV with huge fuel consumption the ferry option might make sense).
Distance using the non toll N10 route is approximately 2,200 K's and with deiseal at €1.74 litre and averaging 10K's per Litre that works out at approx. £325.0 The partial toll option using the N10 option is around €16.00 each way, as best as I can recall.
Still, I have said before, at the end of the day its all down to members preferences and each and everyone to their own.

Edit! I forgot to say, did you add the cost of your BF membership to your journey as I did not see it in your calculations ?

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Feb 9, 2008
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I think I will still be driving as the tunnel is so easy and if you want it’s easy to change dates? we enjoy our drive down it’s all part of our winter break but each to their own? 😊
You and others reading this thread may find this usefull.

Firstly, routes and route maps for France and Spain. This first link is an award winning database about France. It has a host of information on best routes to many locations. I have selected the famous N10 route from Calais to Irun which is used by many motorhomes when travelling to Spain. It’s almost Toll free (more on that a little later) and almost all duel carriageway from start to finish with the exception of about 100 K. This route is great for motorhomes small, medium and large. Note: (HGV’s are not allowed on French roads, Sunday’s, so plan your journey over a weekend if possible).

https://about-france.com/tourism/no-tolls-routes.htm

Fuel & Toll costs. For a class 2 Motorhome. Calais – Irun. Toll = €162.00 Fuel €188.44 Based on 1083 K @10K per Ltr. @€1.74 per ltr. 3.5T motor-home). N10 Calais - Irun. Using partial Toll = Toll €13.50. Fuel €183.44 Based on 1056 K @10K per Ltr. @€1.46 per ltr

Tolls: Avoid the toll road from Calais to Abbeville and save 13.20 Euros. The non-toll route is quite scenic and fairly straight forward, between Boulogne-sur-Mer and Abbeville.

At Abbeville, join the A28 and cross the river Sein at Rouen. We take the second exit immediately after crossing the bridge (about 50 m past the first exit at the end of the bridge), swing down and under the bridge you have just crossed and continue on this road and join the A13 motorway until the N154 which takes you down to Evreux. (Note: there are a number of different options for getting through Rouen and no doubt other members will have their own preferences. We find this very straight forward on both outward and return legs). Approaching Tours on the D910 join the A10 toll road at Jct. 19 and exit at Jct. 23. This will take you through the city via the toll road, (€1.80). At Jct. 23 take the exit lane for Montbazon which returns you to the D910. (Reverse for the return leg). That’s the last toll to pay until you hit the bottom of the A63 after Bordeaux.

To save toll fares on the A63 south of Bordeaux please read the route recommendations in the above link. Do not come off the A63 near the bottom as all roads will be heavily congested and it’s worth paying the last few tolls. (From Jct 6 €8.90 in total). This route is also recommended during winter, due to its proximity to the Atlantic ocean, which means little to no problems with ice and or snow, unlike using the A75 to cross the Massif Central. Although the A75 is quickly cleared, it is advisable to have winter tyres fitted and there may be some small delays due to snow ploughs clearing this route.

If heading to the Mediterranean side of Spain, it’s worth taking the N121-A to Pamplona after crossing the Spanish boarder on the A63 at Irun. It’s clearly sign posted (Large white sign) about 300 m after passing through the last toll booth and crossing the river. Also near here, cheap fuel with easy access (https://www.fuelflash.eu/en/alcampo...rcial-txingudi-zona-araso_b_-ventas-80-33301/) and shopping opportunities. You will find more details in this link for the N121-A and how to navigate Spain toll free.

https://about-spain.net/travel/no-tolls.htm
If you decide to pay Tolls in order to save time getting to Spain, your best route options are in this link.

https://about-france.com/tourism/routes-to-spain.htm

Should you choose to plan your own routes anywhere in Europe and also establish Toll costs, (or toll free costs) use this link. Under route options, select caravan then select toll roads. Toll costs for a class 2 motorhome will be calculated for the whole journey. You can also choose Non toll routes and other options. This is currently one of the best online free route planers.

https://www.viamichelin.co.uk/

As for stop overs on routes, you can’t go wrong using the App below which is free but I would recommend getting the paid version for about £6.00 which you can then use off line. You will find numerous places to stop along the above route and I have deliberately not made any recommendations so drivers can make their own choices. This app is also brilliant for finding other places too and highly rated by many users.


https://www.campercontact.com/en/content/app



A popular app/website. Used by many and worth taking out the small subscription. Loads of up to date reviews here too.

https://www.searchforsites.co.uk/


There is another popular app/website that is used which you may also find useful if you’re doing a lot of wilding and looking for free overnight stops. It too is used by many motor homers in Europe. Get the paid version to use off line for around £9.00

https://www.park4night.com/

One of the best off line MAP ‘App’ and used by many. It also includes a sat-nav function which is quite good and can also be used off line. Again, many motor homers use this, especially in Morocco.

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