Poole or Portsmouth - easiest to get to from "up north"?

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We're thinking about going over to France next spring and I was wondering which of the two ferry ports would be the easiest to get to with our PVC. An easy journey for me means avoiding congested towns and roads as far as possible. Looking at the map, there is more motorway if heading for Portsmouth, whereas Poole looks to have mainly A roads south of the Bristol area. What are funster's experiences?
 
Definitely Portsmouth it is motorway or dual carriage all the way right to the dock gates M40, mA34, M3 M27. If you go to Poole from Bristol it will take 2.5 hours you'll be lucky to get above 40mph going via Bath the A36 and the A450 done the journey several times and i would avoid it if possible.

John
 
Agree Portsmouth, even when we were tugging! Dont know how far North you would be coming from but we used to do M6,M40 then onto the A34 down to the M3.
The A34 can get busy especially round Oxford but as I said, even when we had a caravan it was the preferred route.
 
Memory tells me Portsmouth, Poole was a lot of narrow windy roads.

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Quick Run with Autoroute, The Journey is the same to J9 (M40). From there it is between 1hr 40min to 2hrs (109miles) to Poole and 1hr 22min to 2hrs (95miles) to Portsmouth.

In recent times the A34 around Oxford has been undergoing road works, which have been giving issues (Pear Tree? I think), and it is always slow going getting off the M40 onto the A34 at peak times!

I would suggest Portsmouth, unless there was a greater financial incentive for Poole.

Pete
 
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I do the run from Lancashire to Portsmouth on a regular basis and my preferred route is via the M6, M5 to Gloucester then to Swindon, can't remember the junction number or road number( done the route so many times I could do it in my sleep) big hill at Birdlip but no problem. M4 then onto A34 near Newbury, I wouldn't think there is a lot of difference from that point to Poole or Portsmouth but Portsmouth is certainly easy to get to.

If you have time most of the M6 in Cheshire and the Midlands can be avoided by using the A49 through Shropshire etc and joining the M5 South of Birmingham, a very pleasant change from the chaos on UK motorways.
 
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Depends on you arrival time, arrive at poole evening before, toilets, showers...£5.00 for the night, safe and secure, Portsmouth....Hmm!
 
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Portsmouth, you are literally straight off the motorway into the terminal.

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Why not go Dover Calais, we have just booked for 2 weeks end Sept. £104 return for 7.6 mtr. We live in Nottingham but when coming from over the northern border the route is much the same ((A66, A1, M1 or M11) against M6 to M1 or M40)) then either over QE bridge or round M25 anti-clockwise to Dover.
I will probably go over to Grantham then A1, A14 M11 etc., we will be in Canterbury night before sailing so fresh for France.
 
Portsmouth way easier than Poole. We live 5 mins from the Portsmouth Terminal but prefer to go Folkestone - Calaise on the train. I would rather sit driving my MH accross France than sit on a ferry .. .. :sick:
 
If I was coming as far as you I would be looking at Hull / Zeebrugge

Depends on where in France you are aiming for, but drive to Hull overnight ferry to recover then go again in morning for me (y)

Bit more ferry cost, but a massive saving on miles and tiredness, French miles are so much easier than UK
 
Could you do the Newcastle or Hull ferry, by the time you have got from Fort William to Plymouth or Portsmouth it will be time to turn around and go back home again.

Martin
 
Poole is flipping expensive too.

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We travel regularly to Spain from Dundee but only ever use DFDS Dover to either Dunkirk or Calais. Would never dream of using Portsmouth ,Poole or Newhaven as all of the ferries from them are far too expensive!
Would even use the tunnel as that is usually cheaper too.Being a scotsman i like a bargain lol !!
Main reason it is a short crossing for the dog and he gets to stay in the motorhome and not in a kennel on longer journeys
 
another reason to avoid Poole is that work started today to refurbish the famous lifting bridge at Poole at the dock enterance and diversions are going to cause traffic chaos for the next 9-12months
 
Hilltopper said:
An easy journey for me means avoiding congested towns and roads as far as possible.
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bertiebasset said:
Why not go Dover Calais, we have just booked for 2 weeks end Sept. £104 return for 7.6 mtr. We live in Nottingham but when coming from over the northern border the route is much the same ((A66, A1, M1 or M11) against M6 to M1 or M40)) then either over QE bridge or round M25 anti-clockwise to Dover.
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Simple.... He wants to avoid congestion..

besides, Dover Calais crossing is becomming less attarctive due to disruption, French blokades etc etc If I were coming from Scotland I'd also be looking to avoid the M25 and Calais

Living in Suffolk, I'm considering Harwich - Hook of Holland next trip. ..
 
scotjimland said:
Simple.... He wants to avoid congestion...
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If timed correctly then the congestion is not an issue, We will be travelling from Nottingham to Canterbury on the Sunday ready for a Monday sailing on P & 0, off at Calais early afternoon then out of Calais. Earlier this year we did the same and managed to get to the aire at Gace, well away from any trouble.
 
Being a newbie, this is the first time I've asked a question on this forum and I'm mightily impressed. It's not just the number of people who have kindly taken the time and trouble to reply but also the alternative route suggestions that now give me plenty of food for thought. Portsmouth is the clear winner in answer to my question. However, I hadn't considered departing Blighty from one of eastern ports to Zeebrugge or Calais, but checking distances I see that getting to southern France isn't much further that way compared with the western arrival ports like Cherbourg or St Malo. Hull to Zeebrugge is certainly worth serious thought from our northern start point. The other option that occurs to me is to ferry from Plymouth or Portsmouth to northern Spain and work our way back up to the Channel. The planning is such fun isn't it!

Many thanks to everyone who has contributed.
 
I still prefer to avoid Dover/Folkestone crossing apart from the lottery of the M25 there is the added frisson of potential excitement coming back into Calais and meeting a roadblock.

Poole is a nice place but terrible roads, there are lots of nice places to stay en route if you have an early crossing.

Portsmouth is the most reliable and accessible, but you would be best served not expecting to wait there very long. Better to park on Portsdown hill over looking the sea. Not sure you can overnight there.

Plymouth, long way and depending on when you are travelling the M5 around Birmingham and Bristol has to be negotiated, which can be every bit as bad as the M25.

Personally if I was north of the M62 I'd be considering Hull.

Bon voyage
 
We used Portsmouth - Santander on both legs earlier this year, travelling form Wakefield. Drove down via Oxford, parked up overnight in waiting lane at port, FOC, evening arrival on way back used pubstop 20 mins towards M3.
 
Another vote here for the Hull - Zebrugge route. Ferry out at around 6pm, decent nights sleep and very acceptable food, and roll off the ferry around 9 the following morning (times from memory but you get my drift..)

So you start the day fresh, showered etc and once you clear the horrendous Belgian road surfaces it's all easy peasy

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Live in Hull and sometimes come back from Zeebrugge, but most times go Dover to Calais or Dunkirk, we usually set off about 9pm roads are quiet, dartford is free, sleep on marine drive for a couple of hours and then get an early ferry. If you do decide to take the Hull crossing be sure you give the right length including bike rack, they do measure you and will charge extra, as we found to our cost although we had given length CC used length without bike rack.
 
Portsmouth, no hazzle
 
John&Kate said:
Portsmouth way easier than Poole. We live 5 mins from the Portsmouth Terminal but prefer to go Folkestone - Calaise on the train. I would rather sit driving my MH accross France than sit on a ferry .. .. :sick:
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We don't sit on a Ferry we lay down:whistle: The 10.00pm Portsmouth to Caen. A nightcap in the Bar and straight to Bed, awake in France early the next morning refreshed.
Also for Doggy People there is never a problem as the Dog stays in the MH.

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