Cheapest ferry route UK to Santander or Bilbao - recommendations please?

Maxxx

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I might have the opportunity to use an event in Lisbon as an excuse for a mini-adventure.

I live inside the M25 in South London and I'm trying to figure out the cost and time difference between taking ferry over to Calais and riding to Lisbon from there VS taking a ferry from the south coast somewhere over to Santander or Bilbao. The price for the latter seems extortionate and some fares insist you HAVE to book a cabin - but then I think I might gain a day or two and won't have the cost of overnight stays somewhere (sorry - not camping).

Any of you done the numbers or have gone through the same thought process??

Any advice appreciated.

Cheers
 
I live in Plymouth and have often explored the option of the ferry from here to Santander. I have always found the pricing to be bonkers, but I suppose it's supply and demand. Every time I look it's cheaper to use another crossing and bimble down staying in hotels a couple of nights. I'm hoping to either be pleasantly surprised some time or perhaps forget I'm actually a Yorkshireman and just pay the going rate! I'll watch your thread with interest.
 
I had balked at the cost of the ferry to Spain in the past but as I now have hip pain when riding, the cost seems better value.

Google says it's 750 miles from Calais to Bilbao and a further 500 miles to Lisbon. In the past I would have ridden to Bilbao with 1 overnight stop in Tours but the days of sitting on an autoroute for that long are in the past as it is just too uncomfortable.

So, in September, I will ride down to Plymouth and get the ferry to Santander. I will be relaxed and pain free when arriving in Spain, ready to enjoy bimbling around Iberia for 2 weeks. 150-200 miles in a day max with a couple of days off the bike and plenty of breaks on days when riding.

With the way fuel has increased in price, the cost I agreed with Brittany Ferries some months ago is looking better value. A Parisien friend showed his local petrol pump, with 1,609€ on the display. Factor in that a return journey of 2500 miles on motorway will square off a set of tyres and push you closer to a service interval then is it such a high cost? A 2 berth cabin for 1 person costs about the same as a night in a mid-price hotel.
 
PM sent with BF discount. code. :)
 
Looking at it this way ...... you make perfect sense!!!

If I can swing things my way, it will be the ferry ��
 
Work out how much time it will take and how much it will cost to ride overland – lots of petrol, potentially lots of tolls, food costs, some hotels.

Personally, I'd allow four days to ride to Lisbon, or five to make a proper holiday of it visiting nice places on the way and spending more time on decent roads and less time on motorways. You could easily take longer, but doing it faster is a challenge; three days would have to be almost all motorways to cover the distance; my mate Johnny Mac rode an H2 SX back from Lisbon in two dull, expensive, exhausting 700-mile days. But if I did four days each way, bringing them in at about £80-£100 a day, that'd make the round trip in the £720-£800 kind of ballpark.

So if you set that against the cost of the ferry... it can begin to make sense of a £600-ish round trip fare. You will still end up spending more money this way, as you have to get hotels and food etc on top of the ferry cost, but the difference is that your eight days can be spent entirely on good roads between Lisbon and Santander - not mostly on French or Spanish motorways hoping to get to some good roads.

It does make it an expensive trip, but it's worth it.
 
Phone Brittany Ferries direct, do not use the in-line booking system; their customer service is 1st class. Plus if you book a nights accommodation (in Spain) through them as a package you may be surprised at the outcome.
 
...some fares insist you book a cabin...

You'll be glad of your cabin, it's a long old trip. But take a book, do your route planning, have some wine, chill and transition your head between 'work mode' and 'riding mode'.
 
Or save yourself a shitload of money and don't go.

Do something else instead.
 
ferry

I've just returned from the Pyrenees.
Rode all the way from North Yorkshire, Dover/Calais
and the same return.
3500 miles in 12 days.
Never again, got an arse like a blood orange.
Next year I'm going to use one of the many bike freight companies
to take the bike to Malaga or Toulouse and fly to meet it.
Probably ride home though.
 
The boat to me is a part of the holiday, love the ride down to either Plymouth or Portsmouth knowing it's over 24 hours to catch up over a drink or 2, have a meal and chill before getting off usually in brilliant weather right near brilliant roads.

Even if it did work out more expensive it's worth every penny

I'm not convinced that it does work out more though
 
I've ridden back to the UK a few times from Santander and used the ferry there and back.

There is no way I'd ride there and back, unless I had at least 10 days to spare.
 
I've just returned from the Pyrenees.
Rode all the way from North Yorkshire, Dover/Calais
and the same return.
3500 miles in 12 days.
Never again, got an arse like a blood orange.
Next year I'm going to use one of the many bike freight companies
to take the bike to Malaga or Toulouse and fly to meet it.
Probably ride home though.

Maybe consider something like bmwmotohire - we rented an apartment and 1200gs for around 1,100 per week, including a pick up and drop off from Malaga airport.
 
I think it’s pretty cost neutral, depending on what quality of hotel you would use if riding down through France. Petrol is expensive in France, factor in tyre wear etc.

Why would you not want a cabin (other than to save money, obviously)? The last thing the ferry company and other passengers want is a boat littered with smelly unwashed vagrant types.

It’s s bit boring on the 24-hr crossing, and mind-numbing on the 36-hr crossing. On the other hand, you can take a book, relax, have plenty of nsps and arrive in Spain all full of energy instead of tired and aching.
 
Used to leave home (London) take the tunnel and ride to Bordeaux in one day then Algercires the next day without any problems, in fact did it a few times on the Morroco dashes we used to do, and that was with up to 12 riders. Simple enough to ride the second day to Lisbon in one hit, I managed it in 1980 two up on a BMW R65. But then I do enjoy riding long distances in a short space of time.
 
I've done it both ways and would plump for ferry every time. Straight to good roads and not the ballacher through France. For me it's cheaper as I don't fancy the long rides to do it in 2 days across France so tolls fuel bike wear and boring days make it a no brainer.
I'm off to Portsmouth for ferry to Santander tomorrow for the Pico's.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
 
Thanks for all the opinions and comments from everyone!

Just for clarification, the reason why I was (originally) looking at the cheapest option was because this event (still not confirmed) is a work event - I'm self employed and the client always has to cover my flights and accommodation to wherever I need to be. The client would of course not be expecting to fund a holiday for me �� but I could offset the cost of a return flight (cheap) against my expenses and fund my own min-adventure.

At this point in time, I'm erring on the side of the ferry OR - something I hadn't actually thought about was simply flying in and renting a bike on arrival - this might actually work out well, giving me the most of my limited time in the country without having to panic about lost working days on the road.

Once (if) the client confirms ......... I'll explore the hire options further - hopefully a trip report can follow at some point ��
 


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