Ah so
Travel to Spain (via France) on a cheap
- Thread starter EVskiy
- Start date
Doc looks at home there
He does , bless him .
As an aside , just checked a booking for our forthcoming trip as it’s the only tad expensive one at Canfranc Station .
We booked months ago but rates have come down . So I’ve just cancelled and rebooked the same room but now with breakfast included for £1 less than it was before without . Saving £25 .
Always a gamble if you book the non-refundable option as you can’t then change plans or book the same but cheaper .
Amen to that.
I’ve just done similar, 3 twins not 2 triples plus breakfast, 10 cheaper pppn.
I never book without a long cancellation window
YupExactly .
More tedious for me as I have to get a ferry north to UK just to get an another south again .
I’ve ridden down to Spain many times . Got the ferry about five times. I’ve only got the ferry back once as prefer to ride back via a few fave stops .
But that’s the way I’ve kind of settled on over the years .Meet the boys in UK, ride to Plymouth, have lunch , catch ferry .Few beers then a nice meal and a catch up with mates I might not have seen for a while .Its always a great start to the trip .
The ferry is what you make it .I love it , as it really is like a mini cruise for me . But I never share a cabin as like my space and I’ve always booked a nicer cabin apart from once when we did it last minute and all they had were inside cabins .
So, yes, it costs a few hundred quid more ,but so what ? It’s a holiday and most places we stay are normally not silly money .And I don’t waste money on stupid £30k bikes with built in toasters.
Share an inside cabin with three others and I can see why some might hate it .It’s what you make of it and how you approach it .Unless you’re Doc and just a miserable cùnt anyway
I’ve ridden down to Spain and I’ve taken the ferry. I’ve never bothered working out the relative costs (as long as the ferry isn’t ridiculous), it’s always been which I’ve felt like doing. A meander through France (not a non stop blast) which, like anywhere, can be great, average or wet and miserable. A trip on the ferry, preferably with an early boarding out of the crappy UK weather for a few beers, something to eat and watch the variable entertainment. And a cabin to myself. Then get off in sunny Spain and head off somewhere.
I was in Spain a few years ago, heading to Italy to meet up with my wife and her parents and decided I didn’t fancy the ride round the coast of France so I took a ferry from Barcelona to Civitavecchia, seemed a good lazy option.
Nice to have options and the flexibility to be able to choose between them.
That's a great destination Arsey have a good un;
One extra thing to add about the ferry tickets, cost-wise.
This time I (thank god) booked flexi tickets.
I was a bit suspicious as they costed just a few quid more than the standard tickets.
As it happens, both my bike and a mate's bike had some issues before leaving the UK and we risked to have to cancel it until last minute.
I was surprised, talking to their phone support, that you can cancel/amend until 4 hours before sailing. I haven't looked into how the refund works (and how much it actually is, there might be hidden costs). But that made things way easier for us.
We ended up not cancelling, but we moved the return by a few days and, again, no cost - easy.
Definitely appreciated.
This time I (thank god) booked flexi tickets.
I was a bit suspicious as they costed just a few quid more than the standard tickets.
As it happens, both my bike and a mate's bike had some issues before leaving the UK and we risked to have to cancel it until last minute.
I was surprised, talking to their phone support, that you can cancel/amend until 4 hours before sailing. I haven't looked into how the refund works (and how much it actually is, there might be hidden costs). But that made things way easier for us.
We ended up not cancelling, but we moved the return by a few days and, again, no cost - easy.
Definitely appreciated.
Certain times of the year BF sell Flexi at same as standard price. We are sailing from Le Havre on Saturday and took that offer in Feb
Last few years I’ve always been in one of the newer boats, via Portsmouth
£1,179 with Voyager discount, return Portsmouth- Santander 19th June.
I’ve done the Amsterdam to Spain ride a few times in the past and much prefer the long ferry ride.
just booked for 2 & 2 bikes in a 4 berth inside, with £50 food pass each way.
£1,179 with Voyager discount, return Portsmouth- Santander 19th June.
I’ve done the Amsterdam to Spain ride a few times in the past and much prefer the long ferry ride.
What a fantastic hotel! You'll enjoy that one, Martin. As you (probably) know we stayed there the year it opened for a comparatively reasonable €160 in 2023. I looked this year and it was somewhere in the region of €250! I'd go as far as to say it's better than any Parador, even the Santo Estevo. They have spent a veritable fortune (Barceló & Aragon Gov't) to the tune of 40 millon euros restoring this building. I had been twice before the work started and it was interesting even then with rusting rolling stock inside and outside of the railway sheds. I have no idea how they managaged to get the rolling stock out of there because the brakes and air hoses were all completely rotten. They had a crane there as well as historic carriages which you could crawl around.
Inside it's like walking into a time warp; it transports you back to the golden age of rail travel. Staff uniforms are all of the era (it opened in 1928). The rooms are enormous and classically decorated. The corridors are like train carriages. In the bar a woman (in our case) goes around with a cocktail trolley and makes whatever cocktail you order in front of you. Neither the bar nor the restaurant are cheap, of course, but they aren't silly and the food, as you might expect, is very good.
It has a lot of history. It was, for many years, the international rail link beteen Spain & France. In 1970 There was an accident on the French side and the line has been closed since. The French, being French, had no inclination to reopen it and if you go to the other side via the road tunnel you can still see the line (barely) which is overgrown with trees of all kinds, including some quite mature ones. There are plans to reopen the line, but they have been talking about it for 20 years and I imagine it will not be cheap to reopen a tunnel that has not been maintained for almost 60 years.
Below are some before and after photos to see the amount of work that went in to restroring the hotel.
Attachments
Looking forward to staying there. It’s costing £215 but that now includes breakfast which is £25 ish !
But offset by much cheaper hotels such as Le Marronier in the Vercors which is €95 per night but half board .
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