Cheapest way to south west of france?

[bcadou]

Hi guys

I was looking at ferries to bilbao, but prices and very high (800gbp)...
I need to go to the south west of France (Biarritz) with my car (Tuscan 4L, ~0mpg...) this summer. I drove there last year but I d like to see if there is any cheaper alternative. Any ideas to beat the ferry or "toll + petrol + eurotunnel" price ?

cheers

[ewenm]

I was looking at similar and was getting quotes of £350-400 for the ferry to Bilbao/Santander...

www.ferrysavers.com

A few years ago the SNCF/TGV did a car-train thing to Avignon. No idea if it's on this year or on prices.

Edited by ewenm on Wednesday 31st March 17:29

[maser_spyder]

I've been looking at this too.

The best I got, was cheapy ferry to France (£25 each way Dover/Calais) although I might think about Portsmouth/Le Harve as it's closer for me.

From Paris, put your car on the auto-train;

http://www.voyages-sncf.com/services-train/auto-tr...

Or book through the UK agent;

http://www.raileurope.co.uk/Default.aspx?tabid=202...

If you book more than 90 days in advance, it's as little at 49 Euros each way for the car.

You put the car on the train one day, it arrives at the destination the next day.

You have to make your own way down (night in Paris and TGV the next morning is our plan), you pick your car up from the car park at the destination train station.

More information on car trains on a really good UK website;

http://www.seat61.com/Motorail.htm

The Dusseldorf routes are a lot more expensive!

The early-booking rate works out roughly the same price as the equivalent tolls, but obviously minus the fuel and mileage/wear/tear.

Trains are daily throughout the summer months.

Alternatively, go down the middle through Clemaunt Ferraud (sp.?) and Millau, it's through the mountains, very pretty.

The Tours route is a very good road, but not so much to see on the way.

HTH!



ETA - Portsmouth-Caen crossings are about 6 times daily, and it's closer to Paris! Approx. 145 miles from Caen to Paris.

Going on Caen-Biarritz being ~520 miles, the train would save you about 375 miles, plus the tolls. At 15 mpg, that's about 25 gallons, 125 litres, very approx. 145 euros.


So totals -

Driving all the way = 520 miles, 35 gallons, 175 litres, 200 Euros fuel, plus 40 Euro tolls = 240 Euros

To Paris and train = 145 miles, 10 gallons, 49 litres, 55 Euros fuel, plus 10? Euro tolls, plus 49 Euro car train, plus afternoon TGV at 32 Euros = 146 Euros

All very, very approximate!

Edited by maser_spyder on Friday 2nd April 01:00

[bcadou]

Thank you for these very detailed answers guy, I ll have a look at each of your idea, cheers

[Amateurish]

Tolls are about 70 Euro each way. You could take the scenic route and avoid the autoroute but count on adding 5 hours to the normal 10 hour journey.

LD Lines to Bolougne will make for a shorter journey than Calais (although personally I always use the tunnel).

[maser_spyder]

Amateurish said:

Tolls are about 70 Euro each way. You could take the scenic route and avoid the autoroute but count on adding 5 hours to the normal 10 hour journey.

LD Lines to Bolougne will make for a shorter journey than Calais (although personally I always use the tunnel).

I did guess a bit at the tolls from previous trips, but with odd cash, odd card payments throughout the day, I've never bothered properly adding it up.

So, book early and the train at 49 euros is cheaper than the tolls. Crazy.

[croyde]

Here is a toll/petrol calculator which would help.

http://www.viamichelin.com/web/Routes

[maser_spyder]

anonymous said:

[redacted]

If you actually mean 'Motorail', as in, the service that run from Calais heading south, the one that you have a couchette in the train itself, then it is no longer in operation.

The only France one left is the SNCF service where you travel separately to the car. Known as 'Auto-Train'.

Would be interested to know if the theft issues are an issue with this, it's a completely different service to the old 'Motorail', runs year round rather than just in the summer.


Just found a relatively recent Times article on this;

http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/travel/destinatio...

HTH.

[sawman]

just got back off the bilbao ferry - we paid about 200 quid for it having booked via keycamp. its pretty season dependent i think for costs. This route is finishing in september though!

its worth it just to watch the other passengers, who were a cross between the victor meldrew set and refugees from a jeremy kyle show

it was a short drive to biarritz, the morgan came off the ferry unscathed, despite the very lumpy sea.

so generally recommended, but cost depend on when you go. Also food is poor quality and high cost

my little lad was sick on the way out, so we toyed with the idea of driving back, but looked at costs and hassle and decided to stick with the booked return, was pretty much a millpond on the return