Best/Fast Ferry Crossing?

[rudeboymassive]

Going down to Le mans....Need a recomendation for a crossing from the south coast........Newhaven dieppe is only 4 hours crossing and looks cheapest at around £90 but would be better for me to go from near portsmouth as im staying in chichester the night before......


ive looked into it briefly and seen some shockingly slow crossing times from portsmouth to cean like 7 hours! any suggestions? is southampton an option?

cheers

[Gingerbread Man]

Dover is a common route. Portsmouth a long over night option.

[alloallo]

There is a good daytime high speed service from Portsmouth to both Cherbourg and Caen. You can mix your routes out and back to get the times that suit you best.
http://www.brittany-ferries.co.uk/routes

[Blues]

Dover - Boulogne. less than 2 hours and £40 return on LD Lines

[//j17]

Ditch the over-night at Chichester and take the night crossing from Portsmouth to Le Havre/Cean - who cares if it's 7 hours if your drinking/asleep?

[alman]

Aii Portsmouth to Caen i'd say mate, last two years have done Dover-Boulogne and while quick and cheap all that means is an extra few hours of boring autoroute and Rouen to navigate. Waste an extra few hours drinking on a boat and get off with about three hours to Le Mans.

[Blues]

alman said:

Aii Portsmouth to Caen i'd say mate, last two years have done Dover-Boulogne and while quick and cheap all that means is an extra few hours of boring autoroute and Rouen to navigate. Waste an extra few hours drinking on a boat and get off with about three hours to Le Mans.

It gives you a great opportunity to drive West along the coastal route, along superb looking B roads, and totally avoid Rouen. It ads a few miles to the journey, but will be quicker. The drive down there, avoiding the motorways, is part of the whole experience for us.
Besides, a few hours drinkling on the boat is no good if you are driving at the other end.

[alman]

True i was thinking overnight ferry-few drinks in bar then relaxing sleep (maybe even a shower) then feel fresh for the first day, though those coast roads sound fun. Guess i just went for the obvious route down the autoroutes, might try your suggestion next time (definitely never doing Rouen again though! nearly got lost last time :S).

[lowdrag]

There's also the Poole to St. Malo route which is pretty quick too. As said above, I prefer the overnight route either by LD lines (cheaper than Brittany Ferries) from Portsmouth to Le Havre or Portsmouth Caen with Brittany Ferries. Take a cabin, relax, get off the boat at sparrow's fart and a gentle drive down in under three hours. Dearer, but better. The alternative is the new high speed ferry from Dover to Boulogne by LD Lines but I'm not sure if that will be up and running in time for Le Mans.

The problem is mixing speed with cheap fares. Remember that it is 125 miles from Caen to the circuit, about 150 from Le Havre but over 300 from Calais. It's a trade off between price and the extra mileage, wear and tear and petrol costs.

[//j17]

alman said:

True i was thinking overnight ferry-few drinks in bar then relaxing sleep (maybe even a shower) then feel fresh for the first day...

Naa, the best plan is:
1) Beer.
2) Sleep.
3) Panic when alarm goes 'an hour before disembarcation' to realise you forgot to change your watch from UK to French time (due to #1).