Sorry - another Spanish trip!
Discussion
Rather than reinvent the wheel (or perhaps just laziness), I am wondering if anyone has recommendations for hotels/stopping points/routes from either Santander area of Spain to the Costa Blanca or alternatively via Calais and through France? Hotels with accessible and safe parking usually better to seek recommendation than spending hours on google as one man's "safe' and 'accessible' can mean many different things, particularly to non-petrolheads.
Plan is to run the Exige down to Costa Blanca at some stage this year. The trip will be split in two insofar as car will be left down in Spain for a few months before doing the trip in reverse. Might do Santander one way on the overnight crossing and Calais the other way back.
Plan is to run the Exige down to Costa Blanca at some stage this year. The trip will be split in two insofar as car will be left down in Spain for a few months before doing the trip in reverse. Might do Santander one way on the overnight crossing and Calais the other way back.
It’s about 500 miles from Santander to the Costa Blanca, there’s a lovely old parador in Lerma in the main square that’s about 200 miles from the port south of Burgos I’ve used a few times
I’m going Portsmouth-Santander rtn in July for just over £1k ( car x2 pax ) fully flexible ticket leaves fri night arrives sun morning, back on a Saturday morning arrives Sunday teatime
It’s what 1200 miles Calais to Costa Blanca so you save yourself 1400 miles of driving
It’s a personal choice I guess, I have previously ambled down through France to Spain using back roads and taking 4/5 days which is part of the holiday and experience and somewhat different to slogging down the toll roads
When I worked it out for me it was cheaper going on the ferry rather than via the Chunnel + petrol + hotels + tolls + food etc
I’m going Portsmouth-Santander rtn in July for just over £1k ( car x2 pax ) fully flexible ticket leaves fri night arrives sun morning, back on a Saturday morning arrives Sunday teatime
It’s what 1200 miles Calais to Costa Blanca so you save yourself 1400 miles of driving
It’s a personal choice I guess, I have previously ambled down through France to Spain using back roads and taking 4/5 days which is part of the holiday and experience and somewhat different to slogging down the toll roads
When I worked it out for me it was cheaper going on the ferry rather than via the Chunnel + petrol + hotels + tolls + food etc
It's all down to whether your primary focus is cost, time, or having fun on the way (which includes having one or more specific places you're keen to visit)
Brittany Ferries to Spain are very much a mixed bag. The Portsmouth <-> Santander / Bilbao crossings use the new LNG powered boats. They may be modern and efficient, but they're nowhere near as nice as the older boats, and they're a lot slower too. From the UK, it's 2 nights on board and there are only 3 spacious cabins on each boat which book up really quickly. Onboard catering isn't brilliant either, but there is the Commodore Lounge which goes someway towards compensating for the main restaurant.
Plymouth <-> Santander is still the Pont Aven, which does the crossing in less than 24 hours, has a good selection of spacious cabins (including a bunch with private balconies) and the onboard catering is much better.
It's also worth considering Portsmouth <-> St. Malo - it's a very easy 7 hour drive (and partly toll free dual carriageway) from St. Malo down to San Sebastian - which is always my starting point when driving to Spain. It's 8pm -> 8am, onboard catering is decent, as is choice of cabins and the crossing is long enough to get a decent nights sleep. Coming back you need to do it on a Tuesday - that's the only day the homebound crossing is overnight.
As for places to stay then I would do San Sebastian or Logrono or both. They're not really "en route" and neither is ideal for breaking up the journey, but they're both fabulous places to spend a couple of nights. The Sansebay in San Sebastian has it's own private underground car park - access via a lift. A Lotus Exige should fit fine. The Aurelia Palace in Logrono has a similar arrangement.
Despite all of the above, we're doing Plymouth -> Santander outbound and then Santander -> Portsmouth inbound, but we're going for 6 weeks and driving the entire perimeter (more or less) of both Spain and Portugal, so I didn't fancy adding on any extra driving. Brittany Ferries have recently introduced priority disembarkation, which I am hoping will have a positive impact on the border control queues at Portsmouth, but I can't specifically recommend it as I haven't tried it yet. I haven't been on ALL 4 of the new LNG powered boats either, but I've been on 2 of them and studied the website enough to know that the other 2 are pretty much identical.
Brittany Ferries to Spain are very much a mixed bag. The Portsmouth <-> Santander / Bilbao crossings use the new LNG powered boats. They may be modern and efficient, but they're nowhere near as nice as the older boats, and they're a lot slower too. From the UK, it's 2 nights on board and there are only 3 spacious cabins on each boat which book up really quickly. Onboard catering isn't brilliant either, but there is the Commodore Lounge which goes someway towards compensating for the main restaurant.
Plymouth <-> Santander is still the Pont Aven, which does the crossing in less than 24 hours, has a good selection of spacious cabins (including a bunch with private balconies) and the onboard catering is much better.
It's also worth considering Portsmouth <-> St. Malo - it's a very easy 7 hour drive (and partly toll free dual carriageway) from St. Malo down to San Sebastian - which is always my starting point when driving to Spain. It's 8pm -> 8am, onboard catering is decent, as is choice of cabins and the crossing is long enough to get a decent nights sleep. Coming back you need to do it on a Tuesday - that's the only day the homebound crossing is overnight.
As for places to stay then I would do San Sebastian or Logrono or both. They're not really "en route" and neither is ideal for breaking up the journey, but they're both fabulous places to spend a couple of nights. The Sansebay in San Sebastian has it's own private underground car park - access via a lift. A Lotus Exige should fit fine. The Aurelia Palace in Logrono has a similar arrangement.
Despite all of the above, we're doing Plymouth -> Santander outbound and then Santander -> Portsmouth inbound, but we're going for 6 weeks and driving the entire perimeter (more or less) of both Spain and Portugal, so I didn't fancy adding on any extra driving. Brittany Ferries have recently introduced priority disembarkation, which I am hoping will have a positive impact on the border control queues at Portsmouth, but I can't specifically recommend it as I haven't tried it yet. I haven't been on ALL 4 of the new LNG powered boats either, but I've been on 2 of them and studied the website enough to know that the other 2 are pretty much identical.
Strange how people have different takes on it
I find getting to Plymouth an absolute ballache compared to Portsmouth
I’ve been on pont aven twice now and find it quite tired and old fashioned and with noisy cabins and not the best public areas, the bar is noisy and cramped and the swimming pool in the middle of it !
Sure it has a nice al a carte restaurant but at a price tbf
I’ve also done the spain run on another ship the Connemara which was just pure evil
The new ships I really like, they are smart, with great public areas, they are quiet and don’t vibrate and the outside space is brilliant
I had no issues with the food onboard at all
I’ve been on two of them now and had really lovely two berth en suite cabins with large TV’s and on demand videos plus U.K. channels/wifi in the cabin as opposed to just the bar area
They might take about 6 hours longer to get to Santander but I find getting there at 8am is brilliant as you are fresh for the day. Coming back I think the journey is shorter leaving at lunchtime and getting back to Portsmouth at teatime next day
The timings work for me and maybe they go slower outbound to facilitate a better arrival time
As I say it’s horses for courses but I think the pont aven is feeling its age now and I quite like the new boats
I find getting to Plymouth an absolute ballache compared to Portsmouth
I’ve been on pont aven twice now and find it quite tired and old fashioned and with noisy cabins and not the best public areas, the bar is noisy and cramped and the swimming pool in the middle of it !
Sure it has a nice al a carte restaurant but at a price tbf
I’ve also done the spain run on another ship the Connemara which was just pure evil
The new ships I really like, they are smart, with great public areas, they are quiet and don’t vibrate and the outside space is brilliant
I had no issues with the food onboard at all
I’ve been on two of them now and had really lovely two berth en suite cabins with large TV’s and on demand videos plus U.K. channels/wifi in the cabin as opposed to just the bar area
They might take about 6 hours longer to get to Santander but I find getting there at 8am is brilliant as you are fresh for the day. Coming back I think the journey is shorter leaving at lunchtime and getting back to Portsmouth at teatime next day
The timings work for me and maybe they go slower outbound to facilitate a better arrival time
As I say it’s horses for courses but I think the pont aven is feeling its age now and I quite like the new boats
Edited by Earthdweller on Monday 25th March 18:12
I haven’t been on the Pont Aven for a number of years, but did enjoy it on our last trip. I was far less keen on the Cap Finistre travelling from Santander. Especially the car decks where the parking was just hideously tight.
The Portsmouth to St. Malo route is good, although personally even with an outside cabin, I don’t sleep that well and wouldn’t want to drive much further than Royan down the coast.
For overnight hotels with secure parking, I recommend the Novotel or Ibis Styles. When travelling to Spain via Calais we always stop at the Novotel at Clermont Ferand as it’s not far from the autoroute and has a pleasant bar, restaurant and pool. The next day you’ll be fully refreshed for the drive over the Pyrenees.
Just be very careful parking in France as flinging car doors open (especially by unsupervised children with couldn’t care less parents) is unfortunately the norm with zero regard for your pride and joy.
The Portsmouth to St. Malo route is good, although personally even with an outside cabin, I don’t sleep that well and wouldn’t want to drive much further than Royan down the coast.
For overnight hotels with secure parking, I recommend the Novotel or Ibis Styles. When travelling to Spain via Calais we always stop at the Novotel at Clermont Ferand as it’s not far from the autoroute and has a pleasant bar, restaurant and pool. The next day you’ll be fully refreshed for the drive over the Pyrenees.
Just be very careful parking in France as flinging car doors open (especially by unsupervised children with couldn’t care less parents) is unfortunately the norm with zero regard for your pride and joy.
Shnozz said:
Rather than reinvent the wheel (or perhaps just laziness), I am wondering if anyone has recommendations for hotels/stopping points/routes from either Santander area of Spain to the Costa Blanca or alternatively via Calais and through France? Hotels with accessible and safe parking usually better to seek recommendation than spending hours on google as one man's "safe' and 'accessible' can mean many different things, particularly to non-petrolheads.
Plan is to run the Exige down to Costa Blanca at some stage this year. The trip will be split in two insofar as car will be left down in Spain for a few months before doing the trip in reverse. Might do Santander one way on the overnight crossing and Calais the other way back.
Hotel chais Monet in cognac superb stopover if coming through France.Plan is to run the Exige down to Costa Blanca at some stage this year. The trip will be split in two insofar as car will be left down in Spain for a few months before doing the trip in reverse. Might do Santander one way on the overnight crossing and Calais the other way back.
Hotel Spa Aguas de los Mallos was ok stop over
La Bella Farga superb as a 1-2 night stop over
bennno said:
Shnozz said:
Rather than reinvent the wheel (or perhaps just laziness), I am wondering if anyone has recommendations for hotels/stopping points/routes from either Santander area of Spain to the Costa Blanca or alternatively via Calais and through France? Hotels with accessible and safe parking usually better to seek recommendation than spending hours on google as one man's "safe' and 'accessible' can mean many different things, particularly to non-petrolheads.
Plan is to run the Exige down to Costa Blanca at some stage this year. The trip will be split in two insofar as car will be left down in Spain for a few months before doing the trip in reverse. Might do Santander one way on the overnight crossing and Calais the other way back.
Hotel chais Monet in cognac superb stopover if coming through France.Plan is to run the Exige down to Costa Blanca at some stage this year. The trip will be split in two insofar as car will be left down in Spain for a few months before doing the trip in reverse. Might do Santander one way on the overnight crossing and Calais the other way back.
Hotel Spa Aguas de los Mallos was ok stop over
La Bella Farga superb as a 1-2 night stop over
Shnozz said:
bennno said:
Shnozz said:
Rather than reinvent the wheel (or perhaps just laziness), I am wondering if anyone has recommendations for hotels/stopping points/routes from either Santander area of Spain to the Costa Blanca or alternatively via Calais and through France? Hotels with accessible and safe parking usually better to seek recommendation than spending hours on google as one man's "safe' and 'accessible' can mean many different things, particularly to non-petrolheads.
Plan is to run the Exige down to Costa Blanca at some stage this year. The trip will be split in two insofar as car will be left down in Spain for a few months before doing the trip in reverse. Might do Santander one way on the overnight crossing and Calais the other way back.
Hotel chais Monet in cognac superb stopover if coming through France.Plan is to run the Exige down to Costa Blanca at some stage this year. The trip will be split in two insofar as car will be left down in Spain for a few months before doing the trip in reverse. Might do Santander one way on the overnight crossing and Calais the other way back.
Hotel Spa Aguas de los Mallos was ok stop over
La Bella Farga superb as a 1-2 night stop over
Time goes very fast 30 to 50 in no time…..
bennno said:
Shnozz said:
Rather than reinvent the wheel (or perhaps just laziness), I am wondering if anyone has recommendations for hotels/stopping points/routes from either Santander area of Spain to the Costa Blanca or alternatively via Calais and through France? Hotels with accessible and safe parking usually better to seek recommendation than spending hours on google as one man's "safe' and 'accessible' can mean many different things, particularly to non-petrolheads.
Plan is to run the Exige down to Costa Blanca at some stage this year. The trip will be split in two insofar as car will be left down in Spain for a few months before doing the trip in reverse. Might do Santander one way on the overnight crossing and Calais the other way back.
Hotel chais Monet in cognac superb stopover if coming through France.Plan is to run the Exige down to Costa Blanca at some stage this year. The trip will be split in two insofar as car will be left down in Spain for a few months before doing the trip in reverse. Might do Santander one way on the overnight crossing and Calais the other way back.
Hotel Spa Aguas de los Mallos was ok stop over
La Bella Farga superb as a 1-2 night stop over
Will have to keep an eye on it, but it will lost its appeal if it now wants to target families with unkempt brats ruining the ambience we have previously enjoyed there, which would be a shame.
visitinglondon said:
Hotel Chais Monet is excellent although when we’re next down in that area they have a kids go free deal ( and I can’t think of a less kid friendly hotel (or, at least, a hotel that is surely designed to be adults only and should not allow children), but entitled parents will think different) so we’re avoiding it like the plague.
Will have to keep an eye on it, but it will lost its appeal if it now wants to target families with unkempt brats ruining the ambience we have previously enjoyed there, which would be a shame.
When we last used the hotel up the car park was rammed with classic Bugatti’s and Porsche beyond anything I’ve seen elsewhere.Will have to keep an eye on it, but it will lost its appeal if it now wants to target families with unkempt brats ruining the ambience we have previously enjoyed there, which would be a shame.
Vella farga was the biggest surprise of the lot, really special.
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