Portsmouth to Cherbourg ferry

[Peter_1980]

Gents,

I have been getting the dover to calais or dunkerque ferry since 2003 and sadly the drive isnt what it used to be thanks to le gendarmes, so have been looking into alternatives.

The drive from Cherbourg looks nice and short. I am sure there are people on here that do that route.

My question is, what is the driving time from Cherbourg to Le Mans? 2/3 hours?

I also assume that the fast ferry gets booked up quick? Brittany ferries dont seem to let you book for June online. Is this any different over the phone do you know?

Many thanks in advance.

Peter

[johnhere]

Portsmouth to Le Harve is even a quicker drive, (2.5 hours) its an overnight ferry leaves 11pm Portsmouth arrives 8am French time.
Costs more than the quicker ferries but far more relaxed and the bar is full of race goers.

[spoonies]

johnhere said:

Portsmouth to Le Harve is even a quicker drive, (2.5 hours) its an overnight ferry leaves 11pm Portsmouth arrives 8am French time.
Costs more than the quicker ferries but far more relaxed and the bar is full of race goers.

Shhhhhhh

[nick francis]

We went on the overnight Portsmouth to St Malo, nice sailing and it docks at 8 am, I seem to recall getting to Le Mans about 11:30ish, very nice run with NO sightings of gendarmes en route

We returned on the Cherbourg to Poole fast ferry. Left circuit at 6 am and got to the port at 9 am , 2 1/2 hrs before the ship sailed!! Again we saw NO police at all.

Timings were perfect for us and would recommend

Nick

[lowdrag]

If you take the Cherbourg route avoid the crowds and take the St. Lo and Mayenne roads to Le Mans. Scenic, no BIB and a relaxing run.

[nick francis]

Waiting to board the ferry at Cherbourg they had organised 2 separate waiting areas for the vehicles, sports and exotica one side and family saloons, SUVs etc on the other.

[Peter_1980]

Thanks all for the advice.

Def looks like the way to go rather than the slog from Calais.

Peter

[stevetav]

we have always gone portsmouth to caen, - less than 2.5 hours to lemans down the old road, no police seen this year...

and the cost was just £125 return for the car +2 people.

[RVVUNM]

We always do Portsmouth / Caen 23.45 on a Tues night, few beers then cabin for the night, land at 7am and a brisk drive down arriving at 11.00. Total mileage from Bristol to Le Mans 500 miles, via Dover the mileage goes up to 1000 miles so a saving of 500 miles at 15 MPG = approx £165 in fuel saved for the higher ferry cost.

[TonySim]

You can book Brittany Ferries for next June now by using the French site. The layout is the same as the UK so check out the fields and go ahead and book.

[Peter_1980]

brilliant. cheers for that gem.

[HereBeMonsters]

I was planning on this route for next year, but worried about sea sickness. I'll usually spend the last half of any Dover-Calais ferry journey spewing up, so thinking an overnight may not be the best idea. Is the Portsmouth-Cherbourg boat big enough not to be affected by the miniscule channel waves?

[lowdrag]

The big boats used by LD Lines (Portsmouth Le Havre) and Brittany Ferries (Portsmouth Caen or St. Malo) are big boats and yes, I have felt it rocking but only force 8 or above so it has to be pretty rough to even feel it. A tip for those of you booking on LD; I've found that sometimes the price differs greatly between the english site (www.ldline.co.uk) and the French site (www.ldlines.fr) I've used them three times in the last month and the saving was over £100 one time.

[Stirlings]

TonySim said:

You can book Brittany Ferries for next June now by using the French site. The layout is the same as the UK so check out the fields and go ahead and book.

Just tried and it only shows this years sailings

[baron bashoneov]

We used the Poole - Cherbourg route this year

Fast ferry was there in 3 hours.

The drive down was fantastic, a must, went to Cherbourg for the very same
reason as the OP.

Certainly an option to be considered, although the ferry costs were high £280.00 per motor.

[daveinbracknell]

We always go Newhaven to Dieppe

Really easy route, quiet and the ferry is the cheapest.

[RedexR]

We used the new ferry to Boulonge the Norman Arrow - Dover to Boulonge in less than an hour - http://www.ldlines.co.uk/norman-arrow.html the French love it so much (as it puts their other lines to shame) they are now regularly blocking the port exit to hold up us Brits , this went down a storm at LM time , the Gendarmes just stood by observing us finding any gaps in the picket line (a few angry French militant leaders jumping onto bonnets in the excitement) , protesting against any form of modernisation seems to be in the French constitution , its just a shame this interferes with our passion to attend the biggest race meet on the planet.

Edited by RedexR on Monday 21st September 09:11

[Slurms]

We've always done the overnight crossings from either portsmouth or poole..

The bar atmosphere is normally superb - with the obvious exception of the poor people who aren't going to Le Mans who have no idea whats happened to their peaceful overnight crossing.

[Rolls]

stevetav said:

we have always gone portsmouth to caen, - less than 2.5 hours to lemans down the old road, no police seen this year...

and the cost was just £125 return for the car +2 people.

How on earth was it so cheap? - mine was 300 quid rrturn IIRC - that was for the overnighter tuesday evening, and the return late afternoon Monday....

[marcosgt]

Yes - We used to do this, but when it went over £300 we started going Dover-Calais.

Would love to go back to Portsmouth-Caen.

M.