Northern France Holiday

hollydays

Moto2 wrote: »

It's not that dear
Generally you can get a car +4 on the Portsmouth -LeHavre sailing for less that £300 return in the summer

As its overnight do you have to book a cabin also?

pollypenny

Another vote for Brittany. With two teenagers, I'd go for a camp site with a pool and other teenagers. They'll soon make friends.

Our two are fluent in French after camping every year from the time they were 5 and 2.

Moto2

hollydays wrote: »

As its overnight do you have to book a cabin also?

No, you can book a reclining seat for a few quid
I'd prefer a cabin, but if money is tight ....

AlexMac

hollydays wrote: »

As its overnight do you have to book a cabin also?

Hi hollydays,
Dunno whether you have to, but in our view, the £100 or so each way for a decent cabin is well worth it, and if you time it right, can not only enhance the holiday experience but add to the mileage/range, and/or lessen the strain of driving the next day. Especially if you are starting from or going back to a destination several hours drive from Portsmouth.

Case in point; when we were bounced off the 24-hour Santander Crossing (by the breakdown this May of the Pont Aven ferry), we accepted the alternative of a 7-hour overnighter to Caen, then driving to Cantabria. The 10pm or thereabouts sailing meant we had to set off a day earlier than planned, but after a luxurious pic-nic on board and decent bottle of wine (both courtesy of our local supermarket!) we slept like babes, were on the road by 7 or 8am, thrashed it for 5 hours then stopped at lunch time in beautiful La Rochelle, mid-way down the Atlantic coast.

Another early 4-5 hours next day took us almost to the border at Biarritz; again in a BF hotel. We prefer not to drive more than 5 hours a day, cause that way, the interim stop-offs are really part of the holiday not just a slog.

Whereas a night in a recliner without a shower, or a day on board so you's have to start driving late in France would be no fun to my mind...

We once did that inadvertently by turning up for a return overnight ferry without a booking; to find all the cabins full; and it was no way to end the holiday; almost worse than the Ryanair red-eyes!

hollydays

AlexMac wrote: »

Hi hollydays,
Dunno whether you have to, but in our view, the £100 or so each way for a decent cabin is well worth it, and if you time it right, can not only enhance the holiday experience but add to the mileage/range, and/or lessen the strain of driving the next day. Especially if you are starting from or going back to a destination several hours drive from Portsmouth.

Case in point; when we were bounced off the 24-hour Santander Crossing (by the breakdown this May of the Pont Aven ferry), we accepted the alternative of a 7-hour overnighter to Caen, then driving to Cantabria. The 10pm or thereabouts sailing meant we had to set off a day earlier than planned, but after a luxurious pic-nic on board and decent bottle of wine (both courtesy of our local supermarket!) we slept like babes, were on the road by 7 or 8am, thrashed it for 5 hours then stopped at lunch time in beautiful La Rochelle, mid-way down the Atlantic coast.

Another early 4-5 hours next day took us almost to the border at Biarritz; again in a BF hotel. We prefer not to drive more than 5 hours a day, cause that way, the interim stop-offs are really part of the holiday not just a slog.

Whereas a night in a recliner without a shower, or a day on board so you's have to start driving late in France would be no fun to my mind...

We once did that inadvertently by turning up for a return overnight ferry without a booking; to find all the cabins full; and it was no way to end the holiday; almost worse than the Ryanair red-eyes!

I was asking for the op really, as if this is a last minute thing, cabins tend to get booked up, plus it's more expense. I've always booked cabins, and I've I've spare dosh il book a daytime one too-in fact I wish every crossing was overnight .
I personally couldn't handle sleeping in the main area.

Kynthia

With a toddler in tow I decided to book the premier cabin for tge daytime sailing back. It was great! We could keep her contained as she was at that run everywhere constantly stage, we all had a nap as she'd been unwell and kept us up tge night before (typical when you have a long journey the next morning), a fridge for her milk and complimentary cold drinks and macaroni, cbeebies on the tv along with some Disney films on loop, plus a dvd player to put on her distraction dvds. Definitely made the long crossing feel quicker and we only had a 2 hour drive once we disembarked. So much better than spending 8 hours in the car.

It's not necessary to book a room on the daytime crossing though as the ferried doing the long crossings have a cinema, restaurant, piano bar, games room, some shops and lots of seating. Plus you can book you own reclining seats for somewhere guaranteed where you can relax and maybe get some peace and quiet. I have a feeling France will be somewhere we go a few times for family holidays over the next decade.

Moto2

hollydays wrote: »

I was asking for the op really, as if this is a last minute thing, cabins tend to get booked up ............

They do indeed
We struggled to get cabins on the Santander crossing we took at the beginning of July, even though we booked last October.
We got what we needed in the end only due to a cancellation

isplumm

Hi

I would suggest my place - but that is in the Loire Valley - 3 hours south of St Malo.

If you are looking to book for this August, then the chances of getting a cabin I suspect are slim to none!

As well as Portsmouth to St. Malo / Cherbourg / Le Havre, LD Lines go from Newhaven to Dieppe.

But at this time of year, these routes will be expensive - so it might be worth looking at the Eurotunnel - which according to them, the delays are not too bad - going late at night will give you decent price.

Driving in France is fairly easy - so go for it!

Look at https://www.cheznous.com for gites.

Anyway if you are interested in our gite (it has 1 ensuite king downstairs, 1 twin / 1 king upstairs with another shower room, a large lounge, airy kitchen / diner, and a sunny garden) contact me direct (not allowed to advertise here).

Mark

Barter

If you've got any Tesco Vouchers you can book Eurotunnel with them for a third of the price. Well worthwhile as far as I'm concerned!

maman

hollydays wrote: »

As its overnight do you have to book a cabin also?

IIRC when we booked a Brittany ferries holiday with the outward sailing from St Malo a cabin was included in the price. It was in May so not high season.


We chose to return via Caen so an evening crossing back and no need for a cabin.