Hi everyone, looking ahead here for a spring time trip to France.
We're in campervan and would like some opinions on the best route/s for access on and off the ferries e.g. which routes DON'T have a horrible ramp up to the ferry. (Both of us aren't brill with heights and had a grim experience at Caen a few years ago!)
Just to complicate matters, we don't want Dover/Calais or Newhaven as the journey via the SE is a bit rubbish from up here.
We've been told that Plymouth/Roscoff is a good one - by someone who last used the route 5+ years ago though - is that still the case?
All help muchly appreciated : )
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Not wanting to use South East ports (We also don`t like using those) The only options open for you are with Brittany Ferries. We have sailed from all of Brittany ferries ports without any issues with ramps, we recently returned from Caen to Portsmouth without issue in our 6m Ducato PVC.
Portsmouth and Poole are easy to get to, using Plymouth the M5 can be busy in the summer. Our favourite route is the Poole Cherbourg.
I would recommend a day cabin on all routes, as you can shower and get a rest during the crossing.
Done Plymouth to Roscoff many times and always the over night service. Very good but expensive crossing with no ramps, just straight on and off. Only caveat is that it arrives a little too early especially with the hour added on. The usual ship is the Amorique which is a medium size ship and on some crossings you get their flagship The Pont Aven . I reckon 99% of passengers head straight off and hit the road but if you did this crossing just take a little time out and go into Roscoff itself , it really is a beautiful little town.
Presuming that by 'horrible ramp' you mean the ones that take you up to a higher deck direct from the dockside?
If so I dont recall any port ones at Caen but you could get this internally to the boat on many crossings.
So far as options then, for France, its going to be BF. We live just over 30 miles from Plymouth so that is our first choice and we last used it in June.
We always travel on the Pont Aven, overnight, to start the holiday with a lovely meal in the restaurant-not cheap but the buffet starters and deserts are amazing.
Loading is via one ramp from the dockside and, while you would probably be on the deck at that level, some lower height vans can be on the higher deck but, so far as I am aware, this is done by raising the deck hydraulically once its full.
Yes prices are not cheap, but from what I read on this and other forum that seems to apply to all crossings now and, like you the SE ports are avoided as the trip there from Cornwall can be horrendous-and thats before the type of problems they had this year.
I book using a BF code supplied by another forum user and that gives me 10% off so helps.
The arrival times for the overnight changed from 0800 to 0630 this year and that meant a 0530 alarm call for us which, as you are arriving in France is 0430 GMT!!
Mind you, we are always amazed how many people are tucking into a breakfast even at this time.
The roads away from the port are good-its app 7.5 miles till its a dual carriageway and the same to the N12 main route.
Roscoff is a pretty town, but at 0630 may not appeal, but we prefer St Pol De Leon where there is more parking, supermarkets and fuel, and its equally as nice, but Morlaix is a lovely place as well.
For us its straight to the N12, and my often repeated comment of "someone has shut the gate" as the lack of traffic compared to the UK is very noticeable.
There are numerous big supermarkets along the main routes so fuel and rest stops is no problem.
We tow and this year we made it to Annecy using just one small piece of toll road so that also helps to keep costs down.
------------- Allan
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Our favourite crossing is BF - Poole/Cherbourg. Gave up on the SE ferries quite a few years ago. Not exactly cheap but not so bad with Club Voyage membership which we had for several years now. ( shame about the change in benefits for new members though).
The ships used on this route are usually the Pont Aven and the Armorique.
As said there is no external ramp but there are different levels of vehicle deck inside. Both ships have an internal ramp to one of the car decks but they're not scary as they're very wide. Having said that the car decks up the ramp are quite low so we've only usually seen cars on them due to the height and hopefully with a van you'd be on the lower deck, which is a straight drive on/off.
If you are really worried and want to see them in advance there are several videos on You Tube showing embarkation, including the internal ramps, for both ships. Just Google 'driving on to (name of ship)' and browse through them.
Both ships are spacious and well maintained and have a choice of cabins or
reclining seats recommended for overnight crossings, though to be honest we go for a cabin every time. They both have restaurants and bars etc and we find them very comfortable.
We like the Saturday night ferry from Plymouth as, which leaves at 10.00pm but doesn't dock in Roscoff until 10.15am on the Sunday morning as opposed to 8.00am or even earlier on other days, giving plenty of time to get up and have a leisurely breakfast on board. There's also a daytime crossing once or twice a week.
The one thing I would warn about is that the border facilities at Plymouth are quite slow as there are only 2 booths on exit, which can cause quite long delays at very busy times boarding due to the vehicles disembarking being held up, and getting out of the port on the way back.
"We like the Saturday night ferry from Plymouth as, which leaves at 10.00pm but doesn't dock in Roscoff until 10.15am on the Sunday morning as opposed to 8.00am or even earlier on other days, giving plenty of time to get up and have a leisurely breakfast on board. There's also a daytime crossing once or twice a week."
We like to use the Pont Aven as it has a proper restaurant, the departure time means you are not eating at a very late hour, and arriving in the morning gives us a full day for onward travel.
It sometime surprises people that a night crossing, and having to book a cabin, can be same as a day crossing-the Friday morning is £60 more but you don't need a cabin-however, the Saturday night is £75 more than the Tuesday night.
------------- Allan
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I do recall that there was an external ramp at Caen but it was fairly wide, I coped with it fine (even in the dark), and I'm not great with heights. We haven't used that crossing in over five years so I don't know what it's like now.
The crossing we've used most commonly is the Portsmouth/St Malo crossing. For us, there are no high ramps but we're in a motorhome which comes in at just under 3m, we're always on the lower deck, I can't say where your combination would end up.
We too always use night crossings with a cabin, it wastes less time, we look forward to the meals on board, the self service restaurant has great food and we consider it good value. The à la carte restaurant is a real treat especially if you go for the buffet starters and desserts.
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Topic: French ferry ports...ease of on/off acces
via mobile 13/12/2022 at 6:04pm
