We're using the Newcastle/Amsterdam ferry this week for first time. Means only 288 miles from home instead of 660 miles to Portsmouth or Dover. Got quotes from Superfast but way too expensive. DFDS only £250 return for car and caravan including 2 berth outside cabin.
Jan
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Hi Vangoman.I know what you mean about the distance,I used to regularly do plymouth to aberdeen about four times a yearand it used to take about 15 hours including stops and that was in the 80's so the roads should be better now There is a site just outside plymouth at smithaleighwhich usually advertises itself as a stopover for the ferry .I believe the ferry runs to roscoff overnight so that could be a help for a break,and the ferry port is well signposted from the a38with about 3 different routesthrough the city and the way back out is just a reverse of the route in
I'm going on the 19th July this year. Superfast Rosyth - Zeebrugge, overnight near Honfleur then on to Brittany next day. Yes the ferry is quite expensive, as mentioned above, but all in with 25 nights campsite fees, the bottom line is about £2000, a damn site cheaper than a fortnight on the Costas. Also with the price of diesel it makes sense for the car to be tucked up on the car deck of the ferry for 600-700 miles rather than burning fuel.
You know, the more I think about it the more it would make sense to me for you to have your overnight stop on the ferry, VangoMan, then get on down to the Loire on the next day. Why go to a Travel Lodge or unpack all your kit for a one-nighter? I bet your teenagers would enjoy the ferry. There's very nice food, a show and the cabins are comfortable, if small. It's a change of pace but you're still travelling. Make it part of the holiday.
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cant understand why rosyth ferry is soooo expensive, for us newcastle or hull are both a very long way. we are lucky hubby has long holidays so were stayed over in england on both legs.
although we were with eurocamp type company we had 1st week in Berny Rivière (Camping la Croix du Vieux Pont). good location and easy drive from calais though we were in caravan, seem to remember tents were under trees, which was awful as it rained all week! Quite a lot to do around here but no where near beaches!
------------- Annie :)
Its better to regret things you've done than things you have never tried
One thing I forgot to mention apart from youngest being just over 2 next year is that the oldest (13yrs) is not a good traveller.My daughter/hubbie and the 3 girls have been to Cornwall/Devon for their last 3 holidays and made an overnight stop both ways because of this.They have tried everything but they still have to stop a few times for her to be physically sick.
If it was just the OH and myself we would drive without stopping apart fom the usual breaks.Also as has been mentioned it would give us more time in France. I have used channel ferries before but I was heading in the other direction my eventual destination being Romania.
Thanks for all the replies,really helps when trying to plan your holiday,all inputs very welcome...regards
------------- It is a wise man who has something to say.
It is a fool who has to say something.
Quote: Originally posted by VangoMan02 on 17/6/2008
One thing I forgot to mention apart from youngest being just over 2 next year is that the oldest (13yrs) is not a good traveller.My daughter/hubbie and the 3 girls have been to Cornwall/Devon for their last 3 holidays and made an overnight stop both ways because of this.They have tried everything but they still have to stop a few times for her to be physically sick.
Puking kids I do understand. My eldest used to be sick within an hour of leaving home and keepo going till we got there. The only things that helped even a little were (a) letting him have the front seat (in which case I got sick instead, but hey, I'm an adult and expected to cope, lol) and (b) Seabands. And not letting him read or play a gameboy in the car, but to look out the window and listen to story tapes instead.
But bottom line was that he still puked nearly as much whatever we did. If we tried to go slower or break the journey he would still puke the same number of times, so we just made as little fuss as possible about it. We gave him a bucket and taught him to do it neatly, then concentrated on getting there as quickly as possible.
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I think when kids are little the sickness is worse - you can try raising their seats to make sure their eyelevel is above the window (good excuse to pack loads of blankets under them?)
On a ferry you could always dose them up with travel sickness pills which make you sleepy and then they might sleep away a lot of the journey. Thats what I did when we did the 'long' crossings, slept the whole journey bar 10 mins at each end. In fact the sickness pills which were actually like fruit gums made me so tired I slept all the way from Portsmouth to Cherbourg on the ferry and most of the way from Cherbourgh to Des Ormes when we got off - hubby NOT chuffed as I was supposed to be driving and he ended up entertaining the kids for the whole ferry journey and having to do the entire drive as I felt too groggy to be safe. This wouldn't be a problem with kids though as they could just sleep - so if you have got a long journey, whichever way you travel, it might be worth asking the GP for an anti-sickness that is OK for kids but that also contains a sedative.
Have you tried 'Travella' - a homoeopathic remedy for travel sickness. We had heard bad reports about the Seacat we were going to Holland on being notorious for travel sickness, so I bought some. We tried it on the outward journey, which was not too bad, and had no problems. On our return within minutes it was apparent that it was going to be a very rough crossing. We took some Travella and were the only ones not green and still standing up.
A little girl next to us, was suffering severely from sickness, and was absolutely green. Her Dutch mother got into discussion about what we had taken, remarking that we were the only ones still smiling. I offered her some Travella, and the little girl took whatever the recommended dose was - and within 15 minutes was absolutely fine. Mum couldn't believe it - and said that as soon as she landed at Harwich she was going to the nearest Boots to get some Travella, as for 9 years her little girl had suffered severe travel sickness. I've recommended it to others since, including my sister in law, who started to suffer travel sickness after chemotherapy treatment, and she too now swears by it.
apologies if this reply is late, but I notice that you mentioned 12 - 13 year olds. Look at Ty Nadan (castels site). We have 2 girls 12 & 15, and we only saw them when they were hungry!! this site has it all for kids, football, riding, kayaking, quads the lot.
------------- Regards, B.
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Amazing family weekend with old steam engines, classic car displays, market stalls, and full catering and bar. And camping on site - Save £25 by booking in advance.
Topic: Scotland-France
