New Ferry to France (Launch Offer)

alastair

July 4

paddylonglegs wrote: »

Folks, I know there was a checklist going around a while ago. But for people that have been there and back this summer, anything that you found really handy while being away and being on the ferry. Specifically people that were on campsites, any tips for site?

We plan to stay in at nazaire the night we land and drive down the next morning

Chees!

I'd recommend the Best Western Express in St Nazaire for the overnight. Nice, new, small hotel with pleasant staff, well located for the ferry and the sights of the town. Parking is free in the public carpark outside at the weekend, and they've a secure underground carpark in the hotel that didn't cost us anything. It's a mite tight though. Stock up on snacks for the next day's drive in the adjacent Carrefour.

My tip would be to watch out for 'priority to the right' intersections. There's one on the way from the ferry port into St Nazaire - caught me out, as I was ignorant of them - cue angry beeping from driver behind me.

BenEadir

August 1

Johnny_Fontane wrote: »

There are ten of us (6 adults/4 kids) heading to the Loire, just south west of Tours. We've rented a big house, it looks pretty nice.
Then 4 days camping at the end in St. Jean de Monts.

Sounds fantastic. Enjoy.

galait

August 8

Regarding the Drive how is Enniscorthy traffic wise likey to be this evening + Bunclody

unkel

July 18

Allow plenty of time for traffic this evening, we left at 4PM leaving Dublin 3 weeks ago and were comfortable (with plenty of time to go out for dinner before checking in), but that was not a bank holiday weekend. And as said, there are delays in the road works where the new motorway is being built and in Enniscorthy and maybe some other places.

I used the Inrix app for traffic and it proved to be very accurate

Johnny_Fontane

August 8

unkel wrote: »

Allow plenty of time for traffic this evening, we left at 4PM leaving Dublin 3 weeks ago and were comfortable (with plenty of time to go out for dinner before checking in), but that was not a bank holiday weekend. And as said, there are delays in the road works where the new motorway is being built and in Enniscorthy and maybe some other places.

I used the Inrix app for traffic and it proved to be very accurate

thanks for that. Might actually take the other road down, through bunclody. probably 30 minutes slower but none of the hassle of the n11.

alias no.9

July 25

Johnny_Fontane wrote: »

Heading tonight, car packed, bike rack assembled, roof bag at the ready.

how bad will the N11 from dublin be tonight?

We traveled to Rosslare via the M7/M9/N80, joining up with the N11 just north of Eniscorthy. The N7/M7 carries it's own traffic risks but we were joining at Kingswood but depending on where in Dublin you're starting from, it could be a good option.

galait

August 8

alias no.9 wrote: »

We traveled to Rosslare via the M7/M9/N80, joining up with the N11 just north of Eniscorthy. The N7/M7 carries it's own traffic risks but we were joining at Kingswood but depending on where in Dublin you're starting from, it could be a good option.

I intend going this route as I am in Citywest , Did you have any delays along the way , I intend hitting the road @ 4 PM to-day . Cheers

Fred Swanson

This post has been deleted.

alias no.9

July 25

galait wrote: »

I intend going this route as I am in Citywest , Did you have any delays along the way , I intend hitting the road @ 4 PM to-day . Cheers

None whatsoever. This being a Friday of a bank holiday will most likely be different on the N7 approaching Naas. If the worst comes to the worst, get into the left lane and head on through Naas and Kilcullen and back onto the M9.

paddylonglegs

alastair wrote: »

I'd recommend the Best Western Express in St Nazaire for the overnight. Nice, new, small hotel with pleasant staff, well located for the ferry and the sights of the town. Parking is free in the public carpark outside at the weekend, and they've a secure underground carpark in the hotel that didn't cost us anything. It's a mite tight though. Stock up on snacks for the next day's drive in the adjacent Carrefour.

My tip would be to watch out for 'priority to the right' intersections. There's one on the way from the ferry port into St Nazaire - caught me out, as I was ignorant of them - cue angry beeping from driver behind me.

Great thanks for that, I'll check out BW hotel.

paddylonglegs

And of course in forgot to add that I'll have a 1 year old with (how could I forget my little angel!

So any tips on ferry or camping with the young un much appreciated

tom traubert

July 4

@paddylonglegs, and anyone else looking for "the list" I've pasted it in below. I first saw it posted by juneg in January on the "things to do in...." thread in the Travel forum. Apologies for my apparent inability to link.

Also, in relation to the soft play area mentioned in a few posts recently; don't rely on it being available for play. On one of our crossings it was occupied by a group of people and their sleeping bags, phones, tablets etc etc. The fact that there's powerpoints every metre or so along the wall there would suggest to me that it can also be designated as a sleeping area by management if required.

Safe sailing and happy holidays to all yet to travel.


[Pasted from another site: What to pack

Here again is "The List" - it's not the definitive list but it's a great starting point and always encourages great add ons!



Hi guys, thought it would be helpful to move this up. French supermarkets are great, you can get anything you need. The one next to our campsite even had an English section!

Just another tip that I found useful. I had a collapsible crate in the car for bits n bobs and it was so handy as a shoe basket(7 of us) during our hols, also the plastic box I brought for foodstuffs I used as a toy box! It meant things were not all around the floor. Remember the planning is so much part of the fun!

Last tip! I had brought plastic bowls n cups for the ferry but ended up using them for the entire hols. Didn't have to worry about breakages plus the bowls n plates were more suitable for the kids than the ones provided in the mobile!

I have read all the replies here and on other threads and here is The List. This List is for camping in France and travelling by ferry - obviously everyone will amend this list to suit themselves but it's a starting point!

The Ferry

*Snacks etc packed into a lunchbox in a cooler bag(both will be handy for picnicing)

*Drinks/Juices/Milk/Breakfast cereal/Bowls

*Deck of cards/colouring book/DS

*Overnight bag with pjs and change of clothes for everyone - have this bag very accessible in your car as you don't have long to exit the car deck and can't return.

For the Mobile Home

General

*tinfoil,clingfilm, freezer blocks, sharp knife, potato peeler, mugs,

*washing up liquid, handwash, detergent tabs, colour catcher sheets, clothes pegs, 1x toilet paper, soap, shower gel etc.

*2xteatowels, 2 x j-cloths, scrubber, bathmat(old hand towel), beach bag, picnic rug, bbq tools, matches, plug adapter

If you wish a radio, dvd player

Food

Teabags, coffee, ketchup. full salt cellar, favourite breakfast cereal, tins of baked beans/spaghetti, small olive oil, some packet mixes

Clothes

1 pair of runners, sandals, flipflops pps

4x shorts+ t-shirts, 2 x fleeces, 2 x 3/4 length trousers, 2 x swimwear,

and if room rainjacket and wellies.

First Aid

Suncream/Aftersun, Calpol/Nurofen/Paralink, plasters, germolene, antisceptic cream, insect repellent, thermometer, dry antibiotic(available from doctor)

If you can throw in tennis racquets + football

Was reminded about the car!

The Car

Breathalyser (from July)

Luminous Vest

Warning triangle

Number plate with EU logo

Motor insurance certificate

Headlamp converters for driving on the right

Drivers Licence

Recommended

Spare bulbs for external lights

Fire Extinguisher

First Aid Kit

Tips

Supermarkets may not be open on Sundays - hence be prepared for 1st night - food wise eg before you leave make a dinner, freeze then bring with you and dinner's covered.

Safes are available at reception

Check out sports store Decathlon - great value www.decathlon.fr

Research your area and have a list of "sunny" day trips and "rainy" day trips

Pack foodstufs into a box which you can then use on return journey for wine

With regard to washing I would try and only have to do two in 10 - 12 days. Is a bit of an all day event first you have to get a washing machine and then you have to be lucky to get the dryer ( weather didn't really allow for air drying) so you can end up making a few trips back n forth to the laundry to get the job done.

Then sit back relax and enjoy your holiday.

Hope you find this helpful

Fred Swanson

This post has been deleted.

unkel

July 18

alias no.9 wrote: »

We traveled to Rosslare via the M7/M9/N80, joining up with the N11 just north of Eniscorthy.

I thought of that as I'm in Lucan and it takes only about 45 minutes (with no traffic) to get to Carlow these days. Dismissed it though as the N80 was a brutally slow road the last time I was on it - admittedly many years ago. Is it better now?

Edit: just checked AA route planner and it is only 10km (and 18 minutes) more via M9/M80 to Rosslare for me (obviously without taking traffic / roadworks into account). Might try it next year

Bon voyage Johnny and others, you should be off in the next wee while!

alias no.9

July 25

unkel wrote: »

I thought of that as I'm in Lucan and it takes only about 45 minutes (with no traffic) to get to Carlow these days. Dismissed it though as the N80 was a brutally slow road the last time I was on it - admittedly many years ago. Is it better now?

Edit: just checked AA route planner and it is only 10km (and 18 minutes) more via M9/M80 to Rosslare for me (obviously without taking traffic / roadworks into account). Might try it next year

Bon voyage Johnny and others, you should be off in the next wee while!

We're neighbours then!

The N80 is a mix of some reasonably good single carriage way complete with hard shoulders and everything and (mostly) narrower twisty sections with no shoulders to speak of but no worse than some of the remaining single carriageway sections of the N11.
There's precious little traffic on it these days. I just figured we'd get through the N7/M7 merge as quickly as the M50/M11 and once we were onto the M9, we'd have no more traffic.
I don't know that it was better or worse on the day, just that we had a free run all the way there.

ShatterProof

July 11

Don't forget this is the busiest weekend of the year on French roads, motorways will be packed.

MidlandsM

Bon voyage Johnny and others indeed.

Have a great one

murria

Slightly off topic, but I would just like to give a word of thanks to Dai John for sharing his (almost) toll free route from Cherbourg to Spain. It worked really well and we saw much more of the French and Spanish countryside than usual. The buggers have sneaked in an extra toll between Bordeaux and Biarritz at €3.50, but overall you saved us between €90 - €100. Mr. Murria was extremely impressed.

Many thanks Dai.

The_Conductor

murria wrote: »

Slightly off topic, but I would just like to give a word of thanks to Dai John for sharing his (almost) toll free route from Cherbourg to Spain. It worked really well and we saw much more of the French and Spanish countryside than usual. The buggers have sneaked in an extra toll between Bordeaux and Biarritz at €3.50, but overall you saved us between €90 - €100. Mr. Murria was extremely impressed.

Many thanks Dai.

Care to share the route?

bb1234567

The_Conductor wrote: »

Care to share the route?

There are plenty of route planning tools on the web. I used viamichellin. It allows you to select most economical route and also avoid tolls option - should be similar to the route above. You can then print off the map

http://www.viamichelin.com/web/Routes?strStartLocid=31NDJrMW0xMGNORGN1TWpjME16ST1jTFRJdU1qRXpOakU9&strDestLocid=31NDJyejkxMGNORE11TkRneU1qVT1jTFRFdU5UWXdPRE09&intItineraryType=1&caravaneHidden=false&vh=CAR&strVehicle=0&itineraryCarType=0&itineraryFuelType=0&isFavoriseAutoroute=false&isAvoidPeage=false&isAvoidVignette=false&isAvoidLNR=false&isAvoidFrontiers=false&dtmDeparture=03%2F08%2F2014&distance=km&devise=1.0|EUR&indemnite=&carbCost=1.6&autoConso=6.8&villeConso=6&routeConso=5.6

murria

The_Conductor wrote: »

Care to share the route?

Dai John wrote: »

For the attention of Murria and anyone else interested; cheap driving route to Spain from Cherbourg... St. Lo..Mayenne..Laval....Anger (before Anger take motorway direction Paris then turn off for Cholet motorway...this is free and will by-pass Anger..switch off your sat.nav)...Follow signs for Poitiers..to ring road passing airport and pick up sign for Angouleme...then Bordeaux..around ring road and pick up signs for San Sebastion/ Bayonne. Straight road to Spanish border ( the only tolls are on this road..total11 euro) When you cross border ( after Hendaye turnoff) and over river turn off for Pamplona. Stay on same road to by-pass Pamplona and you will pick up signs for Zaragoza...you will be given the option of National or motorway, take national to Zaragoza ring road. Turn right onto ring road and exit for Teruel/Valencia...new free motorway all the way to Sagunto, then by pass Valencia.. south of Valencia take national road for Alicante/Albecette. Come off at La Font de la figuera and by pass will take you around village but they were building a new by-pass. A few miles further and you will turn off for Alicante, you should know your way then, before Alicante take motorway direction Murcia then Cartegena. I go to San Miguel total 950 miles.Hope this helps ,put it here in case anyone else interested to save repeating myself as I am a poor typist.

On the way back through France we tried to go with SatNav using toll free routes but it was pushing us towards longer routes than the one Dai told us about.

Boaty

What's the capacity of the ferry cars wise?

I seen someone say they were 10 minutes getting off the ship dispute being in the top deck.

I was 1 hour and 10 getting off the OW which is a massive annoyance for people who have 7 hour drives.

I was still 20 minutes getting off the top deck dispite being the 2nd car off the top deck on the return journey

OW was also delayed for an hour and a half in Cherbourg on the return journey so sitting in the queue for 2 hours wasn't fun.
Tho they did make up the time during the night.

The food in the self service is nothing to be desired.

There's no stage show on the JD lines so that would be a downfall.
There was only 30 people in the bar at the front of the OW at 9 o clock compared to a packed out back bar.

it will be interesting to see what JD's price will be next year.

metrostation

Hate to burst your bubble here but their may not be an LD service next year, apparently they have lost the MOS funding which would make most of their routes unprofitable, which will surely mean the end of the Rosslare - st Nazaire - Gijon route

juneg

July 4

metrostation wrote: »

Hate to burst your bubble here but their may not be an LD service next year, apparently they have lost the MOS funding which would make most of their routes unprofitable, which will surely mean the end of the Rosslare - st Nazaire - Gijon route

have you a link to that or further info please?

unkel

July 18

Boaty wrote: »

I seen someone say they were 10 minutes getting off the ship dispute being in the top deck.

About 5 minutes. And we were at the very front on the top deck on the way back (so one of the last off). It's a small boat with not all that many cars on it. The on/off seemed to be very efficient. Plenty of staff too to marshall you out.

vienne86

metrostation wrote: »

Hate to burst your bubble here but their may not be an LD service next year, apparently they have lost the MOS funding which would make most of their routes unprofitable, which will surely mean the end of the Rosslare - st Nazaire - Gijon route

Feck it anyway. Better get on and get myself organised for this year so.

Qwerty?

July 18

Thanks again to the op for this offer, just finishing up a fantastic holiday and heading back on the Wednesday ferry. Met a good few that also used LD lines, everyone very happy with them and their service. Would be a shame if they don't return next year, even if they were as dear as the other options, sailing into Saint Nazaire is a huge advantage for driving down past the Vendee.

raher1

August 22

How for a car and one person ? Return journey

The_Conductor

raher1 wrote: »

How for a car and one person ? Return journey

Depends on when, vehicle size, number of people etc.

You'll have to put in your details to find out: http://ldlines.co.uk/

The_Conductor

Guys- I want to go to Portugal- somewhere in the vicinity of Peniche- all the way down including Lisbon and Setubal (I actually want to go to Obidos- but am willing to explore the various options).

At the moment I'm sort of drawn to the Dunlaoghaire to Holyhead, drive down to Poole- and do the LD Lines Poole to Gijun, and then just take the motorway down (probably 7-8 hours drive through Spain routing through Portugal on the EN222 motorway via Castelo Melhor- obviously aiming eventually for the A8 Oest- which will entail a little cross country driving).

I've a 3 and a 4 year old. I'm planning in advance (this is for next June/July) and was wondering if the good folks here have any advice to impart.

Destination is fixed (its where my Dad lives)- route is open to negotiation- but need to be cognisant of the young children, tight finances- and the shortest most easy journey- without breaking the bank. Conflicting aims. I'm not avoiding motorways/tolls- and I have a Portuguese Toll Pass- so, I've no issue with avoiding the boothless roads either.

Any suggestions?