Late booking ferry France to Ireland (via UK)

caycro

I'm returning from France to Ireland at the end of the month with the car and need a new ferry booking, Rosslare is working out too expensive as it's obviously peak season (previously always travelled way off season) so I'm thinking it would be cheaper through the UK. Does anyone have a suggestion what is the best cheaper route to take? Dublin is the final destination and I'll be driving up along the Atlantic Coast of France. Many thanks !

First Up

You have options from Roscoff, St Malo and Caen but you need to add the fuel for the drive to Holyhead or Liverpool and the ferry to Dublin. Its a long drive and depending on ferry times you might be looking at an overnight en route.

munchkin_utd

check http://www.stenaline.ie/ferries-to-britain/europe-by-car for stena prices for landbridge and http://www.brittanyferries.ie/ferry-routes/landbridge for Irish ferries. Its cheaper, especially last minute, than booking separately.
I've used the stena service a heap of times and never an issue. The cheapest fares are using the Dover-Calais/Dunkirk route and Monday to Thursday travel (avoid the weekend rush!). You have to ring to make a booking, so just have the exact ferries you want worked out. You'll also need to have the names and dates of birth to hand of anyone travelling.
You might need a night extra in England or Wales, but something like the Premier inn is cheap, even for family rooms. You can even get strategic and stay in the Cotswolds (its the pocket of countryside south of Birmingham and north of the M4 from London to Cardiff) and have a mini break en route home.

caycro

My problem is the two ferries combined (through UK) is coming in at half the price of Cherbourg Rosslare !

First Up

caycro wrote:

My problem is the two ferries combined (through UK) is coming in at half the price of Cherbourg Rosslare !

Then go for it but be ready for 7+ hours on crowded UK motorways.

If coming up the Atlantic coast then a ferry from Roscoff or western Normandy (Caen/St Malo) makes sense. No point adding a few hundred more kilometers to go East to Calais or Dunkirk and then have the extra driving from Kent and the lovely M25 around London.

munchkin_utd

First Up wrote: »

Then go for it but be ready for 7+ hours on crowded UK motorways.

If coming up the Atlantic coast then a ferry from Roscoff or western Normandy (Caen/St Malo) makes sense. No point adding a few hundred more kilometers to go East to Calais or Dunkirk and then have the extra driving from Kent and the lovely M25 around London.

the ferry via Dover + irish sea is €205 for car and 2 adults midweek.
That rises to €249 at the weekend
the ferry with Britanny Ferries from Britanny/ Normandy to England + Irish sea is €355 for car and 2 adults midweek.
That rises to €445 at the weekend.

So, theres a bit of a saving to be made with heading via Calais of up to €200, which obviously gets eaten up with tolls and fuel to an extent

But at the same time, where you're starting from kindof dictates the real cost in time and money. From St Rochelle its only 200km longer to Calais than to Cherbourg (480 compared to 690km) so only 2 hours extra. A long road trip becomes somewhat longer.
In the other hand, if you're in Cherbourg or the vicinity as your starting point, then it would be tempting to get a ferry from there as its a choice of travelling a handful of km and a few minutes in the car or a 470km 5 hour trek to Calais.

On the English side, Poole to Holyhead is 50km less than Dover so much of a muchness aside from the traffic. (you could go by Fishguard-Rosslare but those ferries only go twice a day so are way less flexible than going via Holyhead)

caycro

munchkin_utd wrote: »

the ferry via Dover + irish sea is €205 for car and 2 adults midweek.
That rises to €249 at the weekend
the ferry with Britanny Ferries from Britanny/ Normandy to England + Irish sea is €355 for car and 2 adults midweek.
That rises to €445 at the weekend.

So, theres a bit of a saving to be made with heading via Calais of up to €200, which obviously gets eaten up with tolls and fuel to an extent

Thanks for all the info, I was wondering if you'd ever done Le Havre to Portsmouth? Getting a very good price on that route which makes it tempting but I'm wondering if I'm missing something !!

First Up

caycro wrote:

Thanks for all the info, I was wondering if you'd ever done Le Havre to Portsmouth? Getting a very good price on that route which makes it tempting but I'm wondering if I'm missing something !!

I haven't used it but its a perfectly good route.

Any landbridge involves a lot of driving, mostly in the UK. Having done a fair few I know that the direct sailings to Ireland are a lot more pleasant but if the price difference says landbridge, I can't argue.