Ferry to spain?

[pesty]

Anyone ever took a ferry to spain? are there any that let you take bikes on board? are they prohibitavly expensive?

can you tell ive just seen an adert for 2 track days at Jerez

[stooz]

yes there is the soon to be stopping P&O portsmouth to bilbao

and the brittany ferries plymouth to santander. - which is a lot quicker.
prices vary loads. brittany suggested they are buying the bilbao route, but best to avoid during the termoil, you don't want a cancelled trip, travel insurance or not!

some jerez track companies ship the bike for you, you just fly over. have a look at www.100pc.co.uk

[Don]

stooz said:

yes there is the soon to be stopping P&O portsmouth to bilbao

I believed that service was one of the few being retained?

I did that last summer.

1) Not cheap - £900 or so return. But this did include the nicest cabin they do with a proper double bed. Interestingly it doesn't get significantly cheaper when going for a regular cabin/crappy seat. Worth the extra IMO.

2) It saves thousands of miles of travel. This is cool.

3) The journey itself could be viewed as being dull. I signed up for the whole nature watching thing, took plenty to read, and has long dinners in their more upmarket restaurant - which occupied the time reasonably well.

4) Its TWO NIGHTS out and ONE NIGHT back. GET A CABIN! The nicest you can afford!

5) Did I mention getting a cabin?

[Robbo SPS]

The P&O Route to Bilbao is still running and has to.

You get a great discount by getting Bike/Ride / Performance Bike magazine. They have an offer code in every issue.

I went in May, with a cabin over, my bike and i then returned via Caen on the fast craft.

I spent £235 in total.

The ferry down was ace managed to have a few beers on the Saturday night, chill on sunday in the pool / sauna / jaquzzi, have a nice meal in the better restaurant and then enjoy the cabaret.

Woke up monday morning in spain, and off to Portugal and Africa.

It was one of the best motorbiking trips i have done.

The Brittany Ferry route is quicker, but then so is riding through france !

[Don]

Robbo SPS said:

I spent £235 in total.

BARGAIN!

[S2rr Kitty]

I've done the Plymouth > Santander a couple of times, it's ok & at least you get there all rested up - it is a 24hr crossing and it only runs a couple of times per week (from memory) which means it doesn't always fit in with travel plans.

The ferry is ok but the 'entertainment' in the bar is well dodgy!! lol

[fergus]

Pesty (phil),

I'm goping down to spain with 100pc bikes next w/e. If you really want to go there is a bike collection and 'ferrying' (via an artic) service they offer. Drop me a PM via my profile and i'll see if I can put you in touch with moto freight, the guys who are doing the shipping, otherwise I think you've left it a tad late. Riding all the way through france to Jerez will leave you knackered!

Fergus