Thinking of going by ferry and car

[GlendaONeill]

I stupidly put the idea of going to DLRP but staying at one the campsites next summer in my DH's head. Now he is like a dog with a bone and is obsessing about all the ways we could get there.

To make it more afforable we could go by ferry and drive. The problem is we live in Northern Ireland and either have to go on a short ferry crossing and VERY LONG drive to the ferry to france OR a not so long drive but a 14 hour ferry crossing to France followed by long drive.

To make matters worse I hate ferries. (I also don't really like DH's driving either ) I need to make sacrifices if I want go.

And we have three kids who will be 7, 6 and 4 beating each other up in the back of the car.

Who does or has done car travel and ferries? Any advice good or bad is most welcome.

I really just want to fly but the prices of flights are a bit restrictive as is car hire.

Thanks for reading my near novel length post

[Bolanette87]

I have been to DLRP via car!! And stayed on a campsite (Albeit in a static caravan)....

My Dad planned things to the most ridiculous degree imaginable (Pot=Kettle there!) and we used to set off from home (In North Northumberland) at around 6pm (He would have slept through the day). Then we'd drive down through the night when the roads were quieter to catch the first ferry of the day from Dover. The downside there is that I never slept! We stayed in Carnac for a week before moving to the campsite near Disney so it broke the journey up a bit. Overall though, its not a bad way to travel. My only advice would be to not somehow get so lost on route that you end up circling Canary Wharf 8 or 9 times in the pitch black and then pulling in to an all night garage to ask directions whereupon you see a mob of people with crowbars heading round in your direction... (My that was an eventful night! ) resulting in a dive back into the car and speeding off. All joking aside, that was the only time we got lost in quite a few trips to France. It's a long journey, but it is worth it. I think having the car would be quite an advantage too as it means you wouldn't have to worry so much about luggage weight etc....

Bob xoxoxoxoxo

[A Small World]

We have driven from North West (Nr Manchester) several times but have always used the tunnel instead of the ferry

Sometimes we have stayed at Ashford over night and then got the early morning tunnel and others we have just driven straight there.It takes about 3 hrs from Calais to DLP.

We have also stayed at Berny Riviere campsite several times - about an hr from dlp

[lojo]

Would there really be a great saving by using the ferries, Glenda?

Maybe the part of NI you live in makes driving to Dublin airport too far, but that's how we usually go and the flights usually cost us between €50-70 a head. If you go on an early flight you get almost a whole extra day there and the roads are pretty traffic free in the early morning. For us, Dublin is only about 20 minutes further than Belfast.

When we took the ferries to Scotland/Heysham they usually cost a small fortune, especially when you factor in the cost of petrol. The cost of your sanity in the face of bored or tired children is incalculable.

The amount of time you'd spend travelling would also eat into your journey - not too bad on the way there but boring/frustrating as on the way back.

[GlendaONeill]

The cost of the ferry to the mainland is a major expense really. I know Dover to Calais is less than £100 but in the summer a crossing from Larne, where I live, to Scotland is about £250 and Belfast to Scotland is similar.

We would have to stay offsite so DH is determined that we need to take the car as quotes for car hire were over £250 for a week He thinks it would an 'adventure' Dublin is over two and a half hours away by car whereas Belfast is only 30 minutes so it wouldn't really help us.

There are a few ferries that go from Rosslare and the likes direct to France but are long journeys.

Then he turns round and says 'you can't spend a week at Disneyland Paris!'
"You just watch me" says I.

I think this is going to take a looooong time to sort out.

Thanks for the experience reports. Nothing to put me completely off yet

[lojo]

It could be the kind of adventure where 'the guy driving the car' doesn't make it home....

When we planned our first trip to DLRP we looked at the camping/driving option and staying in a hotel offsite worked out far cheaper and a whole lot less stressful (IMO).

You should definitely run with the 'a week is far more cost efficient' argument - I use this kind of deception on myself all the time, hasn't failed yet.

Hope you're able to come up with something that suits you all and doesn't send you to the poor house.

[emanlu]

I wanted to do this this summer but DH has changed jobs and getting two weeks off was impossible so it will be in planning for next year.

Our plan would be to drive to Dublin and across to Holyhead and then on down and go on the Eurotunnel stopping off somewhere overnight on route. I don't do ferries and the last time I was on the HSS I was green and DH just laughed at me (it was almost flat calm as well). I would like to go to a campsite somewhere for a week and then on to Disney before trekking home again.

[ScottishThistle]

I know it's not Northern Ireland but we often drive from Glasgow so, other than the ferry crossing from NI, the distance shouldn't be too much different.

We tend to go by Eurotunnel or Ferry. If you don't like ferries, you could look at the Eurotunnel option as you'd be doing the same amount of driving. Eurotunnel usually comes in at around £100 return but if you could manage the ferry, going by Norfolkine is usually only £30 return from Dover so you could ofset the saving there against the cost of the ferry from NI to the mainland.

We tend to set off the morning before and drive to either Folkestone if we're going by Tunnel or Dover if going by ferry. We stay there overnight then take an early crossing next morning.

[kirsti o]

Hi

We have been by ferry a few times. We live in Staffordshire so it is a 3 and half drive to dover. Then hour crossing. And another 2 or more hours in france.

My children are 7, 5, 3 and 1 so I know what you mean about fighting in the back.

I'm not sure which way is best (either longer in car or longer ferry) I think they both have good and bad points. I get sea sick so opt for as short a crossing as possible. And the good thing about driving in france is the toll roads are easy to drive on and there are stops all along the road - so some just have toilets and picnic tables but some have full services. Its just a good spot to let the kids have some air and stretch their legs!!

We stayed at la-croix-du-vieu-pont campsite and it is amazing. It has several pools, takeaways, restaurants, parks, bars, fishing, bouncy castles etc. We have stayed there for both 2 weeks and 1 week holidays and always combined it with 2,3 or 4 day disney tickets.
The drive to disney is about an hour but its not so bad if you have a day at the site the next day to relax and break it up like that...

I would look at the campsite direct as there prices are alot cheaper than booking through one of the camping brochures. On their website you can book apartments, chalets and caravans I think...

Have fun

[cap'njack.]

We always drive to DLRP although it's very different for me as I'm less than an hour away from Dover. The part the other side of the Channel is very easy...3 to 3 1/2 hours of motorways and with sat nav I've never gotten lost.

We prefer being able to take as much as we want with us and not be restricted by luggage weight's etc. You should see the amount of stuff we can pack into the car and top box...I swear we take most of the house with us

[Rachie B]

@ the thought of a 14 hour ferry journey !!

No thank you

We go via Eurotunnel now ( using Tesco clubcard deals) as had a horrendous ferry journey one July
so I would go for the shortest amount of time on a ferry as possible

you / your kids may be ok on the ferry though ?

We also stay @ La Croix Du Vieux Pont ,Berny Riviere http://www.la-croix-du-vieux-pont.com/uk
an hour away from Disney we have some parks days and some chilling days

There are also these sites which are closer to DLRP :
Les Etangs Fleuris http://www.paris-camping.com/en/index.html

Les Chene Gris http://www.lechenegris.com/uk/accomodatie2.php

HTH

PS put the eldest child in the front of the car, and you sit in the back between the younger 2

[GlendaONeill]

It's great to see that there are a lot of you who do drive.

I don't really like the ferries because DH gets sick and I don't feel great at the best of times. My DD gets travel sick but is ok with tablets. So if it was a bad crossing I could be feeling bad with up to 4 sick people to look after.

Thanks for the links to campsites too.

Think I'll have to look into the different ways we can go across. what works out best without too much ferry or too much driving.

Thanks guys for all your advice.

[id@53]

I really would look at the costs very carefully when comparing flying and car hire with self-drive. Stranraer to Disney is approx. 700 miles each way. At 35 mpg that works out at £200 for fuel. Tolls in France are going to be another £30 -£40. Then you have accomodation costs for a night each way plus Ferry and Eurotunnel/Ferry costs.

What dates are you going?

[lilacgems23]

I would prefer a long ferry, more to do, more space, less stressful for dh as hes not tied behind the wheel

[GlendaONeill]

We hope to be going around 26th June as our kids get their holidays a bit earlier though they would miss the last couple of days.

I definately need to factor in all the cost including tolls that id@53 reminded me about (Thanks )

It may not be just as simple as he thinks.

But I hope some of airlines might release cheaper flights too

We'll see