cajam31

We are making our way over to almeria in a few weeks. My husband and me are in dispute about the best way to get over. he wants to go to calais then drive all the way, whereas i'd prefer the ferry to either bilbao or santander which to me is easier coz we'll be on th boat for the majority of the journey rather than stuck in the car.
if anyone has done the journey can you let me know which route you found to be the best.
thanks

Mitzyboy

Bilbao/Santander are quite expensive as I remember, and you still have a good drive once you get there. I've never done it, but I'm guessing the drive down from there is about 7-8 hours. Its four and a half hours from Gandia to Barcelona on one straight motorway, so don't underestimate the distance

I have done Dover Calais by ferry and tunnel, and come down via Paris and also via Rheims / Dijon / Lyon. But by far the easiest trip I took was Portsmouth / St Malo. A sleep on the boat has you fresh 1st thing in the morning, and you will get well past Bordeaux on your first day, possibly near the Pyranees depending on how far you want to push it.

pwwm

I came over on the ferry and then drove down from Bilbao, we are not too far away from Almeria (do you mean city or region)? You spend two nights on the ferry and can do the drive in one day this side, but driving from Calais you would need two nights maybe, though my other half only stops the once.

You need to take into account toll fees and fuel cost in France which is quite expensive and weigh it all up against the ferry cost, I know which I prefer. the boat.

pwwm

Mitzyboy

Tolls were around £85 St Malo / Oliva ... Its easily do-able in two days with one stop. Ferry iirc was just under £200 back last October. Then add fuel.

cajam31

Thanks for the replies, its the almeria region we're going to, near vera, i think its about 900km from santander. We're not to worried about the cost, more which journey will be the easiest, i'd rather do 2 nights on the ferry myself than be stuck in the car, but himself is prefering the drive through france, i wanna get him round to my way of thinking lol

pwwm

The easiest has to be the ferry, don't forget Santander is from Plymouth, Bilbao is from Portsmouth and you get to go whale watching.

pwwm

Mitzyboy

I'd agree, definately the easyest option ...... maybe not the most interesting though apart from the whales

scampicat

We have done both ways.

Bilbao to Granada Province is 11 hours (with a stop for lunch) - Almeria that bit further.

Driving through France and Spain about three days.

I personally enjoyed the time on the Bilbao ferry, but it is expensive. One good thing is you get tom Bilbao at seven in the morning, so you can get to your destination the same day. If I had the money, I would chose this route every time.

This summer we are hoping to go from Dieppe-Newhaven (£130 return) as we have friends near Newhaven..

(Edited to add : the whale watching is brilliant!)

battlezone123

I would try AT Ferries, Portsmouth to Bilbao. It has a shorter crossing time than P&O from Portsmouth (one night on board). The only negative is that the AT Ferries gets into Bilbao at 1700. AT Ferries is also alot cheaper than P&O. They are not running though until end April as they are updating the ship. We found this out by accident as we had already booked, and paid for, a trip back to the UK for Easter and they did not inform us! Now have to sail from Santander to Plymouth and seeing as my relatives live 10 miles from Portsmouth - kids are not happy with the extra drive.