Portsmouth to St Malo/Cherbourg

[Petitechick]

Hello all, am looking to book a return ferry crossing (with car) in April time- most likely before the Easter holidays...am currently looking at the Portsmouth- St Malo/Cherbourg crossings, then travelling on to Bordeaux. Just wondered which are the 'best' crossing operators to go for- in terms of cost, reliability etc.

Usually do the Dover-Calais crossing so not very up with what else is out there!

Thanks in advance.

[Will]

I don't think you will find much choice, unless you are a freight carrier. Expanding your horizons slightly, these are the alternatives.

Portsmouth/St Malo - Brittany Ferries (conventional ship)

Portsmouth/Cherbourg - Brittany Ferries ((high speed) plus occasional conventional ship service by Condor

Poole/Cherbourg - Brittany Ferries (conventional ship), Condor (high speed, under Brittany colours)

Weymouth/Poole to Channel Islands/St Malo - Condor (high speed)

High speed ferries are limited by weather conditions and can have mechanical reliability issues. Otherwise few reliability problems on these routes.

Cost varies according to time of travel, best to look at operator's brochures or web sites.

[Blanche Neige]

Portsmouth- St Malo/Cherbourg crossings, then travelling on to Bordeaux.

We always use this route when we drive to the Charente-Maritime, it is not the cheapest but certainly the easiest and most comfortable IMHO.[:)]

Edit:

we go to St. Malo but I understand Caen is another reasonable option

[Will]

Portsmouth/Caen is run by Brittany Ferries too.

If considering Caen you may also like to look at LD Lines, which runs a service from Portsmouth to Le Havre, and, although this will be too late for you, from 1 May will be running a Newhaven/Le Havre service as well as operating the Newhaven/Dieppe route for Transmanche.

[mint]

i agree with blanche neige.  portsmouth - st malo is, for us, the nicest and most pleasant route.  it's one of the most expensive but certainly most straightforward for scooting straight down to bordeaux.

the start point does depend on where you are leaving from in the uk.  we live in south wales, therefore, driving to dover would be one long, exhausting trek.

from st malo, you go rennes, nantes and then all the way to bordeaux on the motorway.  there will be some tolls to pay but you can get off the ferry first thing in the morning (if you use the overnight crossing) and you can either have lunch en route or, if you don't stop, you could be in bordeaux for lunch 

[Petitechick]

Hi everyone, thanks very much for all your replies- it's really helpful to get some feedback/info from people who make this crossing. Think we'll go for the St Malo one as there is much less driving on the other side & also is the most direct route down to Bordeux.

Thanks!