How far Le Havre ?

[Miki]

Anyone driven from around 20 kms west of Dol de Bretagne to the ferry port at Le Havre.

P&O are still doing the Visit Britain (with conditions that tell you, they may not be operating !) at a very cheap rate for 120 hour return to Portsmouth.

RAC say it is around 144 miles or so and estimated time is about 3hrs 10 minutes. Considering that 85% or more, is on the autoroutes or les quatre voies I was hoping it could be done in around 2h30 or so, is that too hopeful ? Probably, as I guess leaving the autoroute and taking the signs to Le Pont de Normandie, then after, on to the road itself to Le Havre and if I remember correctly, that part may slow down the speed a little ?

As for the parking at Le Havre, sorry I haven't got a clue. We haven't used Le Havre for a good 10 years or so.

 

[BJSLIV]

Viamichelin quotes Dinan to Le Havre as 162 miles in 2hours 32 minutes.

French driving!

 

 

 

[Autismuk]

[quote]Anyone driven from around 20 kms west of Dol de Bretagne to the ferry port at Le Havre. P&O are still doing the Visit Britain (with conditions that tell you, they may not be operating !) at a ver...[/quote]

That is tanking it a bit.

It'll take about 30 minutes to Avranches

A further hour to Caen

15 minutes round the Peripherique

30 minutes to Pont L'Eveque intersection

20 minutes over the bridges.

Which is 2hrs 35 mins and whatever it takes to get into LeHavre port from the A29 (never done it)

I don't think you need to leave the Autoroute(s) to cross the bridges ; you can take the Honfleur road route (D579), or just go onto the A13/A29 junction. The first time I went across it it seemed to dump us in some housing estate, but it's been upgraded since then.

Apart from Le Havre itself there aren't any real pressure points ; I suppose the Caen Peripherique could get stuffed up. I think even the N175 (6?) , the Dol->Avranches road has been improved a bit.

[Miki]

Cheers both of you, so it seems around 3 hours or so should be allowed then.

But hang on I have lived here a long time and my British friends say I drive very French so perhaps it is as BJ says ... 2h35 !!

RAC are simply thinking British then !! Whereas Michelin are .....

Yes the Dol to Caen route is excellent now, journey time to Caen (Ouistreham) has been cut by quite a bit in the last year or so, since I believe the whole of the new route has been opened. Still some early villages to get through but in general, much improved.

Thanks

 

[robinwolf]

Info for the last leg of your trip.

It is 15 mins from the Pont de Normandie toll gates to the P&O check in. This is a fine tuned run which I do on a regular basis.

It is fine tuned to make sure we arrive @ the ship 35 mins before sailing. This gives you a good chance of parking on deck 3 which saves you 10 / 15 minutes getting off the boat in Portsmouth.

Robin Wolf

[Miki]

Thanks Robin, very useful info.

I remember the first time we saw the Pont de Normandie on a trip back to the UK and drove across it in 1995, quite a sight ! 

It would have been very handy had it been built when we used to take the occasional mid week or weekend break in Honfleur, crossing to Le Havre was the obvious choice but then of course, it had to be the Pont de Tancarville to cross the river.