Mighty oaks from little acorns grow......

what provission do they have on ferrys to tie the bikes down? the majority of us will only have side stands, and it would be a pitty to arrive en France to discover it had been a very expensive crossing if you see what I mean? i know it's a bit of a fine detail. Euro star would be safer, and they are trying to compete with the ferry prices now. If we did decide to go for the Dover Calais option, it might be worth looking into?

Nice idea btw mark!

On entirely random dates in June:

Portsmouth>St.Malo return= £97.00

Portsmouth>Caen return= £72.00 (2-up it looks to be circa £30 more expensive)

Meh i've just realised those prices are for reclining seats.

Normal seats=
£62 solo Portsmouth>Caen
£81 2-up Portsmouth>Caen

Those don't seem too bad considering June is at the height of summer/tourist season....but what do i know?

The tunnel at its cheapest looks to be about £75+, so the ferry will actually be cheaper when you consider fuel.

Originally Posted by philbut

what provission do they have on ferrys to tie the bikes down? the majority of us will only have side stands, and it would be a pitty to arrive en France to discover it had been a very expensive crossing if you see what I mean? i know it's a bit of a fine detail. Euro star would be safer, and they are trying to compete with the ferry prices now. If we did decide to go for the Dover Calais option, it might be worth looking into?

Nice idea btw mark!

I imagine they will have the correct procedures in place, however i will email them to ask. They offer provision for bikes on their site, so they must secure them.

The tunnel isn't that cheap, as the really cheap options are only available for day trips. Even if you travel at really inconvenient times then it will still cost towards £60. For an extra £10 the ferry has to be worth it surely? That would mean we get to spend more time in Brittany, which is better than Normandy.

Also we can chill during the crossing and be ready to rumble on arrival.

If its consensus that people want to go via the tunnel, then i'll go with that, but its not much cheaper(maybe more expensive if you consider the extra mileage!) and it restricts us quite a lot in terms of where we can go as it takes ages to get to my place from Calais. We would also have to travel down to Folkstone, which is further away than Portsmouth.

Straps are provided and the car decks have area's specifically for motorcycles. It is down to you to strap your own bike down although they do hang around whilst you do it to ensure it is not going to be flying up and down the deck. If your unsure there will be plenty of other bikes crossing that will be able to give you a hand.

Originally Posted by BigApe

Straps are provided and the car decks have area's specifically for motorcycles. It is down to you to strap your own bike down although they do hang around whilst you do it to ensure it is not going to be flying up and down the deck. If your unsure there will be plenty of other bikes crossing that will be able to give you a hand.

[translation-mode] The ape will be responsible for securing the bikes [/translation-mode]

[KnightRider]

Originally Posted by ASM-Forever

Thats a "please take my luggage" if ever i saw it.

You only need clothes/wash stuff anyway....will go in a tailpack/tankbag easy!

Only if "luggage" was translated as "girlfriend". I was just thinking that if Jo was going by alternative means of transport then I might be able to convince my better half to come along. As it is, there is no way she would get on the back of the bike espeicially if she wasn't able to bring her 20 million outfits, shoes and handbags.

[KnightRider]

PS - I vote for the ferry. Dont want to waste all my energy driving at stupid speeds from Calais when we could instead be fresh on arrival and ride round the beautiful french countryside.

Agreed.

Sounds great! I'm provisionally in, so long as I have money and green card and time etc etc blah blah

Looks like this could be nice. Hopefully I can tag along. I'll have to check on holiday dates when I go to work on Wednesday.