Taking the bike to Spain

[Kemp1]

Hi guys,

I'm aiming to take the bike to Spain next year with a mate and started to have a look at the Portsmouth/ Plymouth to Bilbao/ Santander ferries -does anyone have any tips or thoughts on keeping costs down? I thought if we were booking this far in advance we may be able to get a bargain but there don't seem to be any deals or incentives for booking in advance... -am I missing something?

Another thought would be to get the ferry down to Spain and head back through France to get the ferry back ..

We're aiming to go in April/ May for about 10 days but can flex if necessary..

Any thoughts much appreciated :)

H

[gary tompkins]

10 days won't give you much time in Spain - Especially if coming back via France. Bear in mind you will probably only average 250-300 miles a day.

I used 4 days to get back from Misano via Switzerland and France last June. I could probably have managed it in 3 days but took it easy.

[Funkatronic]

the ferries are outgragous money, alternative is you spend a few dull days flooring it across fremnch motorways

a good option is to look at is getting one the track day organizers that do trackdaysin spain and portugal (no limits, tracksense, focussed events, hot trax) to ship the bike and kit there and back

quite often you will see one or other of the see the companies at either jerez, portomao, almaria, or cartahegna, motrorland aragon, cataluya etc on alternate weekends

you can get the bike deilverd to one track, go off touring for 7-10 days or longer then drop it off at another track for the return journey

focussed were shipping bikes out to portimao and back form jerez for £250, but it might cost you a little more if you use different compaines for the outbound and return legs
they will ship your bike and kit, you just need to book your flights and taxis to and from the airport an tracks.

[SunEye]

In my experience ferry pricing does not follow the same rules as flight prices. The prices remain the same regardless of how far in advance you book. The only variation is on a return ferry depending upon how long you stay abroad. The longer you stay the more expensive the ferry is. It seems bizarre to me, but that's how it is especially for the Portsmouth ferries.

To get to Andalucía I have taken the ferry from Portsmouth to Bilbao and ridden (in one day) from Bilbao to Malaga (600 miles). I have also taken the ferry from Portsmouth to Le Havre and ridden to Malaga (1200 miles) in two days (overnight stop in Pamplona). Overnight accommodation can be had for about €30 per person per night B&B for two people sharing a room in a 3 or 4 star hotel if you book well in advance (after a long days ride I always want a good quality hotel to stay in). Personally I prefer riding my bike instead of sitting on a ferry with nothing to do except drink yourself into a coma. The overall costs are very similar because of the high cost of petrol these days.

You'll usually find that the cheapest cross channel ferry from Portsmouth is LD Lines to Le Havre. However if you are going to Spain then Brittany Ferries to St Malo may save you a bit of time and distance (although it will be more expensive and nicer). St Malo to Bayonne is only 450 miles and that gets you just 20 miles from the Spanish border.

Although Gary said that you may only average 250-300 miles a day, I think that really depends upon how much time you spend stopped looking at stuff and what sort of roads you are riding on. I regularly ride 300-325 miles between Le Havre or Dieppe and Limoges in 6-6.5 hours using only normal roads and I regularly ride to/from Sheffield (230 miles) in 4-5 hours without using motorways. Whenever I've ridden 600+ miles in a day (8 times) it has taken 10 to 12 hours and is quite tough both physically and mentally, but 450 miles in a day is ok and I believe achievable by most riders. The only time my average speed has been well below 50mph on a day’s ride has been in the Alps when negotiating a whole day of nothing but the twistiest of alpine roads.

[SunEye]

If you are going to south western Spain/Portugal then getting a track day firm to ship your bike out there as Funkatronic said will be the cheapest and quickest way to get your bike there.

[Kemp1]

Some great advice -thank you

It would be nice to have enough time to not have too much pressure but the last time we went away we certainly had a few days when we covered 400 miles plus and bearing in mind how much it rained (it was John O'Groats to Land's End!) I'm sure it will be better when it's not so soggy!

We may have to reconsider the length of the holiday by the sound of it -definitely like the idea of tying it in with a track day over there :thumbsup:

[d8mok]

Im also interested in the cheapest way to get a bike to spain as my mrs lives there and next year i fancy taking the bike so we can spend a week going to different places on it as at the moment she has no car so if we want to go anywhere we have to use public transport.

Which is nearesrt port to salamanca?

[J.P]

Have you looked at how long the ferry journey is to Santander/Bilbao ?
I've always found the thought of just sitting around on a ferry a complete waste of time when the 'journey' is all the fun to me, the roads though France, even if they're motorways, and the changing scenery, to company of a pall along the way , all of that adds up to 'the trip'.
Yes of course you're going to do an extra 800 miles each way and you won't save any money, but I'd rather do that personally.

Or, fly down there and rent a bike locally, more than likely a BMW, which will cost you lots too.
And bike transport is a very good option, as long as the bike ends up exactly where you want to travel...
It's a no win situation in some ways.

[J.P]

So Portsmouth to Bilbao takes 24 or 32 hours via Brittany Ferries.

[cairojay]

Alternatively, take the eurostar for 30 quid and then its about 750 miles through France to Spain!

[Mdwysc]

I did the Portsmouth-Bilbao trip a few years ago. I liked it and gave us a great platform to ride across to barcelona from. The roads were fantastic, the mountains beautiful, the people very friendly but the weather was a bit to hot for riding, don't go at the height of summer, i nearly died from dehidration whilst riding! apart from that one of the best euro tours I have done and well worth it.

[johny1100]

Me and the Mrs took the bikes from Plymouth to Santander in July, we had a fantastic trip and I thought worth every penny for the ferry. The Picos De Europe mountain range only about an hour and a half away from Santander is amazing with perfect roads, no traffic. You can get over to Portugal, do north coast of Spain. Brilliant. The ferry itself was great, after a ride down to it it was nice to get on deck, have a few beers and a meal, few hours sleep and breakfast and you're there. Definitely do it again.
If you plan to come up through France I don't see much point as you may as well just ride to France but if you want to get to West Spain / Portugal then the ferry is perfect. Cinema on board, nightclub, 3 bars etc :-)