Just a tip if you’re happy staying in one place and book your accommodation with your holiday on the Brittany ferry site you can normally get a good deal (especially if sharing) Ferry (not economy these are sometimes 2 nights) cabin and crossing -2 bikes 2 people and 5 nights b&b for under £900 We are going to Picos in October and cost is £760 for the two of us all in
Cheers char but I rarely stay in one place, personally I like to travel around and wake up in a different hotel every day, with a new road and destination to find. But we'll see what every one else wants first??
First thing to do is sort the ferry dates - then we can work out a route plan. From what I can see on Brittany Ferries web site the best ferry options for me are: Portsmouth to Santander Depart Sat 14th 08:45 (option of cheap hotel in Portsmouth on Friday night) Arrive Sun 15th 14:15 BAIE DE SEINE economy ferry Santander to Portsmouth Depart Sat 21st 20:30 Arrive Sun 22nd 19:45 CAP FINISTERE luxury ferry OK with everyone else? Alternatives via Bilbao out and back dont give us as long riding in Spain: Portsmouth to Bilbao Depart Sun 15th 22:30 Arrive Tues 17th 07:45 CAP FINISTERE luxury ferry Bilbao to Portsmouth Depart Thu 19th 15:30 Arrive Friday 20th 14:15 CAP FINISTERE luxury ferry
Hope you have a great & safe trip whatever is decided - always an adventure - normally do the one night stop over but last year for first time had a ‘base’ & it worked well for 5 nights had so much on doorstep was good fun to fully get to know an area for a change Old age I know but liked not having to keep packing and riding without my luggage was a bonus
Plymouth to Santander Depart Sun 15th 15:45 Arrive Mon 16th 12:15 Plymouth would be fine by me but it is a lot more boring riding in the UK to get to Plymouth for folk who don't live in the SW. I'm easy either way as Portsmouth isn't much further for me, and I don't mind the more basic ferry - all I need is a bed and a bar. I'm happy to go with the flow.
Not much in it. Luxury from Plymouth on Sun 15th would be £153 each plus mandatory accommodation - either £10 for a recliner seat, £85 for an inside cabin for 1 or 2 people or £115-149 (depending on grade) for a cabin for up to 4 people. Every individual vehicle booked on the ferry has to take accommodation as part of its booking. If bike riders want to share a cabin then one person has to book it and the others have to book recliner seats ... you work out the total accommdation cost and split it between you. Economy from Portsmouth on Sat 14th would be £98 each plus mandatory accommodation - there are no recliner seats available on Economy sailings so it would be £100 each for an outside cabin (all the cheaper inside ones have gone) - you can't share if you are riding separate bikes.
OK, we can do this itty bitty stuff for ever, but does anyone mind if over the next couple of nights, I grab the Pamplona bull by his big furry balls, and post up an itinerary to include boat, roads, hotels etc etc, then we can adjust here and there to suit folk. Any objections at all from @Dave, @Andy800, @chizel, @Stu848 etc etc
Fine by me ... on a big Ducati I'm looking for big fast open sweepers, not little nadgery roads. I did the Picos de Europa on the way down to Morocco before Christmas and left the big bikes for dead on my little 250! Nice villages, towns and cities to visit are good for me as well. Salamanca area seemed to fit the bill but if you have a better suggestion then great. https://www.adventurebikerider.com/...ycle-destination-needs-to-be-salamanca-spain/ I just want a bit of sun and good riding
sounds good to me but in all honesty it will be a hood 3-4 weeks till I can make a firm commitment. I'm finishing a project and have yet to see what the boss has lined up for me and I need to get my van back on the rd.. you mentioned the ferry only requires a deposit? I'm guessing this would be lost if I bailed out...
Without going back through all the posts, “Sketches of Spain - One Man’s Guide” by Duncan Gough is a good source of info and routes. Andy
