Bilbao or Santander

bristolsaint

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I am bringing my bike over to England in late October and need to arrive in portsmouth, so, after a ride north through Spain I have the choice of Bilbao or Santander as a departure port.

Is there a good reason,other than departure date and time, why I should choose one over the other? Brittany Ferries, who I rate highly, operate from both. Bilbao is £20 more expensive for some reason.

This will be my longest ferry crossing, so is there anything I should be aware of? I know it could get rough so will have a goodly supply of strawberry jam sandwiches as they are the only things that taste as good on the way up as they do on the way down :D:barf
 
Just be aware, the ships vary ... the newest / cleanest one is allegedly Pont Aven ( I'm led to believe) though I may be mistaken! Worth investigating....
 
Just be aware the ships vary ... the newest / cleanest one is Pont Aven ( I'm led to believe) though I may be mistaken! Worth investigating....

Pont Aven is the biggest and best followed by the Cap Finistere. there are others i have not been on, or can't remember.

économie service is OK on the Baei de Seine, but i'd avoid the Etratat.
 
I think I have been on most of them now and came back a few weeks ago on the Baie de Seine, supposed to be an economy ferry but I found it to be very pleasant, clean and comfortable. It did have a bit more mechanical noise than the others but didn't bother me being a seafarer and SWMBO used earplugs. If you suffer from Seasickness perhaps go for the Pont Avon which is the largest.
 
Get an outside cabin, if you do get sea sick you can watch the horizon and know what's up from down.
 
Phew.....I'm on Pont Aven in the morn. Started reading this thread with mixed emotions. Peace of mind duly activated now.


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I've travelled from both Bilbao and Santander and my experience is that Santander is the better of the two. There are plenty of fuel stops to top up before the port and is dead easy to enter the port itself. Just follow A67 all the way up following signs for Porto and Aeroport making sure that you don't miss sign for car ferry to the left. Follow car ferry signs into city and there will be a sign on the right indicating to ferry.... take that, thro' barrier and there you are. Excellent café and shop on site and good toilet facilities. My choice every time.
 
Phew.....I'm on Pont Aven in the morn. Started reading this thread with mixed emotions. Peace of mind duly activated now. [e
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Was on Pont Aven 2 weeks ago nice and clean, cabins a bit small but comfortable. Great show bar too. If the magician/illusionist still performing is very good..
 
We will be going on the Cap Finistère Portsmouth to Santander, first time on that boat and route. Hope it's as good as the Normandie, which we are going home on a week later and have been on several times Ouistreham to Portsmouth.
 
Cap Finistere is ok but nothing to write home about. Be careful when loading /unloading bikes into hold as they send you down a steep ramp which is often wet.
 
Cap finistere not as good in terms of comfort or facilities of the normandie do wonder why they do not run this one Spain routes point avent is the flagship
 
Travelled on the Pont Aven many times and on Friday used the Cap Finistere from Bilbao to Portsmouth. I prefer the Cap Finistere, it is smaller and more friendly. The cabins are bigger, there is a bar on the rear deck (9), best of all though, no shyte cabaret and bingo. More space on bike deck too.


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Oops....thought I was on Pont Aven....actually on Finisterre. Alarm bells rang when they sent me down a long wet metal ramp. Seems like a nice old boat though. Cabin is nice and clean with 2 singles and shower is clean and hot. If the beer is cold too then I'm made


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My beer tastes must have been muted by Superbock and Sagres in Portugal as the Heineken on board tastes just fine.


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Pont Aven is the biggest and best followed by the Cap Finistere. there are others i have not been on, or can't remember.

économie service is OK on the Baei de Seine, but i'd avoid the Etratat.

Hard to disagree with that :thumby:

the beer is shite on all the boats.

Yet it's never affected our consumption levels...........:beer:

My beer tastes must have been muted by Superbock and Sagres in Portugal as the Heineken on board tastes just fine.


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Both Superbock and Sagres are leagues ahead of any Heineken you'll get anywhere-dishwater :barf
 
:beerjug:
Travelled on the Pont Aven many times and on Friday used the Cap Finistere from Bilbao to Portsmouth. I prefer the Cap Finistere, it is smaller and more friendly. The cabins are bigger, there is a bar on the rear deck (9), best of all though, no shyte cabaret and bingo. More space on bike deck too.


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Went twice to Lisbon with bikes and also twice with a car.

I prefer Pont Aven to Cap Finistère, it's bigger and the posh restaurant is a bit better. Both have a couple of bars, the proverbial Quizz and the odd magician :-D.
I prefer Santander as well because it's a bit closer to Lisbon :).

We went to Portugal through France once and it was too tiring and 1350 miles :-(.
For us, these crossings are useful when going to Portugal or Spain in one go, it's only 550 miles from Santander to Lisbon.

If you suffer from severe seasickness then either take some tablets or just get s*** faced and blame it on the beer so you won't get embarrassed!!!

Safe travels...
 


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