Dull but hopefully useful post about Ferries.

A snowHead

For any other Northerners out there I wanted to share my 1st experience of driving to France (Val d'Isere) on P&O's crossing from Hull.

My verdict was that it was brilliant though obviously the fact that I live 15 minutes away from the terminal makes it freakishly convenient.

Reasons for fabulousness:-

1. Great sailing/arrival times. There are 2 Ferries leaving 2 hours apart in the evening; 1 going to Zeebrugge and 1 going to Rotterdam. We took the Zeebrugge ferry on the way there because we were aiming to drive to resort in one day and Zeebrugge is 80 miles closer and time was of the essence. The Ferry sails at 9.00 pm so we although we left work early, the girls were able to have a full day at school etc...

Both Ferries disembark at approx 8.00am which without being brutally early gives you a great start on your journey.

On the return journey we took the Rotterdam ferry as it's later departure time more than cancelled out the 80 additional miles. We disembarked before 8.00 am in time for us both to go to work, those without he great fortune to live in Hull javascript:emoticon(' wink

') would at least get a great start on their run home.

2. The comfort factor. The Ferries are really comfortable and well appointed. For all of us it was part of the holiday in a way that fighting your way through Manchester or (God forbid) the London airports, never will be. The girls went to the cinema and to the good self service restaurant while we stuffed our faces at the excellent and not expensive Langans Brasserie. The cabins are great and I usually sleep like a baby despite my normal insomniac tendencies.

3.Practicality with kids We were going for 2 weeks in an apartment with 2 children. Going by Ferry meant we could pack all sorts of extras like board games etc.. and food and drink supplies courtesy of Lidl that saved us money on buying them in resort.

4. Cost cf above plus because few people have twigged that driving to ski resorts is doable on this route it is very low season on P&O so pretty cheap. I also think that when people talk about flight costs they often forget about the cost of parking; driving to the airport and even having to stay in an airport hotel for those incredibly cheap but at insanely early in the morning budget flights.

In our case despite hitting nightmare traffic between Albertville and Moutiers we arrived in Val d'Isere at just after 7.00pm. We did break the return journey so as to enable us to ski on the last Saturday (glorious and quiet) and because we daren't chance it to make the ferry departure in one day given there could have been a metre of snow in the night.

With the exception of the Albertville onwards stretch which has to be negotiated irrespective of whether you fly, I would far rather drive on the continent than in the UK, particularly on the M1 and M25. From Rotterdam & Zeebrugge you entirely miss the Paris problem and the roads and service areas are so much more civilized and predictable.

The bloke and I are flying when we go to Zermatt for New Year but we so enjoyed our ferry experience that we are considering doing it to Val d'Isere even when it is just the 2 of us and the cost advantage will be marginal.

A snowHead

10 hours on a boat in the north sea is not my idea of fun, nor that of a good friend who recently spent an additional 10hours on the ferry on the route you took, 8hours of which were due to a storm which prevented the ferry getting into port the other 2 were as they had to turn it round as the door broke Laughing

mind you if the weather was ok i could see the advantages Toofy Grin

Well, the person's real but it's just a made up name, see?

Hullite, thanks for the info, have often wondered about that route, if we were to move up north - which was an option at one point.

We're close enough to Channel Tunnel at the moment so always use that route - although Sat Navs seem to like Paris, there is no need to go anywhere near it from Calais. Reims - Dijon being the usual route.

As you say worst part of the journey is M40, M25 and M20

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Boris, my Sat Nav doesn't send us via Paris from Calais.

Anyway, snowHeads is much more fun if you do.

Hullite, doing it very shortly. thought was 7:30 sail or is that just check in ??

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Helen Beaumont, Ours always used to want to - think the updated software has resolved now

Then you can post your own questions or snow reports...

Boris, our old car did (our very French Laguna), but we were coming back from the Loire Valley so it was difficult to avoud Paris entirely. Fortunately, it was start of Paris hols, and the whole of Paris was going in the opposite direction.

After all it is free

Boris, forget the satnav, look at a map. Madness to go via Paris!

Hullite, I've used the Hull/Rotterdam/Zebrugge ferries for the last 3 trips with my son and totally agree with you regarding the convenience. We travel from Manchester and the trip across the M62 is convenient, as we can get there after he leaves school in the afternoon. We used Langham's Brasserie on the way back his year (it was closed due to technical reasons on the way out) and very good it was too.

I find it a very relaxing start and end to the skiing holiday and recommend it to anyone as an alternative route to the white stuff.

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geepee, makes no difference to us, we can't get there in time after work (neither of us finish until 6pm), so would haveto take another day off work. We may as well drive down to Dover if we have to do that and spend the night in a nice French hotel rather than hang about all day waiting for the ferry. I did price it for two of us last winter, and it wasjust as cheap to drive to Calais. Have thought about it , but we also have a dog with us who would not take kindly to being left in the on-ship kennel all night.

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Nickski, Check in is 90 minutes before sailing but I thing there is some leeway there but don't push it too much as our sailing from Rotterdam left 20 minutes early.

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More advice, pre book your meals as it's cheaper than doing it on board.

Hullite, Sorry. Channel tunnel rocks.....boats rock and me and 3 kids vomit

. Wife giggles. Hate ferries.

You know it makes sense.

I used to love the Sheerness - Vlissingen ferry. It was like being in Triangle (remember that anyone?). naff "Raw Sex" duo in the corner and a roulette wheel they called the casino. beer was dirt cheap though Laughing

Otherwise you'll just go on seeing the one name:

Love the Hull ferries and have used them quite a few times to ski. couple of things i would bear in mind: if you leave Hull sunday through thursday and go to europort you will hit rotterdam commuter traffic (no fun if your pregnant - but doesn't yet know it wife decides to need a pee NOW!) also you need to make sure you catch your return boat as there is not another one in an hour! we missed ours when said unfortunate missus had a broken foot on return from Switzerland and had to keep getting out of car due to pain/sickness. missing the boat and knowing all 4 of us were due at work the next day meant a over night drive to calais then dover back up north (though technically we did beat our ETA home - just with no sleep Sad

anyway still love the routes and will use them again. Smile

A snowHead

I go every year with the Newcastle/Amsterdam ferry service.

Forced to fly in the last trip because the destination was Japan. I couldn't believe the hassle of checking in and collecting the skis and boots, not to mention taking them in the transfer for just one bus. Leaving everything in the own car and forget about them is definitely superior.

Personally I enjoy driving to ski. It is the ultimate form of freedom to be able to go to any resort and in any country. By staying in the off-resort accommodations to cut down the cost I didn't find skiing the upmarket resorts harder or significantly more expensive than the normal ones. Next year planning a trip to ski Films, Arosa, Kloster, Davos, St Moritz and Livigno.

A snowHead

saikee, we enjoy driving too. I promise we will try the Amsterdam ferry at some point, but it has always worked out more expensive, and the thought of being in amongst hoardes of stag and hen parties puts me off.

Well, the person's real but it's just a made up name, see?

Sea sickness is not too bad on the overnighters, just get into bed before it gets rough.

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Anyway, snowHeads is much more fun if you do.

Helen Beaumont,

I never ran into one of these stag and hen parties myself as I seldom spend time in the bars when on a ferry. Going the bed early makes a lot of sense to get ready for the journey when the ferry docks at 09:00. We normally pick a resort anywhere in the Alps that is under 650 miles from Amsterdam and tell the accommodation owner to expect a late arrival and get on with it.

Winter is of course the low season for ferries. Even at Christmas/New Year time there are hardy any crowd.

The Newcastle/Amsterdam is ideal for Swiss and Austrian resorts because the routes are faster, easier and shorter than to those in France. The Austrian resorts not only have the best snow their accommodations choices are also the widest and booking is by far the easiest and the most flexible, at least for visitors who drive. Austrian resorts are also the most car-friendly because the majority of skiers/boarders there drive to ski. Can't remember I have paid for parking in any of the Austrian resorts I visited but I did for some of the Italian, French and the Swiss resorts. The Saalbach Hinterglemm piste map says if a skier gets a car parking charge the money can be refunded at the ticket office. I tried and got the refund by a reduction in the ski pass.

Can't remember any traffic jam in Swiss and Austrian resorts. The only jam in the motorway I have experienced was in Munich and the section to the Austrian border when there was a snow storm. Traffic inside Munich has been bad for the last few years though due to some of the roads are being re-constructed.

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holidayloverxx, remember that... Olau line wasn't it? Used to go on work overnight "cruises" and get plastered. Shame they stopped that and the Harwich-Hoek van Holland HSS, cos both were pretty convenient.

Done Newcastle-Amsterdam a few times. And Zeebrugge-Rosyth (shame that's only 3 sailings/week now). Both are not bad, but there's jack all to do, and the breakfast is always rank (well the cooked breaky is) on all those ferries.

Then you can post your own questions or snow reports...

The North Sea routes are reknowned for being the best in the fleet, but then if you have an 10 hr crossing, it would need to be.

I'd always choose the ferry over the tunnel. It starts the holiday off well and gives you a nice rest on the way back from driving all day.
I find the tunnel souless and the best way to travel through it is by Eur0star and even that part of it is rrreaaally boring...!!!

After all it is free

JT, when I can use my Tesco Clubcard for a freebie on the ferry instead of the Eurotunnel I will give it a go. THis summer will be Eurotunnel,as will next December.

Helen Beaumont, 75% off the price and no vomit. No brainer using the tunnel Toofy Grin

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Helen Beaumont,
I'll see to it.. Laughing

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Hullite, Nice write-up. I took the Hull-Rotterdam boat for a trip to Austria last month and was impressed. It worked out almost the same price as the fuel would have cost to drive to Dover and get the boat from there (I live in West Yorkshire).
Only thing I didn't like was the smell of smoke near the bars.

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I think choosing the mode of transportation is very similar to choosing a skiing resort.

Everyone has his/her own taste. Some like crowd others prefer quietness. Price can be a major consideration and so can be the convenience.

Nowaday the skiing equipment can easily takes away more than 50% of the flght luggage allowance and this is bad news for skiers using their own gears but great news to those who hire.

I suppose taking the ferry is like choosing a quiet or a less well known resort to avoid crowd. It suits skiers who doesn't to compete with others on space, food, facilties, time etc.

There are people who would pay to be able to clip up the skis and set off from the doorsteps to catch the same chairlift everyday for the week while others may find more fun by driving to the different chairlift station each day even for the same resort, domain, valley or region.

As long as one is happy and not stressed up then any form of transportation to any resort can be a nice skiing trip. There is always more than one way to skin the cat.

thefatcontroller, but I actually quite like the ferry, two trips using Sea France last year, and lovel y lunch in the brasserie. None of us are seasick.

You know it makes sense.

If you are travelling solo, or on a coach, then the ferry is by far the best option. If you go on the tunnel you just end up wasting the time you save by stopping at services to eat/rest.

Otherwise you'll just go on seeing the one name:

pam w, Oh I always sense check any Sat Nav route against a map, so have never taken any unexpected detours

A snowHead

achilles, Being seasick is no fun, it only happened to me once on a Brittany Ferry in the notorious Bay Of Biscay. I have yet to feel ill on the P&O crossing (fingers crossed); the boats are massive and very modern. As for the length of the crossing 10 hours during the day would be a ball-ache but if you are asleep it doesn't seem to count and there is an excitement to waking up in a new country.

saikee, You are right with your skis point I forgot to mention that, we have our own and although I haven't found flying with them as much of a pain as I anticipated there is always that anxiety until I see my babies at the other end and I know from reading anguished posts on this website that other Snowheads have not been so lucky when flying with their skis and that's before you consider the weight issue.

It never occurred to me that Austrian and Swiss resorts would work well from Rotterdam, - it is an exciting idea. Which are the best resorts for access? We shall have to play around with Multi-map.

I too love driving to the Alps, the first time I went was as a teenager on a school coach trip to Courmayeur and I vividly remember the fascination of seeing the vernacular architecture and landscape change as we travelled through France and then into Italy, even just the strangeness of the road signs and for someone from an island nation the novelty of driving across borders and into a new language. The Alps took my breath away as they do today and when you have driven there, arriving somehow has a more Grail-like quality as compared to being "teleported" in by plane.

A snowHead

Hullite,

The roads through Germany are not tolled. They are fast and have few traffic except around the industrial zone of Dusseldorf and Munich. Even the worst condition is nowhere near the French or the Dutch roads, although most French tolled are pretty empty. I normally find the German side easier to get through.

The quickest way to Austria from Amsterdam is go down the autobahns along the River Rhine and change direction for Munich when outside Frankfurt. There is a short section from Munich to the Austrian border which branches off to either Salzburg and Innsbruck.

For the fist day I have driven to Zell am See/Kaprun, Saalbach/Hinterglemm on the Salzburg branch.

For the Innsbruck branch one is spoiled for choices of selecting resorts in the first day; Ski Welt, Kitzbuhel, Alpbach, Zillertal Valley and even all the resorts around Innsbruck.

The German's Garmisch Partenkirchen is also a good choice because it does a cheap weekend package and may be a good stepping stone to hit resorts further afield. It is also a short distance to St Anton and Ischgl.

I have driven in the first day to Interlaken to ski the Jungfrau region, Monthley for the Swiss side of Porte Du Soleil and Sion for Verbier/Cran Montana. Next year I plan to hit Films,Arosa, Kloster, Davos, St Moritz and Livigno in one trip using Chur as the first stop.

To me Austria and Swiss resorts are easier to reach than the French. They rarely have crowds. Booking is the easiest (Switzerland is expensive though). Most importantly the quality of skiing is superior simply because people are good manner and there are less piste users to compete with space.

Austria and Switzerland don't do mega size resorts like the France and Italy (only in Dolomites) and very few of them have the accommodation to support a massive influx of visitors. Massive multistoey ugly apartment blocks are not seen in these resorts. May be it is hard to do packages for small resorts with limited supply of accomodations as not many of the Austrian resorts are featured in TO brochures. I find the 320+ resorts in Austria the best kept secret from the British skiers who only fly to ski.

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The Dusseldorf-Cologne-Bonn is the one of the most trafficed area in Germany so rush hours there should be avoided. It is possibly the same standard as Holland which as a country seems to have the more traffic than anywhere in Europe.

The section between Munich and the Austrian border is exacerbated by condensing the traffic from Salzburg and Innsbruck into one road and could be a nightmare in heavy snow due to the less well equipped vehicles blocking the lanes. I hit it once big time and had to go through the minor roads to send my brother's family to the airport. We were prudent by driving to Munich to stay overnight there to catch the plane next day. However even with a 4x4 able to go through heavy snow in minor roads we were slowed downed by big buses which were escaping from the blocked autobahn. Big buses, which there were loads of them, were having numerous problems with tight bends and steeper gradients. Seeing the amount of buses on these minor road we realise the traffic jam in that section of the road could not be temporary and must be pretty regular. That was inthe end Feb/beginning Mar, the usual school break time.

Having said the above we didn't meet any hold up in Jan and Mar in other time of the year but there is no doubt a high volume of traffic does stands out in this stretch of the road. Once after the Innsbruck/Salzburg branch, which filter may be 50% vehicles away, the traffic is no longer an issue. Traffic before reaching Munich, from Amsterdam side, got nothing to write home about.

Switzerland is another story. Traffic in Basel is always heavy and this extends all the way to Bern or Zurich. This may be due to the time of hiting the city at around 5 to 6 pm when one starts the journey in Amsterdam or Calais in the morning. On the return journey, passing the same stretch of the road in the morning, the traffic is nowhere as busy. Traffic in Switzerland tends to be more orderly and a hold up is rare but a slow progress is more frequent.

My annual skiing trip always starts at Ijmuiden near Amsterdam around 10am after the ferry docks at 9:30. I arrive at my Austrian resorts normally between 7:30 to 8:30 after 2 to 3 stops for meals and convenience. Have been like this for quite a number of years even if I skied in France or Switzerland around the Geneva area.

My choices of skiing resorts, in order of preference, are Austria, Italy, Switzerland and France. It may be the time of hiting the resort at the right weather both my brother and my family's all time favourite is the Italian Dolomites. It is a bit too far to rach in the first day but if we ski the first couple of days in a resort nearer to Amsterdam, drive to Italy after finishing a day's skiing we could sample any of the Italian resorts. We always take two days for the return journey. Apart from the hammering the 600+ miles in the first day we regard our skiing trip pretty relax. Even the first day in no longer a concern now after we changed to an automatic Shogun with replacement chip to up the engine power to 186bhp. Most of the journey can be done with the cruise control on, both feet off the pedals and the MP3 turn up.

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Dull but hopefully useful post about Ferries.

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