Anyone wishing to travel to/from Europe to the UK should have a look at ferrysales.com.
They sell one-way tickets and so we were able to get to Calais and back next week (1st November to 5th November) for 44 GBP (about 62 euros) - much the cheapest that we found in an hour or so of searching.
Posts: 189 | Location: Shrewsbury UK | Registered: January 08, 2003
My Rough Guide France of a year and a half ago told me that a single on SeaFrance was around 25 British pounds. I booked this in the summer season and it was was slightly cheaper about a week before. I suppose that a return would be just a bit less now than 44 British pounds. SeaFrance are the best I have travlled on recently, and at least as good as the slwoer ferries I travelled on over ten years ago, Sealink being the normal one of a decent or unimpressive standard.
Why I am posting this is to warn you, in my relatively recent experience, to avoid HoverSpeed. Aroudn fifteen years ago I travelled on HoverSpeed hovercrafts and decided that this was the bes msot comfortable way fto cross the channel, it not being much mroe expensive than a ferry.
Now this company is operating as a commercial misnomer. The ferry, the cheapest return ticket with Hostelling International being 28 pounds, was terrible and I have never felt worse or sicker.
It is funny that it seems the people who were using this service appeared very confused and actually depressed about the lack of hovering on water which this company is commercially involved in today. This affected me quite seriously too.
I suppose that sailing on water in a ferry often involves a lot of trust in the event specific practice of making the sailing. Confusion reigned here and it seemed that people did not know if they were flying or cycling or dreaming when the sick-,making waves came.
Amazingly these sailings were many opposites of the main reason why I loved the Hovercraft crossings - they were as smooth throughout the crossing of not much more than thirty minutes as riding in a quite modern coach on a flat road.
Do these ladies still cross the channel? I heard that they were frightfully pricy to maintain. well so much for the flying handbags....and none of us are getting any younger are we? not that 'mutton dressed as lamb' is appropriate here. now where's me channel no.5?
Both "ferries" (Seacats) left on time and arrived at the other side early. No seasickness or discomfort felt.
My only complaints were that the boat is a bit fast for decent birdwatching (and I left my binoculars in the car!) so I was able to positively ID a possible Sabine's Gull about 5 mile out of Dover) and there is no hot food available, excpet for really horrible pasties.
I'll use the service (and the website) again and I reckon anything under 50 pounds for a period return is pretty good value.
By the way - did I mention that this was for a car and up to five passengers - possibly not, and it might be important.
Posts: 189 | Location: Shrewsbury UK | Registered: January 08, 2003
When I went, years ago, the interior was small and like a pleasant airplane with similar seating and, both times the seats were all full. (Was this out of the ordinary?)
It was more expensive than a ferry though I am absolutely sure that there are many people who are willing to pay the price for a 35 minute fast and ultra smooth journey to France from the United Kingdom or coming to the UK from France. It beats the tunnel actually, though you did have to check in for some time before the short sailing. It was the means of travel that resembles a boat the least (when I say smooth, I mnean without even feeling this.)
The hovercraft were only smooth when the sea was smooth. If the sea was rough, the craft gave a very bumpy ride. They were noisy, expensive to run, and liable to be cancelled in bad weather. No car ferry operators anywhere else in the world bought them - they weren't a sensible economic proposition. In the 1950s and 1960s, there were air ferries taking cars across the channel. They also disappeared for economic reasons. Hoverspeed now run fast catamarans, but are not running all winter - services are suspended for three months. The ships are more frequent and much more reliable.
The machine was invented in 1956 when the late Sir Christopher Cockerall placed a tin lid of kittycat in a coffee jar and blew air from his wife's vacuum cleaner into the jar, the rebounding upward thrust lifting the lid into a hover. Sadly, as noted by other columnists the machine proved too costly to operate commercially. Would make a great fairground ride tho'!
greetings fellowsandgrounder -in a world of aliens. why not call in at portchat? -excellent way to keep in touch with things back home. cheers for the mo.
