Ferries....arrrggggghhhhh!

We researched several different ferry options in our planning stage. They're so expensive!

Having visited a few different sites and trying to out smart the system, we succeeded. Although it's not easy.

We figured we should find a decent ferry from Spain to Ibiza first, just incase it was ridiculously expensive and may change our minds! There are quite a few options when booking a ferry from Spain to Ibiza. We could have gone from Denia, Valencia or Barcelona. Checking out each option, Valencia came out cheapest - and it's also the fastest, landing us in San Antonio in just uner 3 hours. 

We used travelsupermarket for part of the search, along with directferries, balearia and acciona. However, directferries came out on top at a cool 284euros for a 2 week return sail.

Anyways, so, we have our way off one island and on to the next...so, we just needed to get from UK to France or Spain.

Firstly, we looked at Brittany Ferries, which go from Portsmouth to Santander on a 24 hour ferry. The cheapest we could find was £849 return - yikes! So, that was scrapped from pretty much point go.

Having previously travelled with DFDS, the Dover to Dunkirk route for £49 return we figured this may be an option. Sadly, we have fallen out with DFDS lol. The price has doubled, even when trying for different dates. The cheapest we found this was £85. Ok, so not too expensive, but having paid half that the past two years, we were admamant we could find it cheaper.

On to P&O, which came out at £64 return from Dover to Calais, which we were pretty happy with.

After tweeting DFDS and P&O for promo codes and discounts, who both came back to me quickly, but weren't much help, we decided to book. At this point, we also discovered that it was slighlty cheaper again if booking in Euros (cheeky tip!).


Our travel is now booked - yippeeee!

Planning...

With my Birthday happening in August, we set aside 3 weeks holiday from work. Lucky us eh! So, that's 2 weeks on Ibiza island and 1 week for the there and back drive.
 
Exploring all of the route options, driving through France became the best for us. Not only is it cheaper to get the ferry (although don't get me started on ferries!) from Dover to France, as opposed to getting the ferry from Portsmouth to Santander (£800 return - ouch!), but we figured it would be a more scenic experience.

To google maps...

Knowing from previous trips that French toll roads can be majorly expensive, we have opted to take the route that doesn't use toll roads. 1400 miles and 28 hours later, we will have completed the journey.

With a few stops on the way down at some Aires, we should save ourselves some beer tokens for when we get to the island.
 
We are not the typical "24 hour party people" and won't be headed for the super-clubs...more like a relaxed beach bar in Ibiza town. Doing a spot of "googling" we realised that there isn't much information out there about campervanning on the island, although there seems to be plenty of sites. So, our plan is to book on as and when and mooch around the island :)


Initial research done, now to part with some money!