We’ve travelled Rosslare/Bilbao in Sept ‘22 travelling on Brittany Ferries “Connemara”.
At the time this was advertised as a “no-frills” service, due to the the ship being primarily a freight vessel. However the service was quite satisfactory and well priced .
We’re returning to Spain on the same route, in June this year, but the Connemara has been replaced by the “Salamanca”, and I believe this is a better boat, and thus maybe we can expect a smoother sailing/ crossing??
Just wondered if anyone has experienced the BF Salamanca, or it’s sister ship the BF Galicia, and I’d be grateful for any comments regarding your experiences, in particular with regard to stability particularly in rough seas.
We found the return voyage, end Sept ‘22 a bit “rocky” crossing the Bay of Biscay- not the fault of Brittany Ferries, but just wondered if I can expect a smoother ride in June ‘25?
Many thanks
DC
I can’t answer your question (sorry) but I’d be interested in learning more about your route, if you don’t mind sharing? Brittany will take dogs and I’m considering doing something similar (ferry to Northern Spain then travel to Portugal and end up in the Algarve) albeit not in an MX-5 and with my greyhound.
Our 2022 trip is detailed in a previous post entitled “Roadtrip 2022”. Have tried to post a link to that thread, but I can’t seem to manage this……
Basically we landed in Bilbao and drove due west along the Celtic coast to Santiago de Compostella via Santillana, Gijón/Oveido.
Then due south into Portugal through Porto, Sintra, Lisbon and on to the Algarve, namely Lagos. Then on to Tavira, then to Beja, Évora, Castelo Branco, Guarda,
Then back into Spain to Salamanca, Valladolid, Burgos and back to Bilbao.
This year is ‘clockwise ‘ instead of anti-clockwise, and (sadly) leaving out Santiago, and Porto, but including Léon, Braga, Setubal, and Seville.
This is the ‘22 post- thanks Ian for prompt advice on how to post this!
This takes you to the final post in this thread (Dec ‘22. Just scroll back to the beginning and you’ll see all the various maps, photos and interactions from forum members going back to Sept’22
Thanks, David, I’ll take a proper look through this in due course. I notice at the top of the thread you said it was a five week trip. I was thinking of more like two to three weeks, spending a week in the Algarve and the time either side getting there and back. Do you think that is realistic or trying to fit too much in? I wouldn’t necessarily want to see everything that you did, but Sintra, Lisbon, and Seville would be ideal then just taking my time there and back.
Hi Mikey,
Yes, our June ‘25 trip will be 3 weeks in total, and that includes 6 nights in Lagos and 3 nights in Tavira. So the remainder will be getting to the Algarve, and back again, step by step. We are planning less stops this time and will be travelling a bit more between stops and this accounts for the shorter duration.
Thus the majority of our stops will be for more than one night. One night in Bilbao at each end of the holiday and one night in Aveiro and one in Setubal. See below.
The accommodation booked is a combination of old friends and hopes for the future!
Seville and Léon are new to us, the others are places we’ve visited before and are returning to hotels/appartments we have loved before. We’ve passed through Aveiro travelling south from Porto in the MX5, and although we’ve walked around the centre , we haven’t stayed there.
Hi David
We have just returned (4 days ago) from an 8 week road trip to Spain and the Canary Islands in my 2017 ND 1. We sailed out from Portsmouth to Bilbao on the BF Galicia, and returned from Santander on board BF Santona, another sister ship. We were very impressed with both. They were quite luxurious and definitely well above the basic level provided by Fred Olsen on the crossing from Huelva to Tenerife! We had a cabin on both crossings, along with C Club lounge access which kept us fed, watered and wined for the duration.
The outward leg was a little choppy traversing the Bay of Biscay, but the return leg was incredibly smooth, didn’t bother taking my travel sickness pills. You can never guarantee the weather, but we had good crossings in November and January, so hopefully June will be “flat as a mill pond”.
Incidentally, we travelled the length & breadth of Spain and 2 of the islands (Tenerife & La Gomera) without clapping eyes on another MX5. We drove from Bilbao to Pamplona, Zaragoza, Teruel and down to Almeria where we spent a week near Mojacar. Then we headed west to Granada, Ronda and took the ferry from Huelva to Tenerife. After a couple of nights we crossed to La Gomera where we spent 3 weeks. Back on Tenerife, the car loved the drive up Teide (see photo), then back to the mainland. Our return route was via Merida, Salamanca Burgos and finally Santander. 2141 miles averaging 48.4mpg.
Good luck with your road trip. Liz
Hi Mikey
See my reply to David - we found Brittany Ferries to be excellent and there were lots of folk travelling with dogs. They had kennels, designated dog cabins, and a dog deck. We didn’t do Portugal, but our return journey through western Spain skirted the border until we turned towards Burgos.
Hope your trip goes well. Liz
