Starting to come together. I have now booked my ferry ticket for June 1st. The process wasn’t as simple as I’ve experienced before. And instead of using the port I’ve used many times before, Portsmouth. I’ve had to switch to Newhaven.

Unfortunately bikes (or foot passengers for that matter) are no longer able to travel by ferry from Portsmouth To LeHavre.

After eventually speaking with a Brittany ferries representative after being in a queue for an hour, I was told it’s not safe. There is nowhere to store bike and because of the lorries it wasn’t safe for me to be on that ferry. I did think this a little odd. DFDS managed it for years and even Brittany can still do Portsmouth to Caen.

As I’m not sure of the exact date coming back, this meant an”flexi” ticket. Unfortunately these aren’t that flexible and any change still costs another £20 to make a change.

Impressed isn’t a word I’d use for my experience with Brittany trying to travel by bike. After adding in a non flexible, flexible ticket and a seat each way it’s a total cost of £210. if I want a cabin it’s £359.

As my previous experience with DFDS has always been good I thought I’d look to see where they ran from. They happen to run from Newhaven Dieppe. It’s another 52 miles to cycle to but significantly cheaper at only £76 return. Giving DFDS a quick call was easy. They answered within 2 minutes as opposed to Brittany’s being on hold for an hour. I asked the same question about change of date. Simple. One of £10 fee plus any difference in ticket type/price.

Well that’s a turn out for the books. It means overall cycling an extra 104 miles. But with the saving over a Brittany. That works out at £2.65 per mile. With a touring speed of 10mph. That’s an hourly rate of £26.54! Great.

Very helpful staff as always with DFDS. Website works well so I’m happy to say I’ve now got my tickets booked. One step closer.

A