Clive Wilmer

Personal Holiday Disasters

How to have a stress free holiday, dont do what I do, do what I say! The story of nightmare journey across Europe with 2 small children and how to avoid a similar fate.  find more travel tips and other useful holiday information.

I thought I would share an example of what not to do when going on holiday - not if you want a stress free break.  

The plan was simple. We had a two week holiday booked in Northern Spain, in Asturias and we had decided not to fly to avoid the hassle with airports, luggage, airport parking, transfers, etc with two small children (18 months and 4).   Instead we decided to take the ferry, with Brittany ferries overnight to Santander, from where it would be a short drive down the coast to our hotel.  The hotel had been booked with through Brittany ferries as well, the thinking was that this would be the most stress free and easy way to do the journey.   We had a nice sleeper cabin with shower booked for the four of us.  Simple drive to the port, roll on the ferry, get some nosh, go to bed wake up in Santander. Perfecto!

The night before our departure was the village barn dance, and a good night was had by all, as they say.    While we were at the dance we discussed our plans for the next day,  but couldnt agree if the ferry was 2pm or 4pm,  so we thought when we got in we would check the tickets.  This we duly did and discovered it was after 4pm. 

Next morning I had a quick look at the map, and reckoned that three hours to Portsmouth should allow plenty of time (it is less than 120 miles), but we had better set off  shortly after 12:15 or 12:30.  We spent the morning mooching about and left a bit about 12:40 after we’d had lunch and cleared up, locked-up gone to the loo etc.

We were just hitting the motorway (about 13:00) we thought we would check the tickets to see which dock, etc, and my wife casually announced that we’d got it wrong the ferry didn’t go from Portsmouth it went from Plymouth.  She says she will never forget the look on my face. Fortunately for her her geography of the south coast is a bit hazy.  But to put you all in the picture Plymouth is twice as far as Portsmouth. We now had just over three hours to do about 240 miles.  

I decided that it was a long shot but we had an outside chance of making it.  So pushing the pedal to metal we tanked it (not bad with a roof box and fully loaded) down the M1 round the M25 and down the M4.  We were going really well and were still in with a shout- however stress levels in the car were peaking along with my driving. 

However we now started to hit some traffic as we joined the M5 and crossed the Avonmouth and by now the kids and the wife needed a comfort stop.  The kids were unceremoniously told to go in the bushes near Gordano services to save precious seconds.  Traffic was still a bit heavy but easing, however, time was looking increasingly desperate - you are supposed to arrive at least half an hour before departure too.  I had  been planning to fill up in Spain so we had only set off with just over half a tank, the heavy driving meant we now would probably need to make a fuel stop too. 

With a heavy heart Julie got on the mobile and phoned Brittany ferries to see what we could do.  They were very helpful when we said  we thought we would miss the crossing. However all they could offer was a ship to Roscoff on the end of the Brittany peninsular that was sailing just before midnight, with a cabin.  I suppose for the wasnt too bad, it was just two weeks before the start of the peak summer holidays, was probably what saved us.    This would mean an 800 mile drive instead of 50-60 miles - not good.  Would we have to stop somewhere in France for the night, or could we do it one day?

In the end we only missed the sailing by less than half an hour and that was the almost the length of time it took us to get through Plymouth to the docks.  If I have to spend seven or eight hours in a UK port, then Portsmouth beats Plymouth hands down (no offence to anyone in Plymouth).

I didnt really sleep that night on the boat, I was still adrenalin charged, and as we rolled off the ferry in the morning I already had a thumping headache, with an 800 mile drive stretching out and two small children in the back. 

I will conclude this saga tomorrow, but the learning is to check the details a few days before  you make your final arrangements, especially if you’ve booked the holiday months before.   This includes checking and finding your passports dont leave this to the night before either.  We’ve never really lived this episode down, friends still ask if we’ve gone to the right airport and so forth.  My only excuse is the Brittany do also sail from Portsmouth and that is where I have always sailed with them before.  Dont let it happen to you. 

So check: 

•  the exact dates of departure both ways
• check the airport and  the terminal and  the carrier
•  the time of any flights / ferries and check in times
• passports  and expiry dates - do this at least one week before
• check the map for your route
• pre book any airport parking  (you’ll save a fortune) - allow sufficient time to park and get a shuttle. 

Be lucky. Be prepared.

Article Tags: Brittany Ferries

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