southampton to france and driving

[sfgent]

arriving in southamptom on june11 and wish to take ferry across channel to pick up french rent a car for one way drive around normandy battlefields and drop off in paris... checked ferries and portsmouth st malo does not operate that day.. any other suggestions what we should do???

[LHT28]

You could fly from SOU to Rennes or Brest maybe there is a car rental office there

Check flybe for flights

[John Bull]

You don't want the ferry to St Malo - that's for Brittany / Mont St Michel & routes to the south / Spain.:eek:

Instead, take either the route Portsmouth to Caen, or Portsmouth to Cherbourg. Both are operated by http://www.brittany-ferries.co.uk/

Be aware that french time is an hour ahead of UK time - the crossing is an hour quicker than you'd think from the timetable.

 

Portsmouth to Caen. Although quoted as "Caen", the ferry actually docks at Ouistreham. From there take the free shuttle about 10 miles to Caen rail station. Both Hertz and Europcar have depots close to the rail station.

Ouistreham was the easternmost point of the D-Day landings, a sector of the British "Sword" beach though the landing at Ouistreham was assigned to the Free French forces. Nearby is Pegasus Bridge, the first D-Day objective, captured by airborne forces just after midnight. It has an excellent museum

http://www.memorial-pegasus.org/mmp/musee_debarquement/index.php?lang=uk

Adjacent the bridge is Cafe Gondree, the first house to be liberated. - the cafe is still run by the same family, has lots of memorabilia, and the few remaining vets are very warmly welcomed.

http://battlefieldsww2.50megs.com/stop_1_-_pegasus_bridge_&_gondree_cafe.htm

 

Portsmouth to Cherbourg. Subject to ferry timings, this is probably your best route because it arrives at the US end of the landing beaches & from there you can meander along the coast taking in all the beaches, then continue to Paris.

Either the traditional ferry or the fast-cat (but be aware that the fast-cat occasionally doesn't sail due to stormy weather). The fast-cat has recently been switched from the Caen route to the Cherbourg route.

Sorry, I don't know which rental companies have depots in Cherbourg but it will only be a short taxi hop between ferry & car rental depot.

Cherbourg is about 30 miles east of Ste Mere-Eglise, taken by the US 505th following landings by the 82nd Airborne. Excellent airborne museum http://www.airborne-museum.org/en/

The easternmost D-Day beach, Utah, is just a few miles north of Ste Mere-Eglise. You can drive the length of Utah beach along the quiet little beach road.

Excellent Utah beach museum

http://www.utah-beach.com/uk/landing-museum/museum/default.asp

From there to the German cemetery at La Cambe (worth fifteen minutes, if only for the stark contrast to the American Cemetery), then Pointe du Hoc, American Cemetery overlooking Omaha beach at Colleville-sur-mer, heavy gun battery at Longues-sur-mer, the British & Commonwealth beaches, Mulberry harbour, museum, shops etc of Arromanches, Canadian memorial museum at Courseulles-sur-mer, & British beaches to Ouistreham, Pegasus Bridge then the fast A13 divided highway to Paris.

 

This route from Cherbourg. If you take the ferry to Ouistreham/Caen go direct to Ste Mere-Eglise along the main N13 highway, then follow the coastal route back

http://maps.google.co.uk/maps?saddr=Cherbourg,+France&daddr=49.4113219,-1.3198282+to:49.4666084,-1.235168+to:49.3430111,-1.021411+to:49.3927702,-0.9870015+to:49.3536621,-0.8708859+to:49.3358374,-0.6990539+to:49.3374322,-0.6219986+to:49.3347506,-0.4652418+to:49.3268895,-0.383748+to:49.2861802,-0.2664779+to:49.2428921,-0.275927+to:49.1934432,-0.3354457+to:Paris,+France&hl=en&ll=49.309008,0.31311&spn=1.434349,4.22699&sll=49.223652,-0.381775&sspn=0.179605,0.528374&geocode=FbVu9QIdLjPn_ymNGDOdC5cMSDGQfrlPSBQMBA%3BFfn08QIdbNzr_ylh0arQM3kLSDHr26GyLgBkYQ%3BFfDM8gIdICft_yk9Ct2xnXALSDGy9xAH3EjX5w%3BFSPq8AIdHWrw_ymbksfsZ6ALSDHNxq8IH7W17Q%3BFYKs8QIdh_Dw_ymxem_qNwoLSDFC3BoaLllo6g%3BFb4T8QIdG7by_ykltbW6BagLSDH9e2CVElgnTw%3BFR3O8AIdU1X1_ykprJ0lM1UKSDGwx_KgRlWavQ%3BFVjU8AIdUoL2_ynviflE21UKSDHKfl9nmP4AEQ%3BFd7J8AIdp-b4_ykfbS5p71gKSDG5_sKt4hzg_Q%3BFSmr8AId_CT6_ynf1TNcrF8KSDGCx2zq5FSOjA%3BFSQM8AIdE-_7_ykbfXCdU2EKSDFmlANe5WBP9A%3BFQxj7wIdKcr7_ymZNMoBYmYKSDH1xVZkZmGe1w%3BFeOh7gIdq-H6_ylzxkiwD2gKSDH3WKmEJmZjUQ%3BFSZ-6QIdXuQjACkPt-IGH27mRzFglIxow4ILBA&oq=Paris&mra=dpe&mrsp=12&sz=12&via=1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8,9,10,11,12&t=m&z=9

 

Visiting all these places would take two very full days, so you may have to prune to suit the time available.

The big Peace Museum at Caen needs almost a full day and it isn't specific to D-Day, in fact it majors on the holocaust. For most folk it's too big, not terribly relevant to D-Day, & it's very time-consuming

 

Cars rented in europe are normally shift-stick. If you want auto-transmission you need to specify.

 

Southampton to Portsmouth

It's about 25 miles. At a very vague guess it'll cost about £40 - £45 for a pre-booked private transfer with www.smithsforairports.com or www.westquaycars.com both are extensively used by CC members.

By public transport, the Nat Express coach http://www.nationalexpress.com/home.aspx is a better bet than the train because it calls at Portsmouth's international ferry port. About £4 per person. Your boarding point is Southampton "coach station", not "cruise ship terminal", which doesn't apply to your ship. The coach station is a £5 to £7 taxi hop from any cruise terminal.

 

JB :)

[John Bull]

Sorry, senior moment.

Utah is the westernmost beach. :rolleyes:

 

JB :o

[sddsddean]

Couple of addenda to JB's posts.

 

In Cherbourg there is a National Car hire place http://www.nationalcar.co.uk . They came and picked us from the cruise terminal when we were there...don't know if they would do the same from the ferry terminal.

 

If you are arriving in France on a Sunday, all except the main car hire places (eg airports) will be closed...could affect you.

 

Simon

[sddsddean]

I've just re read your question. June 11th is a Tuesday, so forget the Sunday bit!

 

Simon

[sfgent]

thanks to john bull and all of the others for such detailed wonderful replies.. we will make it work.. again thanks and happy new year

[Red Fox]

Portsmouth to Cherbourg.

Either the traditional ferry or the fast-cat (but be aware that the fast-cat occasionally doesn't sail due to stormy weather). The fast-cat has recently been switched from the Caen route to the Cherbourg route.

 

Portsmouth-Cherbourg is fast ferry only with Brittany Ferries. If you want the all weather conventional ferry to Cherbourg then that runs from Poole, 35 miles west of Southampton. JB, Portsmouth-Cherbourg has always been Normandie Express' primary route, she only ran to Caen for a round trip Fri to Sun as a hangover from the P&O fastcat services which she replaced.

 

You may also want to consider LD Lines/DFDS Seaways (they are in the process of merging at the moment) on the Portsmouth to Le Havre route. It is over night only from Portsmouth and not as well presented as the Brittany Ferries product but it's usually cheaper.

[joemooch]

and drop off in paris...

Other posts were excellent.

Just don't drop a car in Paris. Chose another city drop outside of Paris near a train to trainsit into Paris. Caen has good connections but there is lots to see if you have the time to drive through northern France.

Joe

[John Bull]

Portsmouth-Cherbourg is fast ferry only with Brittany Ferries. If you want the all weather conventional ferry to Cherbourg then that runs from Poole, 35 miles west of Southampton. JB, Portsmouth-Cherbourg has always been Normandie Express' primary route, she only ran to Caen for a round trip Fri to Sun as a hangover from the P&O fastcat services which she replaced.

 

You may also want to consider LD Lines/DFDS Seaways (they are in the process of merging at the moment) on the Portsmouth to Le Havre route. It is over night only from Portsmouth and not as well presented as the Brittany Ferries product but it's usually cheaper.

 

Hi Foxy, thanks for the update on the fast ferry.

Certainly the best route, but without a car there's just that faint risk of getting fouled-up by a cancellation, since there's no fall-back to a traditional ferry on the same route.

 

Travel from Southampton to Poole for the traditional ferry to Cherbourg is almost as easy as to Portsmouth - train or National Express coach to Poole, then a taxi hop to the ferry terminal.

 

Had overlooked LD - in part because its a very limited service dependent on a single vessel. I've sailed it a couple of times - an older & very basic ship, but it does the job. With Le Havre as the destination, it means an hour or more of back-tracking for the D-Day beaches then on to Paris. So its not ideal for the OP.

 

Subject to times, I'd rate Portsmouth to Cherbourg fast ferry as best choice by far, then Portsmouth to Ouistreham (Caen), then Poole to Cherbourg, then LD Portsmouth to Le Havre. Any thoughts?

 

New Year's wishes

 

JB :)