Chasing the Cheapest Crossing: Planning My Campervan Trip to Portugal

Driving a campervan from the UK to Portugal starts with what seems like a simple choice — just get on a boat to Spain — but quickly turns into a puzzle of ports, dates, and fuel costs.

For my van (5.9m long, 2.8m high), it came down to Portsmouth to Santander or Bilbao, or Plymouth to Santander. Plymouth had the shortest crossings, but the sailing I wanted was sold out. I also found that Brittany Ferries’ own site and third-party resellers didn’t always agree on availability or price for the same sailing, so it was worth checking both.

Once I factored in fuel costs for the drive to and from the ports, not just the ferry fare, the ranking shifted — the cheapest ticket wasn’t always the cheapest trip.

In the end, I booked the 19:00 crossing to Bilbao on 6th August.