Travelling's not Cheap: The relative cost of driving or taking the ferry to Portugal

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I've been thinking about the cheapest way to get me and my stuff to Portugal at the end of September.

the two options for travelling by car being either driving to Folkestone, then Le Shuttle to Calais, then driving through mainland Europe, or driving to Portsmouth and Ferry to Santander, Spain, then driving the rest of the way.

There's not a lot in the two options in terms of price TBH: Le Shuttle and Ferry .png

  • Driving total cost = £500
  • Ferry total cost = £590

Those are my 'realistic' costs , which includes a cabin for the 19 hour ferry journey (rather than a standard reclining seat) and a hotel at the other end before driving to Penamacor the next day, and two cheap hotels/ air bnbs for the drive through France and Spain with the car option.

The prices are so similar, with the Ferry coming out unsurprisingly more expensive, given the cost of running Ferries, and the fact that they can charge more for a convenience factor - I can see the appeal in NOT actively driving for most of the journey, and it's more direct than driving.

The driving option

  • Le shuttle - £80
  • Fuel - £130 (1300 miles at 45 miles a gallon)
  • Tolls - £80
  • Wear on the car - £130
  • Accommodation - £0 - £80
  • (Time - 21 hours £210)
  • Likely total = £500

I was pleasantly surprised that Le Shuttle was so cheap, or TBH I wasn't surprised, I knew it was around the £100 mark having looked this up before, I'm happy about this - amazing, I mean we dug this MASSIVE tunnel and we run those trains, and given that, £100 to get you and your car through ain't too bad!

My car is very fuel efficient - it should do better than 45 MPH but I'll probably have a roof box which will reduce the efficiency slightly. Also one of the up sides fo Covid is that fuels around 20% cheaper than it was a few months ago!

Tolls I think are in France only - I just used a web site to work this out - it feels about right at £80?

Wear on the car - my car cost £10K, it'll probably last 100K miles, so I work out wear at £1 per 10 miles = £130.

Accommodation - I leave on Sunday morning and I've got accommodation booked in Portugal for Tuesday P.M. - so that gives me three days - so two nights, probably both in cheap hotel like accommodation - maybe not, I could slum it in the car, I might camp. I'll play this by ear, but I've factored in 2 nights.

(Time - if I was being tight I'd add on my time at minimum wage rate of £!0 an hour, to factor in time lost earning, but I haven't done this here.)

The ferry option

  • Ferry - £360
  • Cabin - £100
  • Fuel - £50 (490 miles at 45 miles a gallon)
  • Tolls - £0
  • Wear on the car - £49
  • Accommodation - £40
  • (Time - 9 hours (£90)
  • Likely total = £590

Being realistic I'm going to get a cabin, even if it wasn't for Covid-19, I don't fancy 19 hours in a reclining seat. A cabin by contrast, I can sleep, I could work, or could I? I have no idea if I'd get sea sick - another reason to avoid this option!

Besides the predictably expensive cost of the sea crossing, everything else is cheaper - I don't think there are tolls in Spain or Portugal, if they are they're cheap, I did have a little dig around.

I would still do one more overnight with this option - given that my final destination is rural I don't want to be turning up there in the dark, which would be the case if I got straight off the ferry and just drove all the way in one day.

I've already booked my Shuttle ticket


Le Shuttle + car trip wins for three main reasons

  1. It's cheaper, but it's not just all about the money.
  2. It's a lot more flexible - the Ferry cost is non refundable, whereas Le Shuttle cost is, or rather the option I chose isn't but I had the option, I didn't with the Ferry, and besides I can use Le Shuttle ticket any time within about a year I think it is. Not bad for £90.
  3. My Dad lives in Kent - which makes the Folkestone option a lot more appealing as it's another break to that route, and I can also drop any last few bits off there (like the Hoover) after leaving my house.

The budget options


I also worked out my budget options, by getting rid of the accommodation costs. The standard options are on the left below, the no accommodation budge options on the right....

Travel to Portugal, standard and cheap versions .png

The budget options bring the two closer together, by taking £80 off Le Shuttle journey and £140 off the Ferry journey - but that's not a lot of saving for poor sleep nights of misery, so I can't see that happening!

Final thoughts on travel costs


There's not a lot I can do to lower the above costs, other than take 20% off by subjecting myself to sleep deprivation through cutting out comfy accommodation, which isn't worth it IMO.

I'd rather turn up fresh, rather than knackered or die en route because I've accidentally ended up driving on the left in my tired state.

I'm also thinking that this journey is something I'd like to do as little as possible - I don't want to be driving backwards and forwards between the UK and Portugal too often.

£500 a pop is pricey - if I did this once a year, we're looking at £50 a month averaged out, which is a fair whack on what I hope to be a very reduced budget!

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14 comments
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Maybe this post will do really well and pay for the trip! A long drive on your own can be a bit of a slog, but stock up on podcasts or other entertainment and it will fly by. I guess if you want to pop back in future you could get a pretty cheap flight, but do you want to fly?

My experience of moving abroad was just after uni when I went to Germany for two years. I went out there with a rucksack on the train and my parents brought more stuff later on. It was a bit tough to start with when I had no hi-fi or guitar. I think I got by with a radio and a Walkman whilst I learned enough German to understand the TV. No internet for me back then. It was quite an adventure.

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I think I'll be fine getting there, quite looking forward to the drive, plenty of short breaks en route and I should be fine.

I've got some flight vouchers good for a year that were cancelled from earlier this year, so a quick return trip on the plane is something I'll probably do!

That Germany trip sounds like fun, was it work or just travel?

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After my degree my dad got me a job with one of his suppliers. That was for a year, but I ended up working for a further year at another company there in the Black Forest. I managed to learn the language pretty well and had some interesting experiences. The Brits have some stereotypes and rivalries with the Germans, but they are more like us than some other European countries.

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Oh I totally agree, we've got lots in common with the Germans, then one of my great grandparents was German, so maybe that's why I feel that way.

Hence the spelling of my name I guess.

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i think there is a natural born accountant trapped in there somewhere 😀 ...

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Portugal's vulnerability atm is that it has only one land border, and that's with Spain! When I was at the Portuguese/Spanish border mid June, trying to travel back overland to UK, it was to have been closed until 1 July - but all other borders were to have opened on the 21st (land border with France and all visitors by air from Schengen countries).

I ended up crossing on 17 June with a 'transit document' after being turned back twice at a different crossing point. Just mentioning this as policy seemed to be subject to whimsical positioning and shifting goalposts.

Other than that, I think Portugal is a great place to be. Out in the Algarve hills, the coronadrama was very distant and the land provided deliciously :).

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I'm just hoping the border is open, it is ATM at least, and once I get there I'm fully anticipating there to be very little Covid drama!

The pandemic definitely isn't a help, not a lot I can do!

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