42 hours on a ferry.

We recently travelled from the UK using the overnight ferry from Plymouth to Santander, taking our own car, for a road trip through Spain and Portugal.

It sounded like a great idea at the time. A slower, more relaxed way to travel. Part of the holiday itself.

But now we’ve done it, would we do it again?

Honestly… probably not.

Our experience flying to Spain

Before this trip, we’d always flown to Spain and Portugal.

And it’s always been easy.

We can fly directly from Newquay to Malaga or Faro, with the airport only about 15 minutes from home. It’s small, calm, and straightforward. No long queues or huge terminals.

Door to door, we can usually arrive in around five to six hours, including collecting a hire car.

That’s hard to beat.

Even if we have to travel a bit further to Bristol airport for flights, it only adds an extra 3-4 hours travel time.

Of course, flying comes with limitations. You can’t take as much with you, and car hire can be hit and miss.

We’ve had both ends of the experience.

We’ve queued for hours and been given terrible cars when trying to go cheap. One car had no power at all, and the service was awful. Since then, we’ve learned to spend a little more and use reputable companies. We’ve always had a good experience with SIXT, for example.

So while flying isn’t perfect, it’s been consistently quick and manageable for us.

Why we chose the ferry

The idea of taking our own car was a big draw.

We’d previously done an eight day European road trip in our campervan through Belgium, Netherlands and Germany and loved the freedom it gave us. So doing something similar again, but this time heading to Spain and Portugal, felt exciting.

The Plymouth to Santander ferry also seemed like a good solution.

Instead of long drives through France or multiple overnight stops, we could skip straight across.

It also felt like it could be part of the holiday.

We knew it might be a one-off experience, so we decided to make the most of it and booked some of the best accommodation available onboard.

On the outward journey, we had a Commodore suite with a balcony. On the return, we had a 4-berth deluxe cabin with a window.

It was expensive, but we thought it would be worth it.

It didn’t quite turn out that way.

Our experience taking the ferry

The crossings were long.

Around 22 hours on the way out and 21 hours on the way back.

Because it’s an overnight ferry, you have to book a cabin. You can’t just sit in a seat.

We planned ahead with food.

We brought Nakd rice pots that just needed hot water, knowing we’d have tea and coffee facilities in the cabin. There are restaurants onboard, but as a vegan family, we weren’t sure what options would be available.

Breakfast was included, either continental delivered to the room or a buffet in the restaurant.

On the return journey, we paid for dinner. There were no vegan main options, but we were able to piece together a meal from sides like chips, rice, peas and ratatouille.

That part was OK.

The real issue was the motion of the ferry.

At first, everything seemed calm. The sea looked flat, and we were excited to explore the ship, visit the shop and maybe even go to the onboard cinema.

But not long after setting sail, the boat started moving.

Not dramatically. Just a constant, gentle swaying.

And that was enough.

We all started to feel off.

The only thing that helped was lying down, facing the direction of travel, or trying to sleep.

Instead of exploring the ferry, we stayed in the cabin.

My husband felt the same. The kids were okay at first, but after getting chips from the restaurant, our son started to feel unwell and ended up being sick shortly after.

At that point, the whole experience changed.

It stopped feeling like part of the holiday and became something we just wanted to get through.

The best way to describe it is like having a hangover where the room won’t stop moving. You just want to lie still and wait for it to pass.

Sleep helped a bit.

By the morning, we felt better, enough to get breakfast. But we still couldn’t wait to get off.

Even after arriving, the sensation didn’t go away immediately.

I felt like I was still swaying for about a day. My husband felt it for two.

The return journey was very similar.

We didn’t take part in any activities. We didn’t enjoy the restaurants or facilities. We just stayed in the cabin, waiting for it to end.

Overnight ferry pros

• Take your own car
• Bring as much food and drink as you like
• No airport stress
• No luggage limits
• Avoid long drives through France

Overnight ferry cons

• Constant motion, swaying and rocking
• Engine noise and vibrations
• Poor sleep due to movement and cabin noise
• Expensive for what you get
• Not relaxing if you feel unwell
• Still arrive tired
• Expensive cabins do not feel luxurious

Flying with a car hire comparison

From our experience, flying wins in most areas.

It’s much faster, often cheaper, and far more comfortable.

There’s no motion sickness, and you can actually enjoy the experience, whether that’s sitting in a café or browsing the airport shops.

Cost comparison

The ferry cost us £1,597 and took around 42 hours in total.

You can choose cheaper cabins to cut the cost. We also added on priority disembarkation to see if it was worth it one of the ways, which was £15 of this total.

Most of the cost actually comes from the car and cabin, rather than the passengers, which is worth keeping in mind when comparing options.

By comparison, here are some of our previous trips and costs for our family of four for a week:

Newquay to Faro (December)
Flights: £456
Car hire: £112

Newquay to Malaga (February)
Flights: £977
Car hire: £207

The difference with flights here is mainly that we only took carry ons for Faro, but took a suitcase each for Malaga.

Even at the higher end, flying has worked out cheaper overall, and with far less travel time.

Who the ferry is actually good for

• People who love slow travel
• Motorhome or campervan travellers
• Those avoiding flying
• Trips with no time pressure
• Anyone who doesn’t feel motion on boats
• Travellers who prefer using their own car

Who should probably fly instead

• Families with limited time
• People working remotely
• Budget-conscious travellers
• Anyone prone to motion sickness
• Travellers who want a simple, quick journey

What we’d do next time

We’d fly and hire a car.

Or, if we really wanted to take our own car again, we’d try the Eurotunnel instead, which is something I really want to experience!

A longer drive through Europe in our own car would still be more comfortable than spending that long on the ferry.

Final thoughts

The ferry sounds like a great idea.

And for some people, it probably is.

But for us, it was a big commitment in both time and money, and not one we’d choose again due to being unable to enjoy it because of the constant motion nausea.

Flying is quicker, often cheaper, and far more comfortable.

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For a UK to Spain road trip, flying and hiring a car is usually quicker and often cheaper than taking the ferry, which can take over 40 hours and cost significantly more.