Rosyth Ferry?

[Guy]

if you're talking about boats this should be in the mk3 section... if not then it should be in off-topic... no?

http://www.golfgtiforum.co.uk/index.php?topic=147995.msg1353034#msg1353034

[Ess_Three]

drive to dover it makes sense

Drive the length of the country, with idiot British drivers...
Or have a relaxing journey, wake up fresh and do the miles on the other side, with better driving standards, better roads and cheaper fuel.

Yeah, it makes sense all right!

Rosyth every time...

[Captain Sensible]

I don't know why I'm asking this question, because I know what you guys will say, but you can say it anyway.

I have some tickets for the Bayreuth Festival in August.  That's Bayreuth in Bavaria, not far from Nurnberg.  The question is, how do I get there?

The normal sane way is to fly from Edinburgh to Stuttgart, and hire a car.  It's a fairly quick trip, and I should get there by teatime.  With a cruddy, left-hand-drive shopping-trolley-with-an-engine.

On the other hand, I could take the ferry from Rosyth to Zeebrugge, that's the CAR ferry, and set off down the autobahn.  In the MkVI.

Disadvantages are....

• It's certainly no cheaper, could be more expensive.
• Cabin prices are ridiculous, so I'd be stuck with a "reclining seat" to sleep on.  Before a 7-hour drive.
• The ferry doesn't dock till 2pm, which would mean getting to Bayreuth late evening - or else breaking the journey and eating up more of the holiday travelling.
• I'd have to consider breaking the journey on the way back, for fear of a bad delay causing me to miss the ferry.

On the other hand.  MkVI, autobahn, mmmmmm....

I know the road reasonably well because I've driven it several times (took the Peugeot through the Chunnel when I lived in Sussex).  I'd far rather have my own car than a hire car - I'm perfectly happy driving a right-hand-drive car on the continent.

Opinions?  (I suppose this well get moved because it isn't an exclusively MkVI question, but like it says, "I live here".)

Rolfe.

I have taken my car to Europe quite a few times , I love it. My first VW was a Polo E back in 1987. The Polo E back then had one of these stop start systems that cut out the engine when you went to neutral then started up again when put into gear. I see these systems are back in fashion. Anyway I did 3,000 miles in mainland Europe in 10 days. Loved it so much I did it a few times after that also.

Take your car and enjoy. It's so much easier to do it today with Tom Tom's. What a cool idea to go to a festival in Germany.
Go for it you wont be disappointed

[shrocco]

drive to dover it makes sense

Drive the length of the country, with idiot British drivers...
Or have a relaxing journey, wake up fresh and do the miles on the other side, with better driving standards, better roads and cheaper fuel.

Yeah, it makes sense all right!

Rosyth every time...

cost of ferry from rosyth on the days i was looking was £500 return, and there's only two sailings a week so you have to pick your holidays round the ferry. dover return is about £50 depending on your times but you can go any day, any time. if you miss the ferry its not the end of the world, get the next one. wouldn't like to be in the situation if i missed the ferry from rosyth.

[simonpolly]

Good point, well made

[Sam]

Autobarns go east to west

But belgium is sh!t so drive fast anyway!

[Rolfe]

cost of ferry from rosyth on the days i was looking was £500 return, and there's only two sailings a week so you have to pick your holidays round the ferry. dover return is about £50 depending on your times but you can go any day, any time. if you miss the ferry its not the end of the world, get the next one. wouldn't like to be in the situation if i missed the ferry from rosyth.

Reasonable point, but the price I have for a return car plus driver on the days I want is £408, which isn't quite so bad.  And I can fit my trip round the ferries.

I live only 30 miles from Rosyth, so I don't think I'm in serious danger of missing the outward sailing.  On the way back, I think I would break the journey, maybe at Remagen or Bad Honingen, to make sure I had plenty time to get to Zeebrugge.

Perhaps my main gripe is the reclining seat bit.  I'd pay a bit extra for a berth, but not as much as they're wanting.  I think they're forcing people to book a 4-person cabin even if they're alone.  Seems silly.

Rolfe.

[Ess_Three]

cost of ferry from rosyth on the days i was looking was £500 return, and there's only two sailings a week so you have to pick your holidays round the ferry.

Not the end of the world...

dover return is about £50 depending on your times but you can go any day, any time. if you miss the ferry its not the end of the world, get the next one. wouldn't like to be in the situation if i missed the ferry from rosyth.

Don't miss it then.
Problem solved.

It's still more relaxing going from Rosyth.
If I was having to drive the length of the country, I'd probably just use the Chunnel.

[Rolfe]

I've used the Chunnel on previous occasions when I lived in Sussex, and the Newhaven-Dieppe ferry.  That's a Seacat, and it's a very quick crossing.  Before they opened the tunnel I went Harwich to Hook of Holland a few times.  All good, though obviously from Scotland the Chunnel would make sense because of the motorway network.

However, I've worn all the groove on the M6 I'm going to wear.  It's the plane and a hire car, or the Rosyth ferry, for me.

Rolfe.  Definitely leaning towards the ferry.

[tonker3]

When travelling to eastern France from Dundee, we always take the PO Ferry form Hull to Zeebrugge. The times are more convenient, with departure approx 1900 and arrival at 0800 the next morning. No reclining seats on PO anymore, you must have a cabin. However, quite a large variety of cabins, with a basic 2 berth not overly costly (in the overall scheme of 'rip-off' ferry costs, that is!!). I would imagine you could get a crossing for near to the price of the Rosyth ferry. I have looked into using the Rosyth crossing previously, but have always found it to be very expensive when priced up. It takes approx 5 to 6 hours from Dundee down to Hull, that's going down the east side A1 and A19, to York and then across to Hull on the A1079, so would imagine it being similar for yourself.

Don't go the reclining seat option. Have used that on PO many moons ago and didn't really get any proper sleep prior to my 6 hour drive down through Belgium/Luxembourg/France. You feel grubby and knackered before you even start the drive! The ferries out of Hull are much larger than the Rosyth one and are well suited to a night crossing and a decent nights kip. 

If you must go Rosyth, just pay the extra and get a cabin. You can't be short of a few bob if you drive a brand new GTI!! No offence intended!!