Santander

The reason people arrive here from abroad:

• Portsmouth — 28 to 33 hours, two crossings a week, year round.
• Plymouth — 20 to 22 hours, two a week, seasonal, roughly March to October.
• Rosslare in Ireland — a further link across the Bay of Biscay.

All are Brittany Ferries, on conventional cruise ferries rather than fast craft. The point is not speed. It is that the ship replaces about a thousand kilometres of French motorway, two tanks of fuel, the tolls and a night in a hotel.

Plymouth is ten hours shorter but only sails in season. Portsmouth runs all year and is better placed for London and the east. Ten hours of sea against a couple of hours of English road is a real trade, and it goes the other way depending on your dates.

Book by season first, destination second: if you are travelling in November, Plymouth is not an option regardless of where you live.

Thirty-three hours is two nights and a day at sea. The ships carry cabins, restaurants and entertainment because they have to — nobody sits that out in a reclining seat. Budget accordingly and book a cabin.

The Bay of Biscay also has a reputation, and it is earned. Autumn and winter crossings can be rough enough that the ship slows, which is where the thirty-three-hour figure at the top of the range comes from. If you are a poor sailor, take Plymouth in summer.

The Estación Marítima sits in central Santander — about 500 m from the bus and railway stations, 1 km from the main shopping streets and the Pereda gardens, and roughly 6 km from Seve Ballesteros airport.

Very few ports that handle overnight ships to another country are this well placed. Arriving on foot and continuing by train is entirely practical, which is unusual on this route's UK end as well.

Landing here puts you on the green north coast rather than the Mediterranean one: Cantabria, Asturias and the Picos de Europa are immediately to hand, Bilbao is about an hour east, and the Camino de Santiago runs west along the coast.

For drivers heading further, Madrid is roughly four hours south. That is the calculation that makes this route work — you land already deep into Spain rather than at the Pyrenees.

These sailings are heavily used by travellers with cars, campervans and motorbikes, and vehicle space is the binding constraint rather than passenger numbers. Summer sailings, and the returns to the UK at the end of August in particular, sell out well in advance.

Fares start around €170 and move a long way from there depending on cabin and vehicle, so the comparison with driving through France is not automatic — it depends on how many people are in the car.

Portsmouth runs all year; Plymouth is a March-to-October service. The bay boats to Somo and Pedreña run year round but far more frequently in summer, when Somo's beach is the point of the trip.

Late spring and September are the best times to cross: calmer Biscay, full timetable, and vehicle space available without booking months ahead.