This DFDS crossing is almost certainly best value on cost and convenience for us when driving south. Leaving home on Thursday, 15 February 2024 we spent a few days with family in Southampton and the Hamble before driving to Brighton . . . finding a Pizza Express in the rain and arriving at Newhaven DFDS ferry port 2100, 3rd in the queue for the morning crossing. It poured with rain all night and was quite windy so going out on deck was hardly enticing. After coffee and pains au chocolats in the very quiet bar we decided on booking a cabin for a bit more sleep and a shower. Arriving in Dieppe at 1200 we disembarked and were through immigration for our Schengen stamp by 1220 . . . on the road for the 2024 trip!
It was a long, wet, dismal drive along the straight tree-lined roads of northern France, with occasional village diversions as we’d decided to limit use of the péage: Rouen, Dreux, Chartres, stopping overnight at Saran, just north of Orleans in the free town carpark for motorhomes. Arriving at 1730 without much in the way of provisions, Steve found an excellent restaurant five minutes walk away and we retired for an early night.