News
More Brits turn to French roads to reignite their love of motoring
Classic car groups in particular are looking to bespoke tours, rather than off-the-shelf packages.
Brittany Ferries has reported a large increase in the number of Brits turning to France and northern Spain to reignite their love affair with motoring. In the last four years, there has been an 84% rise in those taking a sail-and-stay car or motorcycle tour. The company has added more of these products to its portfolio in 2017, a consequence of growing demand from petrol heads.
All Brittany Ferries car tours include ferry crossings and carefully-chosen hotels with B&B en route. The range includes shorter tours such as A Glimpse of D-Day (from £230pp) which explores routes around the evocative sweeping beaches of Normandy, to a seven-night epic starting in northern Spain and taking in Aquitaine, Poitou Charentes and the Western Loire (from £592 pp). There are also tours focussing on gourmet Brittany (from £445 pp), champane and wine (from £412 pp) and chateaux and Paris (from £467 pp) .
“We developed car and motorcycle tours to complement our range of existing holiday products and as a direct response to demand, particularly from the classic car community,” said Christiane Barker, general manager Brittany Ferries Holidays. “Overall, we have seen a sharp increase in demand for driving tours, particularly in the holiday regions of northern France. But our contact team is also mapping out more bespoke itineraries for those who prefer to take their own road on the continent.”
Classic car groups in particular are looking to bespoke tours, rather than off-the-shelf packages. And the Brittany Ferries team is organising more of these tailored, ferry and hotel or parador itineraries every year to meet their needs.
Demand for both car tours and bespoke driving packages suggests the lure of quiet French roads – particularly in Brittany and Normandy – is appealing for those who are fed up with congestion, potholes and endless roadworks in the UK. Smooth French tarmac, and beautiful countryside, is more and more alluring for owners of classic cars, sports cars and motorcycles.
Car ownership in France is broadly similar to the UK, as are the two populations. However France is roughly three times the size of Britain and is snaked by a network of around a million miles of roads, compared with our 400,000.
For more on car tours visit: http://www.brittany-ferries.co.uk/holidays/car-motorcycle-tours/france
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Nigel Wonnacott, Brittany Ferries head of comms [email protected]
07833 44 67 29