Advice needed before booking ferry

[willowby]

Hi

Trying to be organised and book the ferry (with car) now and hopefully get the best price. We're coming from Gloucester, just up from Bristol. Southampton is the closest port, but it doesn't look like it would be much extra hassle to get to either Portsmouth or Yarmouth. Also Southampton is the most expensive.

The Wightlink from Portsmouth or Yarmouth is the cheapest at the moment, working out at £105-125 return. To beat any queues was thinking about crossing at about 5pm on the Thurs and 7am back on the Monday.

It's our first time at Bestival and any thoughts/suggestions on the ports/times/price would be appreciated. I don't want to book something only to regret it in a couple of months time.

Many thanks

[the wonderwhy]

I'm not a ferry expert, but I wouldn't go from Yarmouth as that's on the Isle Of Wight

[kaosmark2]

I think he means the Lymington-Yarmouth ferry.

The Southampton ferry is the easiest to find. If you haven't got a satnav, experience of the route or confidence in navigation I'd advise against Lymington, certainly for the sake of £5-£10.

That's not just in terms of getting to the port from the mainland, but finding your way around the IoW. As a warning, the driving there is TERRIBLE.

5pm on Thursday won't beat queues, and you might end up missing some bands. Queues on Thursday start around 10.30am and continue through until 9pm, with camping spots in nearby campsites starting to run out. If you go for 7am Monday make sure there aren't Big Top bands or ones on smaller stages you want to see that night, as otherwise you'll have to do it without sleep - 6.30 ferry arrival, 5.30 leaving car park, 5 leaving campsite, 4.30 packing up tent + assuming you've packed everything else, bands finish as late as 4-5am.

It does depend on how much of an issue money is for you, in comparison to time off work, and how much you'll want to see bands on Thursday/Sunday on smaller stages, but your current plan could lead to you missing out on stuff.

[JC-Mo'Fucka]

Are there not bestival buses from lymington to bestival? Im gonna go for that one this year, queues a soton were a joke

[kaosmark2]

Are there not bestival buses from lymington to bestival? Im gonna go for that one this year, queues a soton were a joke

[rhubarb]

After doing both Southampton and Portsmouth in the past we have found that Portsmouth was much easier once on the Isle Of wight - only 20 mins from ferry to parking up! Southampton does seem the busier!

5pm on the Thursday would be a bit late in my opinion as once you get through the queues and on to the site my guess is it would be 7pm / 8pm and the camp sites will be fairly full by then.

[willowby]

Thanks for your help and yeah I did mean Lymington sorry, which I'll now avoid. Looks like Portsmouth it'll be, which is £45 cheaper than Southampton.

Not worried about having to go to bed at a reasonable time on Sunday. Need to make sure we're back home on time to pick the little one up from nursery on Monday and the other option was to leave on Sun night.

Not sure what to do about the Thursday now though as thought getting the ferry at 5 would avoid the worst queues. How long does it normally take to get from the ferry port to site and is that pretty constant between 10.30am to 9pm?

We may be able to make it a bit earlier, but only by a couple of hours. I know the campsites are going to fill up quick but surely there's still spaces about late Thursday in the outer campsites?

[kaosmark2]

Thanks for your help and yeah I did mean Lymington sorry, which I'll now avoid. Looks like Portsmouth it'll be, which is £45 cheaper than Southampton.

Not worried about having to go to bed at a reasonable time on Sunday. Need to make sure we're back home on time to pick the little one up from nursery on Monday and the other option was to leave on Sun night.

Not sure what to do about the Thursday now though as thought getting the ferry at 5 would avoid the worst queues. How long does it normally take to get from the ferry port to site and is that pretty constant between 10.30am to 9pm?

We may be able to make it a bit earlier, but only by a couple of hours. I know the campsites are going to fill up quick but surely there's still spaces about late Thursday in the outer campsites?

[willowby]

Thanks Kaosmark2, you've been very helpful. Ferry now booked - 1530 from Portsmouth on Thurs and 0800 from Fishbourne on Mon. £137 for refundable tickets.

Can't wait, although we have Glastonbury and Camp Bestival to look forward to first!

[Bisque]

Thanks Kaosmark2, you've been very helpful. Ferry now booked - 1530 from Portsmouth on Thurs and 0800 from Fishbourne on Mon. £137 for refundable tickets.

[monkey1989]

we got there early Thursday morning around 9am and queued for about 1.30hours for the ferry, which was alright , when we got to the island the queues over the pier for the bus were vile so we got a taxi , my tip is don't spend your money on a shuttle bus get a taxi there, was only 2 of us at this point so we shared a seven seater with strangers , the taxis also go to a bestival entrance with only a tiny queue

[Kowalski]

We went on the Lymington Ferry last year, couldn't fault it. It was the cheapest option we could find. We travelled over on the Wednesday afternoon and returned on the Monday morning and the queues were virtually non-existant.

I have to say (despite reports to the contrary) that it is a piece of piss getting off the island on the Monday if you are on a morning ferry. I've done East Cowes and Yarmouth on the way back the last couple of years, both with a car, and it was very easy.

[kaosmark2]

We went on the Lymington Ferry last year, couldn't fault it. It was the cheapest option we could find. We travelled over on the Wednesday afternoon and returned on the Monday morning and the queues were virtually non-existant.

I have to say (despite reports to the contrary) that it is a piece of piss getting off the island on the Monday if you are on a morning ferry. I've done East Cowes and Yarmouth on the way back the last couple of years, both with a car, and it was very easy.

[FestiveEm]

Hi

Trying to be organised and book the ferry (with car) now and hopefully get the best price. We're coming from Gloucester, just up from Bristol. Southampton is the closest port, but it doesn't look like it would be much extra hassle to get to either Portsmouth or Yarmouth. Also Southampton is the most expensive.

The Wightlink from Portsmouth or Yarmouth is the cheapest at the moment, working out at £105-125 return. To beat any queues was thinking about crossing at about 5pm on the Thurs and 7am back on the Monday.

It's our first time at Bestival and any thoughts/suggestions on the ports/times/price would be appreciated. I don't want to book something only to regret it in a couple of months time.

Many thanks

[Sicknote]

£66 return Portsmouth - Fishbourne, 7:30am on the Thursday, 7pm on the Monday

Getting up early for the Thursday is going to be fun!

[stainton153]

£66 return Portsmouth - Fishbourne, 7:30am on the Thursday, 7pm on the Monday

Getting up early for the Thursday is going to be fun!

[Sicknote]

Sorry for the late reply - That's from Wightlink, booking specific ferries, they start to get more expensive after 7:30am on the Thursday, and become cheaper again in the evening for the return

[buildhigh2000]

Hi,

Appreciate this is too late for Bestival 2013, but thoughts I would share some general tips for cheap ferries for Isle of Wight Festival 2014 or Bestival 2014 (source: http://www.isleofwightguru.co.uk/cheap-isle-of-wight-ferry-travel.html)

- Swap Tesco Clubcard points for Wightlink vouchers (worth 3x value)

- Use a discount code. No use for Bestival obviously but MP13WHV gives 10% off Wightlink until the end of December 2013.

- If you're on foot and have a railcard, book the ferry as a train journey to get 1/3rd off.

- Pay with Avios (Airmiles) 1 point is worth about 0.5p

- Travel late in the day if possible - Wightlink do a good late night deal

- Claim back your fare if badly delayed - you are entitled to

- Fill up your car - six people often costs the same as one, so consider a liftshare website

- Incorporate a visit to an attraction - it sometimes works out cheaper as Wightlink do fixed price day tickets. Red funnel do something similar.

- Buy a 'tourist card' for 10% off Wightlink (costs £10 for a week though)

- If you're on foot, take the car ferry - it is slower but cheaper.

Those are the main ones I know of at the moment.

Source: http://www.isleofwightguru.co.uk/cheap-isle-of-wight-ferry-travel.html