REACH WESTERN FRANCE WITH BRITTANY FERRIES

After a comfortable day on board or a peaceful night in your cabin, there are few things quite like standing up on the deck of the ferry and seeing France slowly shift into view. With options to sail-in overnight (spending the night in your own cabin) or during the day, Brittany Ferries makes for a convenient start to any road-trip from the UK to Western France.

Each of the five French ports that Brittany Ferries sails into along the north coast has its own appeal. Le Havre (an overnight ferry journey from Portsmouth) entices history buffs with its striking post-war architecture: make a beeline for Saint Joseph’s Church to stare into its kaleidoscopic tower, filled with 6,500 pieces of coloured glass; elsewhere Brazilian architect Oscar Niemeyer’s theatre Le Volcan erupts into sweeping white curves opposite the quayside.

Sail into Caen (under six hours from Portsmouth) and within minutes of rolling off the ferry, you can be discovering the daring stories associated with D-day at the Pegasus Bridge Museum and exploring the D-day beaches. From Cherbourg ( just four-and-a-half hours from Poole, or an overnight trip from Portsmouth), the Cotentin peninsula awaits with its dramatic coastline and villages such as Saint-vaast-la-hougue.

Sail into Saint-malo (an overnight ferry from Portsmouth) to indulge in its food scene, its

corsair (pirate) history and the Emerald Coast. Some 200km west, Roscoff (reachable by a six-to-eight-hour ferry from Plymouth) delights with its fishing boats coming into the harbour, its cobbled streets and its proximity to Île de Batz, just a 15-minute boat ride away.

Not only is going by ferry more environmentally friendly, it’s a much more relaxing way to travel. Being in your own car means you can just fill the boot with all you need (and, for the return trip, all your favourite French food and wine) and explore where you want, when you want, at your own pace.

If you choose to go on foot or by bike, you simply walk or wheel your bike on board, enjoy the shops, cafés and entertainment on the ferry and, after disembarking, continue your journey into France on public transport. Finally, with flexible booking options, you can easily book to arrive at one port and leave from another, making a round-trip easy with Brittany Ferries.