The Real Cost of the Badlands Convoy: Is It Actually Cheaper to Drive Through France?

A UK-to-Spain campervan convoy through some of the most cinematic landscapes on earth? Here's everything you need to know about the Badlands Adventure Convoy — and why it might just be the trip of 2026.

I don't know about you, but there are some trips that stop you mid-scroll. The Badlands Adventure Convoy is one of those. A convoy of campervans, making its way from the UK across to Spain — through the actual landscapes where the great spaghetti westerns were filmed — with musicians, stunt performers, a GPS road book, and a 24-hour bilingual helpline if it all goes sideways. I'm not sure what else you'd want from life, honestly.

"Starting at Sad Hill Cemetery — yes, the one from The Good, the Bad and the Ugly — and ending at the wild shores of Almería. If that doesn't make your inner cowboy stir, I don't know what will."

The convoy runs 5th–13th October 2026, and there's also a pre-convoy meetup on 4th October in a Rioja village during harvest — and the mayor has invited the group. That's free. Just show up and enjoy the wine country. Properly good start.

The route itself is what they call the Badlands El Camino Route — roughly 500 miles each way through terrain that genuinely looks like a film set. Because parts of it basically are. The organisers have picked it to pack in the most varied landscapes in the fewest miles, so you're not grinding motorway hours for scenery you could have seen anyway.

What it actually costs

I'm not going to pretend it's cheap — but for what you get, it's genuinely fair. Here's the breakdown:

Expense	Cost	The Detail
Ferry (Portsmouth ➔ Santander)	£856	Roughly £428 each way (depends on your van size)
Fuel in Spain	£200	Based on ~500 miles each way for a heavy camper
Campsites	£120	8 nights at roughly £15 or less a night
Convoy Ticket	£200 – £300	Covers entry, road book, and events
TOTAL ESTIMATE	~£1,376 – £1,476	Plus whatever you spend on food, drink, and beer

Your convoy ticket covers membership, the road book, GPS-guided route, handpicked campsites, the 24-hour bilingual support line, and evening entertainment from musicians and stunt performers. Oh, and the camaraderie — which they rightly point out, you can't really put a price on.

Food and drink is your own adventure. Part of the appeal is finding cheap, incredible local produce along the way — that's built into the spirit of the thing.

One note on the ferry: the Portsmouth to Santander crossing with Brittany Ferries is the recommended route. The alternative — ferry to France and drive down — is cheaper and quicker to start, but French toll roads are brutal and the drive is long. Most convoy members are taking the direct Spanish crossing, departing Friday 2nd October. Straight off the boat and into the sunshine. Good decision-making, if you ask me.

Dogs are welcome too, which — as it should be.

Want to join?

Tickets are selling, so if this is speaking to you, don't sit on it.

🌐 Full info: badlands-convoys.com
🎟️ Buy tickets: buytickets.at/badlandsadventureconvoysltd
⛴️ Ferry: brittany-ferries.com

This post was grilled from the Campervan & Motorhome self builds Facebook group as I'd been wondering what the full and real costs are of the Badlands Convoy.

The Real Cost of the French Route

Here is that section with your bullet points woven in naturally. It flows perfectly and gives readers a clear, scannable breakdown of what they are actually up against if they choose France.

The Real Cost of the French Route

If, like me, you are thinking, right, I'll just get across the sea and make my way down to the start to save a bit of money, here's how that actually fares.

If you book a crossing like Portsmouth to Caen for around £178, and add the £161.12 fuel estimate, you are looking at roughly £339.12 just to reach the starting line one-way.

While that looks cheaper on paper than a single direct ferry ticket to Spain, it comes with a few major catches:

The extra mileage and wear and tear on your rig.
French Tolls. French toll roads are incredibly expensive for larger vans. You can bypass them completely if you set your sat-nav to toll-free and stick to dual carriageways like the N10, but it adds time and concentration.
Driving fatigue. Grinding out 16+ hours of driving before the actual trip even starts is a lot of hard yards on the clock.

If you want to save your engine and arrive fresh, the direct cruise-ferry is tough to beat. But if you love a hardcore overland slog, crossing the Channel is a completely valid alternative.

Ferry Port	Distance to Sad Hill	Drive Time	Estimated Fuel
Saint-Malo	640 miles	16 hours	£148.80
Caen (Ouistreham)	693 miles	17h 20m	£161.12
Cherbourg	741 miles	18h 30m	£172.28
Calais	849 miles	21h 15m	£197.39
Dunkirk	855 miles	21h 20m	£198.79
Santander (Direct Ferry)	0 miles	0 hours	£0.00