My sister and brother-in -law were due to fly back to Glasgow tomorrow but, as you all know, the flights have been cancelled.They need to get back as quickly as possible so I would welcome any suggestions.Are there any coaches to UK? Tried googling but no success. Lorry drivers? Anything!They have tried changing the flight to Tuesday but no seats left. Thanks folks.

I think Eurolines operate from Salou to the UK, I believe it operates via Barcelona and Lille in France so not the quickest journey in the world but when options are limited it might be worth a go. Their websites are a bit poor though so here are the contact details for their office in Tarragona, maybe worth giving them a ring:-

Tarragona
Estación de Autobuses. c/Pere Martell s/n
Tel./Fax +34 977 224 000
email: tarragona@eurolines.es

I've never used the service myself but looking on the net it was all I could find.

Worth a try.

Jim

Thanks ever so much for taking the time to help, Jim. I've already checked their website and it doesn't look as if they do the UK, but I'll certainly phone their office in Tarragona to check.What a carry-on!

Hi Joan,

Thats the weird thing about their websites. When you use the UK website you can go from the UK to Salou but the Spanish version doesn't show the UK. Don't know if maybe from Spain you have to book in 2 sections Spain - France then France - UK, not sure, but surely the coach must go back to the UK again

Hope you get it sorted.

Cheers
Jim.

Im not 100% sure but do the trains not run up through france. take a flight or coach to holland or belgium and from there ferry crossing. good luck

also the train or coach to bilbao then portsmouth london and train or coach to glasgow
www.poferries.com

further to previous post i have managed to book Portsmouth Bilbao for fri 23rd via aferry.com
P&O website currently down and the phone lines set up are just recorded messages

Thanks everyone for your help. The best we could do is Ryanair Reus-Luton on Thursday evening. All trains are fully booked for next 6 days AND there's also a train strike in France!
Jim, went to the bus station to see about the Eurolines coach. It goes to Paris then there's a 5 or 6 hour wait for next coach to UK. It's also fully booked till Thursday!
The travel agents have told us that all the airlines have blocked their bookings to keep the seats for their own clients who have been stranded, which makes sense.I really can't fault the Ryanair girls at Reus as they were very helpful and pleasant.
Now that my sister has calmed down, she and her husband have decided to go to Valencia for a couple of days for a bit of sightseeing. Gawd, hope the trains don't go on strike here!
Thanks again folks!
Joan

this situatiuon with the planes must be a nightmare for anyone stranded abroad, i saw news at ten last night and they said the volcano could continue to erupt for months to come, it is affecting people worldwide, my wife asked why dont cruise ship operators operate as luxury ferries during the crisis, i thought this was a great idea, people could get home and it would probably boost the cruise ship operators popularity.

Hi Joan. The Alsa bus company run from Madrid to london they have seats available for 21st cost 141€ think you can pick it up nearer to home. Just booked one myself. flights are backloged and sheduled flights are having to wait week to 10days to get a slot.

When we realised the enormity of the problem, my sis decided to forget about Valencia and try and head back to the UK as flights all this week are looking dodgy! Got a place on a Thomas Cook coach but when they went to the office this morning, there seems to have been a change in organisation and there are no longer any seats available.
Time to call in the cavalry- alias Rob!
Crossing fingers all goes as planned for tomorrow.Big thanks to Touchdown.- hope it's downhill all the way as it's going to be hard going, cycling uphill with a suitcase
Just in case we need a plan C, how are you getting to Madrid, Bar Owner? Thanks
Joan

from P & o Website

08716 645 645 08716 645 645
(Calls cost 10 pence per minute from a BT landline. Calls from other networks and mobiles may cost more.)
0820 900 061 0820 900 061 (0.15€/min)
0180 500 7161 0180 500 7161 (0.12€/min)
902 02 0461
020 200 8333 020 200 8333
070 70 0774 070 70 0774 (0.13 €/min)
342 08 08 294
We apologise for the inconvenience but our website is currently experiencing heavy traffic, therefore we advise calling our contact centre with enquiries or to book a crossing on any route.

Please note:

If you are returning from holiday we are running to our scheduled service and aim to accommodate you as near to your booked time as possible.

If you are looking to make a foot passenger booking on our Dover Calais service for travel in the next few days, please make your way to the port as we are transporting people on a first come, first serve basis, with space available.

If you are looking to make a vehicle booking for travel in the next few days please call the contact centre on the numbers provided opposite as space may be limited.

P&O Irish Sea services are operating to schedule with spaces currently available. Our Scottish services from Troon and Cairnryan have spaces available for vehicles and foot passengers. Our Liverpool-Dublin service has space available for vehicles. Tickets can be purchased at the Port, however passengers are advised to allow some extra time. Check-in closes 30 minutes prior to departure for vehicles and 45 minutes prior to departure for foot passengers. Please visit www.poirishsea.com for online availability and booking.

P&O Ferries apologises for the inconvenience and will resume normal service shortly.



Français Nous vous prions de nous excuser pour le désagrément encontré, mais notre site internet rencontre actuellement un trafic important.Nous vous conseillons de contacter notre service clientele pour toute demande de renseignements ou pour réserver une traversée sur nos routes.

A votre attention :

Si vous voyagez et etes en possession d'une réservation nous offrons un service régulier entre Calais et Douvres et vous accueillons sur l'horaire le plus proche de votre réservation.

Si vous cherchez à effectuer une réservation piéton sur nos service de Calais Douvres dans les prochains jours, nous vous conseillons de faire votre route vers le port et ferons notre possible pour vous réserver une place sur le prochain service disponible. Pour toute réservation Calais Douvres en voiture nous vous prions de bien vouloir contacter notre service clientele.

Nos services pour la mer d'Irlande entre Troon et Larne sont disponibles pour les véhicules et les piétons. Nos services entre Dublin et Liverpool sont également disponibles pour les traversées en voiture. Nos billets sont disponibles au port mais nous vous conseillons de contacter notre service clientele pour car les places sont limitées. Veuillez visiter www.poirishsea.com pour toute information complémentaire.

Nous vous prions de nous excusez pour le désagrément encontré.