Rental car pick up and drop off Normandy area/then catch ferry to England ?

Hello Meredith, If you drop your car at the train station in Caen, the car rental agencies are directly across the street from the station. A bus is available at the train station to go to the ferry terminal at Ouistreham. You can also take a taxi as it is only about 15 miles from Caen to Ouistreham. Brittany Ferries sails from there to Portsmouth. The crossing takes about 7 hours. You can see the schedules on their website at www.brittany-ferries.co.uk (be sure to put the dash between Brittany and ferries) I hope this is useful information. We are doing the same crossing in reverse in June.
Best regards. Thomas

England's a pretty big place, so it would depend on where you want to go. Mr Steves doesn't provide all the options, apparently. If Portsmouth is the spot, Snyder has the answer. If London's where you're headed, there's two quicker options, both of which involve a three-hour drive from Caen to Calais: Hop the Eurostar at Calais and be in London an hour later. Hop the ferry at Calais, cross the channel to Dover in an hour and a half, and take the train to London (one to two hours, depending on which train/destination station). The last one's the old-fasioned way, but it's still a bunch of grins. I've no idea how long it takes to get from Portsmouth to London by public transportation.

Thank you for the info. All of it is very helpful.
Anyone have experience on driving from Bayeux to Mont St Michel,staying there then driving to St Malo then leaving a car and taking the over night ferry to Portsmouth and picking up a car there? Whew!

I've never done it, but wouldn't hesitate to, I guess. The driving track is simple and easy. First leg is a bit over an hour, the second is a bit under. The only logistic glitch on the French side is that all the car rental places are right around the train station which is about a mile and a half from the ferry terminal. That one should be and easy work-around. What you might want to do is ask what people think about the ferries - - those that have actually ridden them, rather than plan to, are thinking about, etc. I've never liked the overnight or long-haul ones I've had to ride and only include them in my thinking as a last-dich alternative.