A real man smells like a man, lol There is no way driving from here can be cheaper than what Pablo did. Mostly boring motorways through England/Holland/Belgium as well, not exactly exciting. If you do drive, go to Newcastle and take the overnight ferry to Amsterdam. Decent drive through Galloway and along Hadrians wall, then sleep on the ferry. There is also a ferry from Hull. Slightly cheaper, but it is a longer drive, so overall nothing in it really.