Choosing a ferry from the UK sounds like it should be simple until you actually start comparing the options.
Do you drive all the way down to Dover because the crossing is shorter? Would Portsmouth make more sense because you’re heading to Normandy? Is Hull a better choice if you’re travelling from the Midlands or the North? And if you’re going to Spain, is it worth spending much longer on the ferry to avoid hours of driving through France?
There isn’t one ferry route that’s best for everyone.
Where you live, where you’re going, whether you’re taking a car or motorhome and what you actually care about all make a difference.
That’s why I’ve created this UK ferry route finder. Tell it where you’re travelling from, where you’re going and what matters most to you, and it’ll suggest the ferry route I’d compare first.
Find the best ferry route for your trip
Choose your journey details below.
The tool considers your part of the UK, your destination, how you’re travelling and whether you’d prefer a shorter crossing, less driving, a likely cheaper ferry or an overnight journey.
Your ferry route suggestion
Other routes worth comparing
This isn’t a live booking or price comparison tool. Ferry fares, timetables and availability can change, so use the result as a starting point and then compare the actual sailings available for your travel dates.
Why choosing the shortest ferry isn’t always best
It’s very easy to look at ferry crossings and immediately decide that the shortest one must be the best.
Sometimes it is.
If you’re travelling from London towards Paris, for example, a short Channel crossing can make a lot of sense.
But the ferry itself is only one part of the journey.
If you live several hours away from Dover and your final destination is on the other side of France, you might actually spend far more time driving just to save a couple of hours on the boat.
I prefer to look at the whole journey rather than simply the ferry time.
That means thinking about how long it’ll take to reach the UK port, how long the crossing is and how much driving you’ll still have once you get off the ferry.
Which ferry is best for Normandy?
If you’re heading to Normandy, I wouldn’t automatically assume Dover to Calais is the obvious choice.
Routes arriving directly into Normandy can make far more sense, particularly if you’re visiting places such as Caen, Bayeux, the D-Day beaches or the western side of the region.
Portsmouth to Caen is one of the routes I’d compare first for many Normandy trips because you arrive much closer to the places you’re probably actually going.
Newhaven to Dieppe can also work well, especially for eastern Normandy and travellers coming from the South East.
Portsmouth or Poole to Cherbourg may be worth considering if you’re heading towards western Normandy.
A Dover crossing can still be the right option, particularly if the fare is considerably cheaper or you live somewhere where Dover is easy to reach, but don’t judge the journey by the crossing time alone.
Which ferry should I take for Paris or Disneyland Paris?
For Paris and Disneyland Paris, the shorter Channel crossings are often the obvious place to start.
Dover to Calais is popular because the ferry journey itself is relatively short and Calais gives you straightforward onward access into northern France.
Newhaven to Dieppe is another option worth comparing depending on where you’re travelling from.
If you live nearer the south coast than Kent, spending a little longer on the ferry might be preferable to adding hours of driving in Britain before you’ve even left the country.
This is exactly why I wanted the ferry finder to ask where you’re starting from rather than simply recommending the same route to everyone.
Which ferry is best for Brittany?
For Brittany, I’d usually look at ferries arriving much further west rather than crossing to Calais and driving the entire length of northern France.
Portsmouth to St Malo can work particularly well because St Malo puts you straight into Brittany.
Plymouth to Roscoff is another route worth considering, especially if you’re travelling from the South West or heading towards western Brittany.
The ferry crossing is longer, but that doesn’t necessarily mean the whole journey will take longer.
If you can sleep on an overnight sailing and wake up much closer to your destination, it can feel considerably easier than driving for hours after a short Channel crossing.
Which ferry is best for Belgium?
There isn’t currently a direct UK passenger ferry to Belgium, so you’ll normally cross to either France or the Netherlands and continue by road.
Dover to Dunkirk is one of the options I like for Belgium because Dunkirk is relatively close to the Belgian border.
Dover to Calais can also work.
If you’re travelling from further north in the UK, routes into the Netherlands may be worth comparing too, depending on where in Belgium you’re actually going.
Again, this is where simply asking “what is the ferry to Belgium?” doesn’t really tell you enough.
The better question is: which ferry gives me the easiest overall journey to where I’m staying?
Which ferry is best for the Netherlands?
There are several very different options for reaching the Netherlands from the UK.
Harwich to Hook of Holland can make a lot of sense if you’re travelling from London, East Anglia or parts of the Midlands.
Hull to Rotterdam is particularly interesting if you’re coming from Yorkshire, the Midlands or the North because you avoid the long drive down to the south coast.
And from the North East, Newcastle to Amsterdam can be far more appealing than driving hundreds of miles south before boarding a ferry.
These longer crossings are often overnight, which can completely change how the journey feels.
Instead of spending most of a day driving through Britain, you can board the ship, sleep and arrive in the Netherlands the following morning.
Which ferry should I take to Spain?
Spain is where ferry route choice gets really interesting.
One option is to take a short ferry to France and drive all the way through France to Spain.
The other is to take one of the much longer direct ferries from Britain to northern Spain.
The direct ferry obviously means spending considerably longer at sea and usually costs more than a basic Channel crossing.
But you’re replacing a huge amount of driving.
Once you factor in fuel, French motorway tolls, potentially a hotel, meals and the sheer amount of time spent behind the wheel, the difference isn’t always as straightforward as it first appears.
I’d compare Portsmouth to Santander, Portsmouth to Bilbao and Plymouth to Santander alongside the cost of driving through France.
If you’re travelling with a motorhome or you’re simply not keen on a very long road trip, the direct ferry can be particularly appealing.
Should I choose the ferry with the least driving in the UK?
This can be a surprisingly important consideration.
People often compare ferry routes based on what happens after they arrive abroad, but the journey to the port matters too.
If you’re travelling from Nottingham, Manchester, Leeds or anywhere else well away from the south coast, driving all the way to Dover might add several hours before your holiday has even properly started.
That doesn’t automatically make Dover a bad choice.
The crossing can be short, there are lots of sailings and fares can be competitive.
But it’s worth comparing routes from places such as Hull, Harwich or Portsmouth depending on your destination.
Personally, I’d rather spend some of that journey sitting on a ferry with a coffee than staring at another motorway if the overall timings and price are similar.
Is an overnight ferry worth it?
I think overnight ferries can be brilliant when they genuinely replace travelling time.
You board in the evening, have something to eat, go to bed and wake up much closer to your destination.
That can effectively turn the ferry into your first night’s accommodation as well as your transport.
Of course, that only works well if you’re happy sleeping on a ferry and the cabin price fits your budget.
If you’re someone who barely sleeps anywhere except your own bed, an overnight crossing might not feel quite as magical the following morning!
But for longer routes to places such as Brittany, the Netherlands or Spain, I’d always at least compare the overnight option.
Is the cheapest ferry always the best option?
Definitely not.
This is one of the reasons the route finder describes its cost option as likely lower ferry cost, rather than promising the cheapest journey.
A £50 saving on the ferry isn’t much of a saving if you then use another £70 of fuel driving to the port.
Likewise, a more expensive ferry that saves you hundreds of miles of driving abroad could work out cheaper once you’ve added up fuel, tolls and overnight accommodation.
When I compare ferry routes, I’d look at:
the ferry fare,
fuel to the UK port,
fuel after arriving,
motorway tolls,
hotel costs if you need an overnight stop,
and how much of your holiday you’re prepared to spend driving.
Sometimes the route that initially looks expensive starts looking considerably more sensible.
What if I’m travelling by motorhome?
Motorhomes make route choice even more interesting.
Long drives cost more in fuel, tolls may be different and navigating busy cities or long motorway journeys can be more tiring than in a car.
I’d therefore give even more weight to where the ferry drops you.
A longer crossing that gets you much closer to your campsite or touring area could easily be worth it.
Make sure you enter your correct vehicle type when booking because ferry prices depend on the dimensions of your vehicle.
If you have bikes, a roof box, trailer or anything else that changes the size of your vehicle, include that correctly too.
What if I’m travelling with a dog?
If you’re taking a pet, don’t choose a ferry based entirely on the route.
Different ships and ferry companies have different arrangements for animals.
Some offer pet-friendly cabins, some have kennels and others have specific rules about where pets stay during the crossing.
Before booking, check the arrangements on the actual ship you’re considering.
I’d also look at the length of the crossing.
The route that’s perfect for you might not necessarily be the route you’d choose for a nervous dog spending many hours at sea.
Pet travel rules can change too, so check the latest official requirements for entering your destination before travelling.
What if I’m travelling as a foot passenger?
Foot passengers need to pay even more attention to the route.
Not every ferry service accepts foot passengers on every sailing.
You also need to think about what happens at the other end.
A ferry port that’s perfect when you have your own car can be considerably less useful when you’ve stepped off the ship with a suitcase and need public transport.
Look at how easy it is to reach the town or nearest railway station from the ferry terminal.
For foot passengers, I’d often prioritise onward transport almost as much as the ferry itself.
How accurate is the ferry finder?
The tool is designed to help narrow down the routes that are most worth comparing.
It uses broad geographical logic rather than live Google Maps driving times, and it doesn’t have access to live ferry fares or availability.
That’s intentional.
If I tried to tell you that a particular ferry would cost £137.50, there’s a good chance that information would be wrong by the time you actually booked.
Instead, the ferry finder helps answer the more useful first question:
Which routes should I actually look at?
Once you have your recommendation and alternatives, compare prices and sailing times for your actual travel dates.
Always compare at least two ferry routes
Even if the ferry finder gives you a clear winner, I’d still compare at least one alternative.
Ferry prices vary enormously depending on when you travel, how early you book and the type of vehicle you’re taking.
You may find that the route that’s technically perfect costs considerably more on your particular dates.
Or the second-best route might have a sailing time that works much better.
That’s why the tool gives you alternative routes as well as its first choice.
Planning your first ferry journey
If you’ve never taken a car on a ferry before, it can feel much more complicated than it actually is.
Once you’ve chosen your route, the basic process is usually very straightforward.
You arrive at the ferry port before the check-in deadline, follow the signs for your operator, check in and then join the lane you’re directed towards.
When boarding starts, staff guide you onto the ship and show you where to park.
I’ve put together a separate guide to taking a ferry for the first time, which explains the whole process from arriving at the port to driving off at the other end.
You can also use my ferry packing list generator to create a personalised checklist before you travel.
Which ferry should you take?
There isn’t one ferry from the UK that’s best for everybody.
For some journeys, a short Channel crossing from Dover is absolutely the easiest option.
For others, spending longer on the ferry can cut hours from the overall journey and leave you much closer to where you actually want to be.
That’s why I wouldn’t choose based only on ferry time or ticket price.
Look at the whole journey.
Where are you starting? How long will it take to reach the port? Where does the ferry leave you? How much driving comes afterwards? And would you rather spend those hours on the motorway or on the ship?
If you’re still not sure, scroll back up and use my UK Ferry Route Finder. It’ll give you the route I’d start comparing, along with a few alternatives that might work for your trip too.