Cross-Channel
ferry operators and routes:
|
|
|
2025 guide from Gitelink the independent directory of selected holiday cottages and gites in France, for hire directly from owners |
|
| Gitelink for mobiles | Gitelink for full-screens | French route maps | French travel and tourism guide |
Cross-channel ferry operators and routes
Who sails where? And
how to get the best buys? Actually, you're best off booking directly
with the ferry companies....
| Gites in France | Before travelling to France..... | Cottages in Spain |
Sea routes between UK and France, UK and Belgium
There are ferries from:
Dover, Folkestone, Newhaven, Portsmouth, Poole, Plymouth.
And you can sail to: Calais, Zebrugge (in Belgium), Dunkerque, Dieppe, le Havre, Caen, Cherbourg, St. Malo and Roscoff.
Plus Ireland-France ferries from Cork or Rosslare.
And you can sail to: Calais, Zebrugge (in Belgium), Dunkerque, Dieppe, le Havre, Caen, Cherbourg, St. Malo and Roscoff.
Plus Ireland-France ferries from Cork or Rosslare.
Click this link for a full guide to Cross-Channel Ferry operators
Before booking your ferry...
Before booking a ferry trip to France or another European port, make sure that you have found the best buy. The best buy is not necessarily the cheapest - though this is often a major consideration. And be warned: websites that boldly announce "cheap ferries" mostly offer exactly the same prices as the ferry companies themselves, but sometimes without the special offers. And some so-called "cheap ferry" websites actually charge more than the ferry companies for the same journey. So if you really want to use a cheap ferries site to book your journey, check that the so-called "amazing offer" really is as cheap as it makes out to be ! Or book directly with the ferry operators, who generally offer the lowest rates available
In monetary terms, the cheapest offers are to be had on the shortest routes - that means ferries from Dover. But if you live in the southwest of the UK and plan to visit northwestern France, then it probably makes more sense to take a longer sea route and save on miles of motorway. If you're going anywhere south of the Loire, then the shorter sea crossings may be to your advantage, unless you are setting out from the Westcountry or the south coast of England.
Before booking a ferry, there are a lot of criteria that you may like to take into account, and each traveller will prioritize these criteria according to his own needs and preferences. here is a short checklist:
- The price
- The route; which route is best for your destination?
- The duration of the crossing; a short crossing may get you over faster, but a longer crossing can offer your time to take a needed rest in the middle of a long journey.
- The onboard service; what is offered, what do you want?
- The terms and conditions; what happens if you miss your ferry?
This last question is more important than it may seem, especially in peak periods. If you miss your crossing, but have chosen a route with just one or two daily crossings, you may well find that you have to wait 12 hours, 24 hours or even more before you can be rebooked. And during one recent summer season, one of the smaller ferry operators had to take one of their ferries out of service, leading to the total cancellation of services on that route for several days.
Click this link for a full guide to Cross-Channel Ferry operators
Check out the ferry companies directly:
- Condor Ferries Services from Weymouth
- P & O Ferries Operating Dover-Calais services
- DFDS ferries operating Dover to Calais and Dunkirk, Newhaven - Dieppe,
- Brittany Ferries Operating to western France
Copyright Gitelink © 2025
► Return to Gites in France
► You are here :
Gites in France > Information > Cross-Channel ferries
Gites in France > Information > Cross-Channel ferries
Search for gites in France :
The regions of
France
Gites in other regions of France
Gites
in other regions of France