Travel Information

France ferry ports

France is still the premier European destination for visitors from all over the world. It is packed with diversions and distractions of every sort: cultural, culinary and sensual. The architecture is stunning, the countryside beautiful, the cities rich in culture and first-class museums, not to mention the food and cafés. There are three main ports in France that operate passenger ferry services.

Positioned on the most frequented shipping lanes in the world, Calais is the port par-excellence for cross Channel links between Britain and Continental Europe. The only French company operating daily ferry services to Dover is SeaFerries to France, with hourly crossings daily. Hoverspeed provides the fastest crossings, with journeys taking an hour. The company has 15 return crossings to Calais from Dover daily all year round. P&O Ferries operates a brand new vessel numerous times daily on the same route, with a crossing time of 75 minutes.

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Cherbourg is a favourite entry point to Normandy and provides one of the shortest crossings on the Western Channel. It is a major yachting centre, as well as fishing harbour, boasting some wonderful fish restaurants. P&O Irish Ferries has connections to Rosslare and Dublin, both in Ireland. The Rosslare route departs on Wednesday and Saturday nights, with a journey time of 19 hours. The sailing to Dublin departs on Sundays, with a crossing time of 18 hours. Please note that foot passengers are not allowed on this route. Brittany Ferries offers cross-channel crossings, with two daily sailings to Poole, in the UK, with a journey time of just over four hours. During the summer months Condor Ferries operates a fast ferry on this route, with a crossing time of only two hours and 15 minutes. P&O Ferries Portsmouth, offers four daily sailings to Portsmouth, with five sailings on Friday. The journey time is just under six hours onboard the conventional ferry and just under three hours on the Fastcraft that operates during the summer.

The town of Dieppe lies northwest of Paris and is known for its art and history, as well as being a gateway to Normandy and Brittany. Hoverspeed offers a crossing to Newhaven three times a day during the peak season, with a journey time of two hours.

Transmanche Ferries has two ferries making regular crossings all year round to Newhaven. The ferry sails three times daily, with fewer crossings on weekends (duration: 3 hours). The cabins onboard cannot be pre-booked and have to be requested at the reception after boarding.

Located on one of the world's busiest shipping lanes, the port of Boulogne-sur-Mer is at the heart of Europe. Speed Ferries currently offers a connection to Dover, in southern England. There are five daily return sailings, with a crossing time of 50 minutes.

Caen is an historic Norman city offering one of the newest ferry-ports on the Channel. Brittany Ferries sails to Portsmouth, with a journey time of six hours by day and eight hours by night. P&O Portsmouth operates on the same route, departing twice a day, once in the morning and once in the afternoon.

Le Havre is France's second biggest port, a deep-sea harbour with excellent access to the hinterland, and the closest port to Paris. P&O Portsmouth offers three daily sailings to Portsmouth, with crossings taking six hours.

Nice is located on the southern coast, in the French Riviera. Two ferry companies service Corsica from Nice: SNCM Ferryterranée and Corsica Ferries. The major destinations are Bastia and Calvi on Corsica, with journey times of around 4 hours. Up-to four ferries a day operate on these routes, with more ferries departing during the summer months. SNCM services all Corsican ports from the French ports of Marseille, Toulon and Nice.

Roscoff is a tranquil fishing village on the beautiful coast of west Brittany. Two ferry companies provide connections to UK and Irish ports. Brittany Ferries offers connections to Plymouth, with a journey time of six to seven hours. Sailings to Cork are available two to three times a week during the summer, and once a week during the winter season, with crossings taking 13 hours. Irish Ferries offers up-to three sailings a week to Rosslare, with a journey time of 16 hours.

Ferries operate out of the two main ports of Ajaccio and Bastia, on Corsica, with smaller ports of Calvi, Il Rousse, Propriano and Porto Vecchio also providing ferry access. Most of the connections are to the French mainland ports of Toulon and Nice (see the Corsica ports page for more details).