France > Travel to France > Ferries

Cheap cross-channel ferries to France

If you are driving to your holiday in France from the UK you are going to need to book a cross channel ferry or channel tunnel crossing. Search here for the best prices on your preferred UK-France ferry route:

EuroTunnel

An alternative to the cross-channel ferry is to cross the channel by EuroTunnel - both quick and easy to use, and with very frequent trains running - up to five trains per hour, and no risk of delays due to bad weather. The crossing from Folkestone to Calais takes just 35 minutes, costs from only £49 one-way, and has direct access to the motorway network so you are soon on your way.

See our trains page to find Cheap Eurotunnel tickets

Cross channel ferry routes

The more common ferry routes to France sometimes have more than one operator running ferries on the same route The most popular routes are:

• Dover - Boulogne
• Dover - Calais
• Plymouth - Bilbao (Spain)
• Plymouth - Roscoff
• Plymouth - Santander (Spain)
• Poole - Cherbourg
• Poole - St Malo
• Portsmouth - Caen
• Portsmouth - Cherbourg
• Portsmouth - Le Havre
• Portsmouth - St Malo

Note, some of these crossings (those departing from Dover) only take about an hour, while others take several hours or sail overnight. The longer crossings cost more, and cabin accommodation may also be needed.

You will need to carefully balance the extra time spent on the crossing with the cost, with the saving in driving time and expense, and the convenience of arriving after a night sleeping on a ferry. 

The crossings from Plymouth to Santander and Bilbao are as much a mini-cruise as a ferry crossing, take more than 24 hours for the voyage, and are sometimes used by those visiting far south-west france eg Biarritz.

See also

Please see trains in France page for cheap eurotunnel tickets.