Ferries to Denmark

Denmark sits between three ferry corridors: the short Baltic crossings from northern Germany, the Øresund and Kattegat routes from Sweden, and the Skagerrak crossings from Norway. There is no direct sailing from Britain or Ireland, so travellers from further west join one of these corridors by road. Which one suits you depends on where your drive starts, whether a vehicle is coming along and whether you want to spend a night at sea.

From Norway across the Skagerrak

Hirtshals, at the northern tip of Jutland, is the Norwegian bridgehead. Color Line and Fjord Line sail to Kristiansand in 2 hours 30 minutes or 3 hours 30 minutes depending on the ship, with up to six departures a day. Larvik is served twice daily in just under four hours, and Fjord Line continues from Hirtshals via Stavanger to Bergen, a passage of 17 to 18 hours with a cabin on board. If your destination is the Danish capital rather than Jutland, the ferry from Copenhagen to Oslo runs as an overnight service of around 17.5 hours and leaves you a full morning in the other city.

From Sweden across the Øresund and Kattegat

The ferry from Helsingborg to Helsingør crosses in a quarter of an hour, with up to 55 sailings a day, and is the obvious alternative to the Øresund Bridge as well as an easy day trip to North Zealand. Further north, Stena Line links Gothenburg with Frederikshavn in about 3.5 hours, up to four times a day, on ships built for motorhomes and trailers. Bornholm is usually reached from Ystad: Ystad to Rønne takes one hour 15 minutes, with up to six departures a day.

From Germany across the Baltic

The fastest crossing of all is the ferry from Puttgarden to Rødby: 45 minutes from Fehmarn to the island of Lolland, with up to 36 departures a day. It is the sea leg of the Vogelfluglinie, the direct Hamburg to Copenhagen axis, and rarely needs booking ahead. From eastern Germany the ferry from Rostock to Gedser takes around two hours to Falster, up to nine times a day. Bornholm is also served from Germany by the ferry from Sassnitz to Rønne, three days a week, in 3 hours 15 minutes to 3 hours 45 minutes. On the North Sea coast a short car ferry links List on Sylt with Havneby on Rømø.

When to book

On the high-frequency crossings over the Fehmarn Belt and the Øresund you can simply turn up; the only real variable is the queue at the ramp. Everywhere a ship sails a few times a day or a few times a week, that changes: Bornholm, Gothenburg and every Norwegian route. Motorhome and trailer spaces and cabins are limited, and they go early in the summer holidays and over long weekends. The binding fare for your travel date is set at the booking step.