Ferries to United Kingdom

The Channel: short hops, frequent departures

The quickest way across is the Strait of Dover. DFDS, P&O Ferries and Irish Ferries together run Dover - Calais up to 31 times a day, and the crossing takes about 1 hour 40 minutes. Miss a sailing and the wait for the next one is rarely long. Dover - Dunkirk is quieter: DFDS sails up to ten times a day and takes around two hours, and the French terminal is easier to reach from Belgium and the Netherlands.

Further west the Channel routes aim at the south coast rather than at Kent. DFDS runs Newhaven - Dieppe up to three times a day in four to five hours, and Brittany Ferries links Portsmouth and Caen up to three times a day in six to seven hours. For Devon, Cornwall or Wales these ports save the drive around London.

The North Sea: a night on board

The crossings from the Netherlands are longer, but they use the night. DFDS sails Newcastle - Amsterdam daily and takes about 15 hours 45 minutes, leaving in the afternoon and arriving the following morning. For northern England and Scotland that leaves the shortest drive at the far end. Stena Line runs Harwich - Hook of Holland daily, up to twice a day, in eight to nine hours, landing you east of London. P&O Ferries sails Hull - Rotterdam daily in 11 to 12 hours; Hull is well placed for York, the Pennines and the road north to Edinburgh.

Ireland, Northern Ireland and the Scottish islands

From Wales, Ireland is close. Stena Line and Irish Ferries run Holyhead - Dublin up to eight times a day in about three and a half hours, Stena Line needs much the same time on Fishguard - Rosslare, and Irish Ferries sails Pembroke - Rosslare in around four hours. Northern Ireland is reached from Cairnryan in south-west Scotland, where Stena Line crosses to Belfast in a little over two hours, or overnight from Liverpool in eight hours. Within the UK, ferries serve the northern islands: Ullapool to Stornoway on Lewis and Harris takes under three hours with Caledonian MacBrayne, Aberdeen to Lerwick in Shetland 12.5 to 14.5 hours with Northlink.

Vehicles, cabins and the tunnel

The ferries carry cars, motorhomes, vans, minibuses, motorbikes and bicycles. On the Channel routes your vehicle sits unattended on the car deck for about an hour, on the overnight sailings for the whole night, so valuables and travel documents belong upstairs with you. For Newcastle, Hull and Harwich you book a cabin as well, usually an inside or outside cabin for two to four people, so the crossing doubles as a night's accommodation.

If you would rather not sail, the Channel Tunnel takes vehicles and their passengers on the Eurotunnel shuttle between Folkestone and Calais in about 35 minutes, up to 44 times a day. It is the fastest way across, and the plainest. Fares rise with demand on every route, so book early for the school holidays and around bank holidays.