Ferry Time blog

Brittany Ferries is a leading ferry company operating on the western and central English Channel with a modern fleet of cross channel ferries.

Brittany ferries sail from Portsmouth, Poole and Plymouth in England, to Cherbourg, Caen, Roskoff and St Malo in Brittany and France, Cork in Ireland, Santander and Bilbao in Spain.

Brittany Ferries Channel crossings from Spain

Bilbao – Portsmouth
up to 2 crossings per week
from 23hrs 45mins

Santander – Plymouth
Infrequent crossings
20hrs

Santander – Portsmouth
up to 3 crossings per week
1 day

Brittany Ferries Channel crossings from France

Caen – Portsmouth
up to 4 crossings per day
from 3hrs 30mins

Cherbourg – Poole
up to 3 crossings per day
from 2hrs 30mins

Cherbourg – Portsmouth
up to 2 crossings per day
3hrs

Roscoff – Cork
Infrequent crossings
13hrs 45mins

Roscoff – Plymouth
up to 2 crossings per day
from 6hrs

St Malo – Plymouth
up to 2 crossings per week
8hrs

St Malo – Portsmouth
up to 2 crossings per day

Brittany Ferries Channel crossings from Ireland

Cork – Roscoff
Infrequent crossings
14hrs

Brittany Ferries Channel crossings from England

Plymouth – Roscoff
up to 2 crossings per day
from 6hrs

Plymouth – Santander
Infrequent crossings
19hrs 30mins

Plymouth – St Malo
Infrequent crossings
9hrs 15mins

Poole – Cherbourg
up to 3 crossings per day
from 2hrs 30mins

Portsmouth – Bilbao
up to 2 crossings per week
from 1 day

Portsmouth – Caen
up to 4 crossings per day
from 3hrs 30mins

Portsmouth – Santander
up to 3 crossings per week
from 1 day

Portsmouth – St Malo
up to 2 crossings per day
from 9hrs

Portsmouth – Cherbourg
up to 2 crossings per day
3hrs

Cross channel ferries are coping with extra passenger traffic from people making their way home after bring stranded by flight ban caused by the volcanic ash cloud from Iceland.

The Port of Dover is running as if it were August with extra sailings, and plenty of spare capacity including foot passenger spaces. Normal turn-up-and-go fares apply.

Eurostar has put on at least an extra 28 trains and says it has 30,000 standard class one-way seats available from today at £89

Tour operators and airlines however, said the backlog caused by the erupting volcano Eyjafjalloekull is so great that it will take up to 14 days to clear.

Many britons held up in Spain are making their way to northern Spanish ports such as Santander to wait for the ferry crossing to Plymouth or else the royal navy ships which are being diverted to help out.

[HTML1]
Source: Maison de la France

Cross channel ferry links and rail services make France a good option for British people looking for an affordable break, according to an industry spokesman.

Jean-Pierre Courteau, director of government tourist office Maison de la France, said that the country is a “very inexpensive place to get to” for British travellers.

While he admitted that it will be difficult for the tourism industry to be profitable during the economic downturn, Mr Courteau said that the proximity of France makes it one of the most viable options for Brits travelling on a budget.

“You don’t have to fly there, you can take the ferry or the train. France gives a good opportunity to travel on a budget,” he said.

“I don’t say that we are going to profit from the crunch and the financial situation but people who are aware of not flying and travelling on a budget will come to France this year.”

Mr Courteau pointed out that, with about 11 million visitors every year, Britain is the most important source market for the French tourism industry.