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

Ferry from Pembroke Dock, Wales to Ferrol, Galicia, Spain

Here’s a new ferry route planned which sounds great for Wales and Galicia but with restricted passenger numbers. A new ferry service which could take cargo and passengers directly from Pembrokeshire to the north coast of Spain is now under discussion and could be up and running as early as next year, 2010. The possible route between Pembroke Dock and the city of Ferrol, in north western Spain, is still in its early stages, but could give huge advantages to haulage companies if it goes ahead.

Passenger ferry service

Unfortunately for potential holidaymakers and tourists, the ferry service being discussed by the Milford Haven Port Authority (MHPA) and port bosses at Ferrol would only have room for about 10 to 12 passengers, the main focus being on transporting freight, unaccompanied by drivers, which would be dropped off at the ferry in Pembroke Dock and picked up at the other side. In other words, this would be a container ferry rather than a car ferry or even long distance lorry ferry.

Ferries reduce environmental impact

MHPA commercial director Joe Besch said:

The benefit would be that you don’t have a lorry driving right across England, France and Spain. Companies can save on the environmental impact and on the roads and costs of drivers”

Research has already shown that there are between 90 to 100,000 potential truck loads which could use the service, with around 16,000 units needed to make the route viable.

Mr Besch continued

The more people we can get the better, because you are increasing the utilisation of the ferry terminal at Pembroke Dock and we also have a twice daily service with Ireland and this would allow for Irish cargo to come from Ireland and send cargo directly over to Spain. We have spoken to ship owners and ferry companies, the next stage is to do more market research and find out who the companies are who could use the service.

Where is Ferrol?

Ferrol is a city in the Province of A Coruña in Galicia. Located on the Atlantic coast in north-western Spain, it has urban population of 77,859 and metropolitan area of over 241,528 (2007)

The city has been a major naval shipbuilding centre for most of its history, being the capital of the Spanish Navy’s Maritime Department of the North since the time of the early Bourbons. Before that, in the 17th century, Ferrol was the most important arsenal in Europe. Today, the city is also known as the home of the shipbuilding yards of Navantia .

Plymouth to Santander by Brittany Ferries

Brittany Ferries have been plying the route from the West of England to Santander in Northern Spain for decades and have recently refurbished with faster bigger ferries. Sailing from either Portsmouth on the south coasts of England or Plymouth in Devon, Brittany Ferries are well equiped for the longer sea crossings, avoiding the need to drive all the way down through France. Portsmouth to Santander is the newest route, with the flagship vessel Pont Aven adding the departure port option to the existing route of Plymouth to Santander since March 2009. This new crossing takes 24 hours, reducing the need for overnight cabins to one night, which is faster than anything previously.

More like a cruise than a ferry crossing, the Pont Aven is equipped with swimming pool and whirlpool, entertainment and children’s soft play and video areas. Two cinemas, bars and restaurants including seafood buffet meals help to pass the cruise time with quality offerings.

So why take a ferry to Santander?

Santander is a rather smart resort in Cantabria, with close associations with Madrid whose citizens tend to prefer to decant to the north and west of spain if possible in summer rather than to the steaming hot and over crowded southern costas. To the East is the Spanish Basque Country, and then France while to the West is Asturias and then Gallicia, so the whole of the North of Spain is available to explore from Santander.