Ferries to Dover
Millions of passengers Take a ferry trip from Dover to Calais, Dover to Boulogne and Dover to Dunkerque each year.
There has been a harbour at Dover for many centuries. It's history can be traced back to Roman times. It's geographical position made it an ideal choice for sailors of small ships and boats who could look to it's deep cleft formed in the hills by the River Dour to give it protection when traveling across the strait.
James 1 created Dover Harbour in 1606 and currently 15 million ferry passengers sail from Dover ferry port. The port of Dover has continued to grow and develop to possibly the biggest ferry passenger seaport in the world with over 2.5 million cars and 140,000 coaches sailing across the English Channel to France.
LD Lines now operates a new ferry crossing to France having re opened the route to Bolougne. It also sails to Dieppe under Transmarche Ferries for both freight traffic and other car passengers.
Dover is the port used by P&O Ferries, and SeaFrance for their frequent crossings to Calais. Norfolkline operate from here for sailings to Dunkerque and now LD Lines sail their new Speed Ferries service for ferries to Boulogne.
The port is an ideal location on the South East coast for onward travel with excellent links to the UK Rail and motorway networks. Dover ferry Port has 2 main ferry terminals. Currently it offers more than 60 daily services by car ferries, hovercraft and catamarans to Calais. P&O Ferries and SeaFrance are equipped with a fleet of 'Jumbo' car ferries with crossing times of 75 minutes.
Port of Dover services
The Port of Dover features state-of-the-art amenities to handle over 16 million passengers and 2.5 million vehicles, buses and coaches annually. Dover port also handles an estimated two million cargo vehicles per year. It is a major destination for ferry trips to France.
Passenger amenities at the Port of Dover feature bank and currency exchange services, as well as ATMs, booking and information counters, public telephones, designated facilities for physically disabled travellers, and a large number of restaurants and shops.
All passenger ferries arrive and leave from the Eastern Docks terminal. The principal operator is P&O Ferries which provides UP TO 22 daily return sailings on the Dover-Calais route; these crossings operate all year round, with a sailing time of about 1 hour, 30 minutes. The Pride of Canterbury is P&O's largest vessel, currently operating the route, the craft can accommodate 2, 000 passengers and has a car capacity of 650. There are plenty of convenient on-board passenger amenities, including restaurants, outlets, and special facilities for disabled passengers.
SeaFrance operates the Dover-Calais route as well, and after P&O Ferries' service it is the busiest. The company provides a faster service than P&O Ferries with a crossing time of just 75 minutes. The fast Renoir crafts, which can carry 1,800 passengers and 280 cars, are the ferries SeaFrance uses for the route.
Norfolkline offers a daily sailing between Dover and Dunkirk in France. The duration of the voyage lasts about two hours. Norfolkline operates the highly advanced Midnight Merchant and Northern Merchant ferries. These vessels provide excellent amenities including a large concourse.