London is located just a few hours' drive from England's east, south and south-east coasts. The seaports of Dover, Harwich and Newhaven are all easily accessible from London.
Getting to London from the ferry port
London is easily reached by road from the major ports. Read more about driving to London.
For pedestrians, there are frequent train services into London's Victoria station from Dover and Newhaven. Harwich services terminate at Liverpool Street station. There are also rail links between Holyhead and London Euston station (some services have an interchange), and between Fishguard and London Paddington station (interchange at Cardiff Central).
For train timetables and fares from UK ports to London visit the National Rail Enquiries website.
Ferry crossings to continental Europe
The quickest ferry crossing from continental Europe is from Calais to Dover. Crossings take around 90 minutes. Ferries are operated by DFDS Seaways and P&O Ferries and run regularly throughout the day and night. DFDS Ferries also operates services from Dunkirk to Dover (two hours each way), Dieppe to Newhaven and Amsterdam to Newcastle. Longer routes from France and Spain, operated by P&O Ferries and Brittany Ferries, arrive at Portsmouth, Poole and Plymouth.
Stena Line operates a service from the Netherlands (Hook of Holland in Rotterdam) to Harwich. The journey usually takes just over six hours. There is also a ferry from Esbjerg in Denmark to Harwich, operated by DFDS Seaways, with a journey time of approximately 18 hours.
Ferry crossings to Ireland
The fastest routes for ferry travel between Ireland and London are Dublin to Holyhead and Dun Laoghaire to Holyhead. On both routes, high-speed vessels operate alongside normal ferry services.
Services are operated by Irish Ferries and Stena Line and journey times are as little as 110 minutes on the high-speed vessels and three hours 15 minutes on the traditional ferries. Stena Line also operates a crossing from Rosslare to Fishguard with journey times of upwards of 120 minutes. And Irish Ferries has a route from Rosslare to Pembroke, which takes four hours.
Disabled passengers
All ferry operators provide facilities to ensure that disabled passengers have a smooth journey. Contact the individual companies in advance for further details and to book assistance.
Eurotunnel and Eurostar to London
Eurotunnel provides high-speed car, coach and freight shuttle services via the Channel Tunnel between Coquelles (Calais) and Folkestone. Folkestone has good access to the motorway network and London. The Channel Tunnel is 31.5 miles long and the approximate crossing time is 35 minutes. Read more about driving to London.
Or leave your car behind and travel on Eurostar, a frequent, good-value rail service which runs via the Channel Tunnel, linking continental Europe and Central London.