London is located just a few hours' drive from England's east, south and south-east coasts. The seaports of Dover in Kent, Harwich in Essex and Newhaven in East Sussex 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 in London.
For pedestrians, there are frequent train services into London's Victoria station from Dover and Newhaven and National Express operates regular coach services from Dover to London’s Victoria Coach Station. The journey typically takes around three hours. 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 about 90 minutes. Ferries are operated by DFDS Seaways, P&O Ferries and Irish Ferries and run regularly throughout the day and night. DFDS Seaways also operates services from Dunkirk to Dover (two hours each way), Dieppe to Newhaven (about four hours) and Amsterdam to Newcastle (about 16 hours overnight). Longer routes from France and Spain, operated by 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 by day and eight hours by night.
Ferry crossings to Ireland
The fastest routes for ferry travel between Ireland and London is Dublin to Holyhead.
Services are operated by Irish Ferries and Stena Line. Irish Ferries operates the Dublin Swift, a fast ferry with a crossing time of approximately two hours 15 minutes. Conventional ferry crossings take between three hours 15 minutes to three hours 30 minutes. Stena Line also operates a crossing from Rosslare to Fishguard with journey times of three hours 15 mins. And Irish Ferries has a route from Rosslare to Pembroke, which takes four hours.
Assistance information
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.
Le Shuttle and Eurostar to London
Le Shuttle 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 50.46 km (31.4 miles) long and the approximate crossing time is 35 minutes. Read more about driving in 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 (St Pancras station).
Discover more important traveller information, including how to access the internet in London and everything you need to know about the Tube.
