Book a Ferry to France is run by Westcountry Travel Media, a family company based in the South West of England. We’ve been holidaying in France for over 20 years, and in that time we’ve sailed on nearly every ferry route to France, and taken the Eurotunnel too. We built this site to be the guide we wished we’d had: every crossing compared honestly, with the facts checked and dated.
Who we are
We’re a family company, and France has been our holiday destination for more than two decades. In that time we’ve crossed the Channel on nearly every route there is, from the short crossings out of Dover to the long overnight sailings from Portsmouth and Plymouth, as well as on the Eurotunnel.
Tim was one of the founding owners of GoCampFrance.co.uk, which specialised in camping holidays in France, so planning French holidays, and getting people across the Channel to them, has been part of our working lives as well as our own.
Westcountry Travel Media also runs Driving France, our guide to driving in France for UK drivers, from what to carry to the rules of the road.
First-hand experience
We’ve used nearly every ferry route between England and France, and the Eurotunnel, ourselves. Where our own experience helps you choose, we say so. For example, we’ve taken the overnight ferries from Newhaven to Dieppe, Portsmouth to Caen and Plymouth to Roscoff: the Caen and Roscoff sailings gave us a proper night’s sleep, while Newhaven to Dieppe gets you into France in the small hours. You’ll find that kind of practical advice throughout our guides.
How we research and check every page
- We go to the source. Crossing times, timetables, ships, check-in times and prices come from the ferry companies’ own websites and timetables. Where sources disagree, we go with Brittany Ferries for its own routes, and with each ferry company for its own sailings.
- Official sources for the rules. Passport, border, pet and customs rules come from GOV.UK; French driving rules from the French government.
- Our own knowledge and experience. Over 20 years of French holidays and nearly every ferry route, plus Tim’s background in French camping holidays, inform our practical advice, and we say when something comes from our own trips.
- Our own data. Driving times and distances come from OpenStreetMap routing, calculated for every port and destination, so our comparisons are like for like.
- If we can’t check it, we leave it out. We don’t repeat figures from other websites without checking them, and we’d rather say “check when booking” than guess.
- Every page is dated. Each guide shows when it was last checked. Ferry timetables, fares and rules change, so we always point you to live times and prices before you book.
- We write it ourselves. Our pages are written in our own words, not copied from ferry companies or other sites.
Spotted something that’s changed or wrong? Please tell us using the form below, and we’ll check it and correct it.
How the site is funded
Book a Ferry to France is free to use. We earn a commission from some of the links and booking tools on the site, such as the ferry price comparison widget provided by Direct Ferries, links to ferry companies’ booking pages, and links to Amazon for travel kit. If you book or buy through one of those links, we may earn a commission, at no extra cost to you.
That commission pays for the time it takes to research and keep the site up to date. Our comparisons are based on crossing times, sailings, fares and driving distances, so you can choose the crossing that suits your trip.
Read more in how we make money and our editorial policy.
Contact us
Questions, corrections or ideas for the site? Send us a message and we’ll get back to you. Please note we can’t make or change ferry bookings: for that, contact your ferry company directly.