Back Roads Great Britain (Eyewitness Travel Back Roads)

Getting to Great Britain

Arriving by Sea
The easiest way to compare the
many services, routes and prices is
online at http://www.directferries.com.
From France: Seafrance and P&O
Ferries have frequent crossings
between Calais and Dover (travel time
1½ hours). Transmanche Ferries/LD
Lines has ferry services between the
French ports of Dieppe and Le Havre,
and Newhaven and Portsmouth on
England’s south coast. LD Lines also
runs between Dover and Boulogne.
Condor Ferries has fast ferry services
(4½–5½ hours) from St Malo and
Cherbourg to Weymouth, Poole and
Portsmouth, and Brittany Ferries plies
similar routes to Britain’s south coast
with overnight and fast crossings.
Norfolkline has frequent crossings
from Dunkerque to Dover (2 hours).
From the rest of Europe: P&O Ferries
serves Great Britain from Belgium,
Netherlands, Spain and Ireland, as does
DFDS Seaways from Germany, Poland,
Netherlands, Denmark, Norway and
Sweden. Stena Line has daily crossings
from the Hook of Holland to Harwich
(6¼ hours). P&O North Sea Ferries sails
overnight from Zeebrugge in Belgium
(13½ hours), and also from Rotterdam,
Netherlands (11 hours) to Hull.
Brittany Ferries has overnight
crossings from Santander in Spain to
Plymouth (18 hours) or Portsmouth
(24 hours), while P&O has a Bilbao to
Portsmouth route (29 hours).
From Ireland: Norfolkline crosses
between Belfast and Liverpool
(8 hours). There are also services from
Belfast to Stranraer in southwest
Scotland (2 hours) and from Larne
to Fleetwood in northwest England
(8 hours) with Stena Line, and from
Larne to Cairnryan (1 hour) or Troon
(2 hours) in southwest Scotland with
P&O Irish Sea. Dublin to Liverpool

Below left Departure lounge at Gatwick airport

Below centre Ferry terminal, Dover Harbour

Below right Boeing 747, Heathrow Airport

Arriving by Road

Cars can also be taken through the

Channel Tunnel on the Eurotunnel rail

shuttle, which runs between Sangatte

near Calais and Folkestone in Kent.

Travel time is 35 minutes. Passengers

remain with their car. LPG-powered

vehicles are not permitted. The

terminals link to the A16 motorway in

France and the M20 in England.

Eurolines provides long-distance

coach (bus) service to Britain from

cities across Ireland and Europe.

Journey times can be long, but the

fares are relatively inexpensive.

Arriving by Rail

Eurostar is the fastest and easiest way

into Great Britain from Europe by rail.

This high-speed train travels through

the 52-km (31-mile) Channel Tunnel.

Passengers board at Brussels, Paris,

Lille or Calais to Ashford in Kent,

Ebbsfleet International or London’s

St Pancras Station. The journey from

Paris to London can be as little as 2¼

hours. From London, there are train

connections to all parts of the country

through the British Rail network.

If travelling by rail from Ireland, there

are combined train and ferry tickets

direct to most destinations in Britain.

For information contact Irish Rail.

11

DIRECTORY

ARRIVING BY SEA

Brittany Ferries

0871 244 0744 (UK); 08 25 82 88 28

(France); http://www.brittany-ferries.com

Condor Ferries

0845 609 1024 (UK); 08 25 13 51 35

(France); http://www.condorferries.co.uk

Direct Ferries

http://www.directferries.com

DFDS Seaways

+45 3342 3010;

http://www.dfdsseaways.co.uk

Irish Ferries

0818 300 400; http://www.irishferries.com

Norfolkline

0870 870 1020 (UK); 03 28 59 01 01

(France); http://www.norfolkline.com/ferry

P&O Ferries

08716 645 645 (UK); 08 25 12 01 56

(France); http://www.poferries.com

Seafrance

0871 423 7119 (UK); 08 25 08 25 05

(France); http://www.seafrance.com

Speedferries

0871 423 7119 (UK); 08 25 08 25 05

(France); http://www.speedferries.com

Stena Line

08705 70 70 70 ; http://www.stenaline.co.uk

Transmanche

0800 917 1201 (UK); 0800 650 100

(France);

http://www.transmancheferries.com

ARRIVING BY RAIL

Eurostar (railway)

08705 186 186 (UK); +44 (0)1233 617

575 (from France); http://www.eurostar.com

Irish Rail (Iarnród Éireann)

353 (0)1 703 4070 (Ireland);

http://www.irishrail.ie

ARRIVING BY ROAD

Eurolines

08717 818181 (UK);

http://www.eurolines.com

Eurotunnel

08705 35 35 35 (UK); 0810 63 63 04

(France); http://www.eurotunnel.com

routes (8 hours) are operated by P&O

Irish Sea and Norfolkline. Irish Ferries

runs 2-hour crossings from Dublin to

Holyhead in North Wales, as do Stena

Line from Dublin and Dun Laoghaire.

Irish Ferries crosses from Rosslare to

Pembroke in South Wales (4 hours),

while Stena Line has daily 2-hour

crossings from Rosslare to Fishguard.