Best and worst ferries for 2024

The two worst ferry routes from the UK to France are both crossings from Dover to Calais, according to our survey of nearly 2,000 Which? members.

Whether you choose P&O or Irish Ferries from Dover, passengers told us you’re likely to find poor facilities, poor food and not enough loos. DFDS, on the same route, is better – but all three were rated the worst ferries to France. 

Instead you should choose DFDS’s route from Dover to Dunkirk – it was rated far more highly by passengers. Or, for an even better experience – and more of a holiday feel – head across to Brittany from Devon with Brittany Ferries.

See below for our verdict on the best ferry firms from Holyhead and Liverpool to Dublin and Belfast, for domestic UK routes and further afield.

For more independent travel advice and recommendations, subscribe to Which? Travel

The best France ferries from Dover to Calais

The UK’s busiest passenger port has been seemingly beset with problems since Brexit, as a Gallic wave of the hand at passport control has turned to a full inspection. Things may get worse from October, when further checks will be required that initially involve all non-EU passengers submitting fingerprints and facial recognition scans. 

If do you have to take the ferry from Dover to Calais, choose DFDS. It’s about the same price as P&O, but you’ll get a cleaner boat, more space, better facilities and better customer service, passengers told us. 

However, the best option is to take DFDS’s Dover to Dunkirk route instead (Dunkirk and Calais are only a 35-minute drive apart). The crossing takes half an hour longer, but the port is quieter and the boats ‘remarkably uncrowded’ (five stars). It was one of the few routes to get four stars for value for money. The only gripe was a shortage of loos on board. 

Plymouth to Roscoff with Brittany Ferries rated best

The most enjoyable ferry trip from the UK to France is Plymouth to Roscoff in Brittany. Passengers told us about spotless, spacious ferries with great facilities that make the trip a pleasure – and good value for money. Food was more like a French bistro than the service-station-style meals on other boats. 

Taking into account how stressful flying can be these days, this is probably the nicest way to get to France, even if it does take five-and-a-half hours (or 11 at night). Other Brittany routes – to St Malo and Caen – were almost as good. 

Why you should avoid P&O Ferries 

It’s rare that industrial relations are mentioned in our survey responses as often as they were with P&O. Its decision, in 2022, to fire hundreds of workers and replace them with cheaper agency staff disgusted many travellers. ‘P&O sacked their staff out of pure greed,’ one person told us. 

But more people had complaints about its facilities, food and drink, and toilets on the Dover route. ‘I couldn’t believe how poor P&O are now compared to a few years ago,’ said one passenger. ‘A plate of fish and chips looked as if it had done several crossings,’ said another.

Best and worst France ferries

The best ferries to Dublin and Belfast

Stena Line vs Irish Ferries 

Our survey found that sailing to Ireland is relatively expensive. Few passengers thought that between £300 and £400 for a car was reasonable. As a result, every single route and firm got just two stars for value for money. 

Stena Line is marginally better on the popular Holyhead to Dublin route, with its clean boats, decent toilets and a slightly better price. But the far longer (eight hours) Liverpool to Belfast route was undoubtedly the most pleasant way to cross the Irish Sea – and one of the cheapest. One person told us they’d used both Stena Line and Irish Ferries, and Stena Line was superior in ‘both service and comfort’.

Ferries to the Outer Hebrides, Shetlands and other islands

Northlink Ferries (WRP) – East and North coast Scotland and Shetland ferries

Northlink’s longest route, from Aberdeen to Lerwick in Shetland takes 12-and-a-half hours but most passengers enjoyed every minute. ‘They do a brilliant job of transporting us in comfort from Aberdeen to Shetland every year. It’s the start of our holiday to get on the ship and have a warm welcome from the smiling staff,’ said one passenger. It gets five stars for both customer service and the space on clean, comfy boats. More importantly, we haven’t seen the same complaints about reliability that have blighted Calmac.

Calmac – West Scotland and islands ferries

The customer score for the Scottish government’s Hebrides ferry service suggests that when boats run and are on time, it’s a fine way to travel. While food and facilities aren’t great, that hardly matters on shorter routes, some as brief as five minutes. But problems with boats that can’t set sail in bad weather, lack of capacity, and cancellations have left islanders frustrated, as they’ve missed medical appointments, job interviews and more. ‘Its service is a joke,’ one disgruntled passenger told us. ‘Making a booking is like hitting a gambling button and hoping for the best.’

Ferries to the Isle of Man

Isle of Man Steam Packet

Until the Steam Packet started in 1830, the Isle of Man could be cut off for weeks. You’d think the world’s oldest continually operating ferry service would be a treasured public service. But the Isle of Man government-owned route is the worst rated of any domestic route. Long-suffering islanders complain about poor facilities, too many cancellations and ‘sky-rocketing prices’. Plans to improve reliability by making staff sleep on board (to ‘respond more flexibly to bad weather’) and firing those who refuse, provoked a union dispute.

Best and worst domestic ferries

Ferries to the Netherlands

Stena Line’s route from Harwich to Hook of Holland is a great way to get to Europe, passengers reported. It has friendly staff and clean boats with enough space for everyone. The average price to take a car in August is about £382 – which is cheaper than its rivals in our survey.

Passengers rated it much more highly than P&O’s more expensive journey from Hull to Rotterdam. It also did better than DFDS’s Newcastle to Amsterdam route. These two both got just two stars for value for money, while Stena Line got three.

Ferries to Spain

Brittany Ferries routes from Plymouth and Portsmouth to Santander on the north coast of Spain were both very highly rated for customer service, cleanliness and space. Journeys take around 20 hours so you’ll spend a day and a night onboard. There’s a choice of fine dining and cheaper restaurants, as well as a swimming pool, cinema and other entertainment. 

In some ways the experience with Brittany is more like a cruise than a simple ferry – but it is expensive. It costs around £858 from Plymouth and £940 from Portsmouth for August 2024 trips when we looked in January, so it might not be surprising the routes were rated just two stars for value for money. 

USING THE TABLES

In Dec 2023 we asked Which? members about 1,953 experiences of taking a ferry from the UK in the past three years. (-) = too few responses to rate. WRP = Which? Recommended Provider. Price incl. passengers on most routes. All Dover to Calais routes: up to four passengers. Irish routes: up to £50 per passenger (not incl. driver). Customer score Combines overall satisfaction and likelihood to recommend. Prices from directferries.co.uk, based on averages of three separate August weekend dates, leaving/returning on the Saturday or closest available date.