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Irish Sea

Liverpool to Belfast, and it sails from Birkenhead.

Eight hours across, either 10:30 to 18:30 or 22:30 to 06:30. Check-in is at Twelve Quays on the Wirral side of the Mersey, not in Liverpool itself.

BritainIrelandCairnryanLarneHolyheadDublinFishguardRosslarePembroke DockLiverpoolBelfast

Timetables checked August 2026, and how they are checked

8 hat sea2sailings a dayYear roundStena Line

The crossing

Eight hours from Birkenhead, day boat or night boat.

Operator
Stena Line
Sailings
2 a day from Birkenhead: a morning boat and a night boat
Crossing
About 8 h
Accommodation
Cabin optional on the night sailingThe 22:30 prices a cabin as an add-on and sells reclining seats without one. Almost everyone books a cabin, and August stock goes early.
Check-in
Fixed clock times on this route, not offsets: check-in for the morning sailing runs 08:00 to 09:30, and for the 22:30 it runs 19:30 to 21:30. That's a full hour before departure, not the 30 minutes Stena allows at Cairnryan. Allow about 90 minutes on top for the August night boat.
Gas bottles
Up to three cylinders, 47 kg between them, valves closed for the whole sailing. Stena also wants a call to its contact centre before you travel, about 24 hours ahead, and then a second declaration at check-in.
Pets
A good route on the Irish Sea for a dog, though not the only one. Pet-friendly cabins on the Stena Edda and Embla take up to two pets, and the kennels can be visited during the crossing. A dog can be left in the vehicle, though Stena advises against it over eight hours. Cabin stock is small, so book the dog first.Paperwork: a dog, cat or ferret needs a free Northern Ireland Pet Travel Document and a microchip. No rabies vaccination or tapeworm treatment is required on this movement. Apply before you travel; it's a form, not a vet appointment.
Book with
Stena Line (opens in a new tab)Fares and availability live with the operator, not here.

Seasons, weather and operators all move these, so confirm with the operator before you book.

Getting there

Manchester is 0 h 40 away, Glasgow 3 h 40.

Typical driving hours to Liverpool with light traffic
Starting fromDriving hours
Manchester0 h 40
Leeds1 h 30
Birmingham1 h 40
Newcastle upon Tyne3 h
Edinburgh3 h 30
London3 h 40
Glasgow3 h 40

Ashore

You land in Belfast Harbour, ten minutes from the centre.

Victoria Terminal 2 exits onto West Bank Road and reaches the M2 in about ten minutes, or the M3 for the city and the east. Belfast centre and the Titanic Quarter are ten to fifteen minutes. North on the M2, Carrickfergus is twenty five minutes and the Causeway Coastal Route starts at Larne around thirty five. Glenarm and the Glens of Antrim are an hour, and the Giant's Causeway closer to an hour and three quarters.

The money

The night boat costs about £170 more and hands back two days.

Eight hours is eight hours on either sailing. The overnight adds a cabin to the fare and gives the daylight back, and Stena publishes enough of its 2026 fares to put a number on the difference.

August return, 7 m high-top and two adults

Sail overnight with a cabin22:30 to 06:30, both directions

Car and driver, night farePeak band, both legs£370
Motorhome supplement, up to 8 m£80 a leg£160
Second adult£32 a leg£64
Two-berth inside cabinFrom £65 on a night sailing£130
Estimated total~£725

Plus two nights aboard, and two daylight days kept for the trip.

Sail on the day boat10:30 to 18:30, both directions

Car and driver, day farePeak band, both legs£330
Motorhome supplement, up to 8 m£80 a leg£160
Second adult£32 a leg£64
Estimated total~£555

Plus two daylight days at sea, and a bed to find at 18:30 each way.

Worked at August 2026 magnitudes from the published 2026 fare sheet, not quotes. The peak band runs 26 June to 30 August and Friday to Sunday sailings sit at the top of it. The recurring motorhome offer waives the £80 supplement on some Sunday and Monday morning sailings, which narrows the gap.

If not this boat

Cairnryan is two hours over, once you've driven to Galloway. Holyhead lands in Dublin instead.

Every crossing on the map

Still asked

Two things people get wrong: the port, and whether the cabin is compulsory.

No. Check-in is at Twelve Quays on Tower Road in Birkenhead, on the Wirral side of the river, and Stena says so in its own booking copy. Come off the M53 at junction 1 and you never touch the water. If you're starting in Liverpool itself, the Kingsway tunnel suits a tall van better than the Queensway, which has height and width restrictions, and tunnel tolls went up in April 2026.

Not strictly. The fare sheet prices cabins as an add-on and sells the 22:30 with reclining lounge seats instead. In practice almost everyone books one, because the point of the night boat is arriving at 06:30 having slept. Two-berth inside cabins on August sailings go well ahead of the date.

It's a good one, and the kennels here can be visited mid-crossing. But pet-friendly cabins aren't exclusive to it: Stena runs them on Holyhead to Dublin and Fishguard to Rosslare as well, and Irish Ferries has them on the James Joyce out of Holyhead. If the cabin is what you're after, a 3 h 30 crossing offers the same thing, and only Cairnryan to Belfast has none. What this route asks you to weigh is eight hours against two, not the facilities. Stena advises against leaving a dog in the vehicle for eight hours, and pet cabins are the scarcest thing on the ship, so book them before anything else.

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