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Western Channel

Newhaven to Dieppe, the cheap way into Normandy.

About four hours to the Normandy coast on the cheapest boat west of the straits. It runs all year, twice a day, three times a day in high season.

FrancePortsmouthCaenCherbourgLe HavreSt MaloPoolePlymouthRoscoffNewhavenDieppe

Timetables checked August 2026, and how they are checked

4 hat sea2sailings a dayYear roundDFDS

The crossing

Four hours to Normandy on the cheapest boat in the corridor.

Operator
DFDS
Sailings
2 sailings a day, 3 in peak season
Crossing
About 4 h
Accommodation
Reclining seats included, cabins optionalNo cabin is compulsory, including on the late sailing.
Check-in
Check-in opens two hours before departure and closes 45 minutes before. Arrive 60 to 90 minutes ahead with a van.
Gas bottles
Up to three butane or propane cylinders, 47 kg between them, for lighting, cooking or heating only. Valves shut and the cylinders secured. DFDS wants them stated at check-in. DFDS publishes no figure specific to this route, so this is its general rule.
Pets
Pets can stay in the vehicle on the car deck. Kennels are available and DFDS has added pet-friendly cabins on this route. Book each pet in advance; there's a charge each way.Paperwork: an EU pet passport or a GB Animal Health Certificate, a microchip, and a rabies vaccination at least 21 days old. A dog also needs a vet-administered tapeworm treatment 24 to 120 hours before it comes back into Great Britain. An Animal Health Certificate has to come from an official vet within ten days of travel, so it's booked well before the crossing is.
Book with
DFDS (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

Portsmouth is 1 h away, Poole 1 h 50.

Typical driving hours to Newhaven with light traffic
Starting fromDriving hours
Portsmouth1 h
Dover1 h 30
London1 h 40
Poole1 h 50

Ashore

You come off onto a dual carriageway with Rouen an hour away.

You leave the port onto the D75 and N27 heading south, dual carriageway from the gate. Rouen is 50 minutes to an hour, and the A28, A29 and A13 open up beyond it. The Alabaster Coast is on the doorstep at Varengeville and Veules-les-Roses, and Forges-les-Eaux is inside 90 minutes. Rouen runs a Crit'Air low emission zone, so carry the sticker if you're driving through the city itself.

If not this boat

Cherbourg and Caen land further west. Nothing here is cheaper.

Every crossing on the map

Still asked

It's subsidised, which is why it's cheap. The van fare isn't the car fare.

DFDS runs it under contract to the Seine-Maritime transmanche syndicate, which subsidises the service. Brittany Ferries named that subsidy as unfair competition at the end of June 2026, when it announced that Portsmouth to Le Havre would close that October. Motorhomes are priced by length and height band, not at the car fare: reckon on roughly £87 to £130 one way off peak for a van under 5 m, and £350 to £600 one way in August for a 6 to 7 m van. The £75 to £116 range you'll see advertised is the car fare and doesn't apply to a camper. Figures are a guide, not quotes.

It runs to a slower schedule, around five hours rather than four, and arrives in Dieppe in the small hours. Reclining lounge seats are included in the fare and a private cabin is bookable on top. Plan somewhere to stop within a few minutes of the port rather than a long drive off the ramp.

About two hours. Dieppe is the nearest port on this coast to Paris, which is the reason to choose it over Cherbourg or Caen if the trip runs inland rather than west along the Normandy beaches.

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Newhaven to Dieppe in one page: the times, the sailings, the port and the first hour ashore. Free to read, no account needed.

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