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Western Channel

Portsmouth to Cherbourg, an overnight, for now.

Every scheduled sailing out of Portsmouth is an overnight of about eight hours, landing at 07:00. It goes daily from November 2026 when it takes over the Poole traffic, and you drive off onto the N13, toll free the whole way to Caen.

FranceNewhavenDieppeCaenLe HavreSt MaloPoolePlymouthRoscoffPortsmouthCherbourg

Timetables checked August 2026, and how they are checked

8 hat sea2sailings a week1night aboardYear roundBrittany Ferries

The crossing

A night crossing to the Cotentin, going daily this November.

Operator
Brittany Ferries
Sailings
Up to 2 sailings a week each way; daily from November 2026
Crossing
About 8 hOne night aboard on the usual schedule.
Accommodation
Cabin or reserved seat, compulsory southboundEvery Portsmouth departure in the published schedule is overnight, so this isn't the optional booking it is on the Caen day boats.
Runs both ways
Cherbourg to Portsmouth is the day crossingBrittany Ferries runs the northbound leg in daylight at around five to six hours, with nothing compulsory to book.
Check-in
45 minutes before departure with a vehicle, 90 minutes with a pet.
Gas bottles
Up to three butane or propane cylinders, 47 kg between them, with no limit on any one bottle. Caravans and campervans only, and for the vehicle's own lighting, heating and cooking. Secured against the movement of the ship, kept away from heat, and shut off at the cylinder for the sailing.
Pets
Pets normally travel in the vehicle on this route. Cabins and kennels depend on the ship, and the ships change here in November 2026, so check what is aboard your sailing.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
Brittany Ferries (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

London is 1 h 50 away, Newcastle upon Tyne 6 h.

Typical driving hours to Portsmouth with light traffic
Starting fromDriving hours
London1 h 50
Bristol2 h
Birmingham2 h 50
Manchester4 h 30
Liverpool4 h 30
Leeds4 h 50
Newcastle upon Tyne6 h

Ashore

Straight onto the N13 at seven in the morning, and no toll before Caen.

You come off onto the N13 dual carriageway heading south, at 07:00, with the whole day ahead of you. Valognes is 20 minutes, Sainte-Mère-Église and Utah Beach around an hour, Bayeux an hour and ten, Caen an hour and a quarter, and none of it is tolled. The west coast at Barneville-Carteret is 45 minutes the other way. The Cité de la Mer is minutes from the ramp if you'd rather not drive at all on the first morning.

If not this boat

Caen sails far more often. The Poole boat stops in November.

Every crossing on the map

Still asked

The eight hours is the outbound. The five you may have seen is the way back.

Yes, and for the better. Brittany Ferries announced in June 2026 that Poole to Cherbourg closes in November 2026 and this route becomes daily in its place. It's the corridor's growth route rather than one to worry about. What the daily service looks like, and whether it stays overnight in both directions, is set by a timetable that isn't out yet.

Not from 1 November 2026. The Islander then runs a Portsmouth to Guernsey to Cherbourg triangle, so some sailings call at Guernsey on the way and take longer than a direct crossing. Check which your sailing is before you book around an arrival time.

Southbound, about eight hours. Brittany Ferries publishes "around eight hours" for Portsmouth to Cherbourg, and the sailings in the schedule leave at 22:30 or 23:15 and dock at 07:00. Northbound is the short one, at five to six hours in daylight. If you've seen four to six hours quoted for this crossing, that's the return leg. The three-hour times belong to the old fast craft and to nothing sailing now.

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

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