United Kingdom

Arriving by air.

London Heathrow is one of the largest airports in the world, with flights from almost everywhere. This means it is quite often cheaper to arrive here and get an economy flight onward to the rest of Europe. To a lesser extent other airports such as Manchester can be pretty cheap arrival points.

If you are arriving from anywhere in Europe you are quite likely to find it cheapest to catch a flight with one of the no-frills airlines. In addition to the UK-based airlines mentioned in the section on public transport in the UK, most of the economy operators in Europe fly to at least one British destination, see the operators section for a more complete listing.

Arriving by train.

Eurostar run regular services to Waterloo International Station in London from Brussels Midi (2.5 hours, 9 times daily), Paris Nord (2 hours 45 minutes, 13 times daily), and Lille Europe. Thalys services connect at Brussels for Amsterdam, Germany and northern European destinations. Connect to the TGV network at Lille Europe for French and southern European destinations. Full details on the Eurostar website.

Arriving by ferry.

Ferries operate to many ports in the UK. The principal routes for passenger ferries from the continent are:

• Norse Merchant Ferries run from Dunkerque to Dover (Up to 10/day)
• Stena Line run Harwich to Hook of Holland
• Hull to Rotterdam
• Hull to Zeebrugge
• Dover to Calais
• Folkestone to Calais
• Portsmouth to Le Havre
• Porstmouth to Caen
• Portsmouth to Cherbourg
• Poole to Cherbourg
• Poole to St.Malo
• Plymouth to Roscoff
• Brittany Ferries run overnight from Plymouth to Santander once or twice weekly
• Portsmouth to Bilbao
• Harwich to Cuxhaven
• Harwich to Esjberg
• Newcastle to Kristiansand
• Newcastle to Gothenbourg
• DFDS run nightly services from Newcastle to Amsterdam
• Newhaven to Dieppe
• Superfast Ferries run overnight ferries from Rossyth near Edinburgh to Zeebrugge (3 times/week in the off-season)

To and from Northern Ireland and the Republic of Ireland:

• Norse Merchant Ferries run Birkenhead (Liverpool) to Dublin and Belfast (7 nights per week and Tue to Sat daytime. 8 hours)
• Stena Line run Fishguard to Rosslare and Fleetwood to Larne
• Stena Line run from Stranraer in Scotland to Belfast
• Stena Line and Irish Ferries run from Holyhead to Dublin and Dun Laoghaire.
• P&O Irish Sea Ferries have routes from Troon (summer only) and Cairnryan in Scotland to Larne, and from Liverpool to Dublin
• Irish Ferries run from Pembroke to Rosslare
• Swansea to Cork

Arriving by coach.

Eurolines run coaches from destinations all over Europe to London and Edinburgh. The fares on these services are often not much cheaper than flying, although they are cheaper than the train. They are probably only worthwhile if you want to move too much luggage or are afraid to fly.

© Ben Stafford, 2006