Channel ferry timetable
The Channel runs to two clocks: the Dover short sea sails around the clock with departures every hour or better, while the western routes sail once or a few times a day - some overnight, some seasonal. Choose a route and a date to see the actual departures with operator and duration.
All details without guarantee. The operator's departure time and your booking confirmation are authoritative. Direct Ferries →
Table of Contents
How to read the timetable
Every row is one departure: date, route, time, duration and operator. Pick the direction you actually sail - outbound and return rhythms differ on most Channel routes, and on the overnight crossings the two legs are different products altogether: Portsmouth - St Malo sails out by night and back by day.
The Dover short sea
Dover - Calais is the metronome of the Channel: DFDS, Irish Ferries and P&O Ferries share up to 31 departures a day, around the clock, 90 minutes across. Dover - Dunkirk adds about ten two-hour crossings with DFDS. Frequency is the product here - if you miss a boat, the next is rarely more than an hour or two away, though your ticket may bind you to a specific sailing.
The western routes
West of Dover the timetable thins and the boats grow. Newhaven - Dieppe crosses in about four hours up to three times a day in season. Portsmouth - Caen runs several times daily including overnight boats; Portsmouth - St Malo sails overnight most days; Poole - Cherbourg leaves each morning for a daytime crossing. Plymouth - Roscoff is seasonal with mostly overnight sailings, and Portsmouth - Cherbourg is down to a couple of night crossings a week. Two of these - Le Havre and Poole - Cherbourg - currently run under an operational review, so treat their published schedules as provisional for dates from autumn onwards.
The Channel Islands
The island crossings run to their own rules: fast-ferry times flex with tide and weather, Poole reaches Guernsey in about three hours and Jersey in about four and a half, and the Portsmouth sailings are the steadier conventional runs. Jersey sails with DFDS, Guernsey with Brittany Ferries - the Channel Islands guide explains the split.
Season and weather
Summer brings extra sailings on the western routes and the densest Dover traffic of the year; winter trims the west back to its core and closes Roscoff entirely. Wind is the Channel's variable: the short sea keeps sailing in most weather, while the long crossings occasionally retime around a front. On the day itself, the operator's status page and your booking confirmation outrank every published table - including this one.
FAQ timetable
Frequently asked questions
Questions about the Channel timetable.
How reliable are the departure times shown?+
They come from the operators' published timetables and change between timetable periods, most noticeably at the season change in spring and autumn. The operator's departure time and your booking confirmation are authoritative. All details without guarantee.
What does an empty result mean?+
Usually that the route does not sail that day. Plymouth - Roscoff pauses in winter, Portsmouth - Cherbourg sails only up to twice a week, and Portsmouth - Le Havre and Poole - Cherbourg run under an operational review with schedules subject to change. Check a neighbouring date first, then the nearest alternative route from the same coast.
Are there evening and night crossings?+
On the Dover short sea, around the clock - Dover - Calais alone has departures through the night. The western routes are different: their night sailings are the scheduled overnight crossings to Caen, St Malo and Roscoff, and outside those there are no late-evening departures. If your day slips, Dover is the fallback that always has a next boat.
What happens when a sailing is cancelled?+
Bad weather cancellations are decided by the operator on the day. The Dover routes usually recover quickly because the next departure is close; on the western routes a cancelled overnight boat can shift your trip by a day. Ask the operator's counter about the next available sailing - rebooking and refunds follow the conditions of your ticket.
Found your departure?
Open the route that matches your date and continue to the booking step.