Travelling by ferry should be one of the more relaxed ways to start a holiday – and it genuinely is, once you know what you’re doing. But if it’s your first time, the range of requirements, rules and decisions to navigate before you even reach the port can feel surprisingly overwhelming.
Take my mum, for example, who rocked up to Portsmouth ferry port sans visa (as an Aussie native). Falling at the very first hurdle, we were only able to begin our French odyssey a few days (and a quick trip up to London’s embassy district) later!
This guide covers everything a first-time ferry traveller from the UK needs to know: the documents you’ll need (and which ones people forget), vehicles and driving in Europe, cabins versus seats, pets, accessibility, travelling as a foot passenger, and what to actually expect on the day. By the end of it, you’ll be more than ready.
FERRY TRAVEL DOCUMENT REQUIREMENTS
Do I Need a Passport to go on a Ferry?
Yes! And there are no exceptions. Whether you’re crossing from Dover to Calais (90 minutes) or Portsmouth to Santander (24+ hours), you’re leaving one country and entering another. A valid passport is required for every passenger, regardless of age, and regardless of whether you’re travelling by car or as a foot passenger.
A few other things worth checking before you travel:
- Validity: some European countries require your passport to have at least three months of validity remaining beyond your planned departure date from the EU. Check this well in advance, ’cause passport renewal can take several weeks, and a renewal application taking longer than expected is one of the most common reasons people miss their ferry.
- Non-UK nationals: if you’re not a British passport holder, check the visa requirements for every country you plan to visit. As my mum learned the hard way.
- Children: every child needs their own passport. A child listed on a parent’s older-style passport is no longer accepted at any UK-Europe border.
Here’s a link to the passport requirements for Irish Ferries, DFDS, and Brittany Ferries. The info doesn’t change between ferry companies, as these passport requirements must align with the general rules for travelling to the EU.
The EU Entry/Exit System (EES): What Ferry Travellers Need to Know in 2026
This is the biggest change to UK-EU ferry travel since Brexit, and it’s one that first-timers in 2026 absolutely need to understand before they travel.
The EU Entry/Exit System launched in October 2025. It replaces the old passport stamp system with a digital border record for all non-EU travellers, which now includes British citizens following Brexit. Here’s what that means in practice…
What actually happens at the border under EES?
On your first entry into the Schengen Area after registration, you’ll need to provide biometric data at border control (typically a facial scan and/or fingerprints). This is done at the port, either before you board in the UK or on arrival at your destination, depending on which route you’re taking.
Ferry operators including Brittany Ferries, P&O Ferries, DFDS and Irish Ferries have confirmed that the location of the check varies by route, so if you really wanna know before travel then check directly with them.
Do I need to register for EES in advance?
No. EES registration is completely free and requires no pre-travel application. The registration simply takes place at the border during your first crossing. Once registered, your record is valid for up to three years, so future crossings only require a quick passport or biometric check rather than a full registration.
How much time does EES add to the process?
The registration itself takes only a few minutes per person. However, ferry operators are strongly advising travellers to allow more time at the port, particularly during peak periods, as queues are longer while the system continues to bed in.
As a practical rule: add at least 30 minutes to your port arrival time compared to what you might have planned before EES was introduced. Ferry companies will specify a minimum check-in time for your booking, so treat that as the absolute latest, not a target.
⚠️ EES and the 90-day rule: EES also enforces the Schengen 90-day rule more rigorously than before. British travellers can spend a maximum of 90 days in any 180-day period across the Schengen Area. EES tracks this digitally, so overstaying is now significantly easier for border authorities to detect. So…if you travel to Europe frequently, keep track of your days carefully, otherwise you might just get a bollocking and a fine from Bruno or Francoise at the border!
Full Document Checklist for Individual Travellers
- Valid passport: for all passengers, adults and children alike. Check expiry dates and ensure at least three months of validity beyond your planned return date from the EU.
- Visa (if required): British passport holders don’t need a visa for short stays (up to 90 days) in most EU countries. Non-UK nationals should check entry requirements for every country on their itinerary before booking anything.
- Ferry ticket / booking confirmation: have both a digital and printed copy. Some ports have poor signal, and a printed backup has saved many a stressed traveller at the check-in booth.
- Travel insurance documents: always travel with a copy of your policy, including the emergency contact number. Keep it accessible, not buried in an email folder. Heymondo offer great prices across Europe for both short and long-stays, as well as annual multi-trip policies.
- EHIC or GHIC card: your European Health Insurance Card or UK Global Health Insurance Card isn’t a substitute for travel insurance, but it does entitle you to access state healthcare in EU countries. Apply free via the NHS website if you don’t have one.
CAR FERRIES & DRIVING IN EUROPE
What Vehicles are Allowed on Ferries?
Generally speaking, standard bookings typically cover cars up to around 5 metres long and 2 metres high, so everyday hatchbacks, saloons, and small SUVs are usually fine. However, vehicle types allowed with each ferry company differs slightly, so here are direct links to Brittany Ferries, P&O, DFDS Seaways, and Irish Ferries on this particular topic.
Roof racks, bike carriers and oversized vehicles
If your vehicle has a roof rack, roof box, bike carrier, or anything attached to a tow bar, you must include those attachments when calculating your total vehicle dimensions. Many first-timers book a standard car fare and then arrive at the port with two bikes on the back and a roof box on top — which puts them in a different, more expensive vehicle category and can cause real problems at the boarding gate.
Vans, campervans, motorhomes and vehicles with trailers must be declared separately at the time of booking. These fall into different pricing categories and may require specific deck allocation on the ship.
The rule here is simple: measure everything, declare everything, and book accordingly. Being turned away or charged extra at the port because you under declared your vehicle is a miserable way to start a holiday. It’s the ferry equivalent of having your ‘carry on’ measured at the airport boarding gate and getting nailed with a fine.
Do I Need a Car Sticker to Drive in Europe?
It depends on your number plate, but the rule is straightforward once you know it.
If your number plate already displays the UK identifier (UK) alongside the Union Jack, you don’t need a separate sticker.
If it doesn’t, or if it shows anything other than UK + Union Jack, you do need one. Specifically, a white oval UK sticker on the rear of your vehicle is mandatory if your plate:
- Shows only numbers and letters, with no flag or identifier
- Displays a GB identifier (the old pre-Brexit version)
- Shows a European Union flag
- Features the national flag of England, Scotland or Wales
📌 Spain, Cyprus and Malta: regardless of what your number plate shows, you must always display a UK sticker when driving in these three countries.
📌 Republic of Ireland: no UK sticker required, regardless of your number plate.
📌 Old GB stickers must be removed or covered before driving outside the UK. They’re no longer valid and may result in a fine.
The simplest solution for most people is a European driving kit (see the next section), which includes a magnetic UK identifier along with all the other items you’ll need.
Vehicle Document Checklist
- Driving licence: always carry your valid UK photo card licence. UK licence holders do not need an International Driving Permit (IDP) to drive in EU countries, Switzerland, Norway, Iceland or Liechtenstein. If you hold a non-UK licence, check whether an IDP is required for the countries you’re visiting.
- Vehicle registration document (V5C): carry your logbook. It proves the vehicle is registered to you in the UK and it could be requested at borders and by police in some European countries.
- Vehicle insurance certificate: confirm with your insurer that your policy covers driving in Europe and meets the minimum requirements of each country you plan to visit. Many UK policies now default to third-party cover only when abroad, so check your certificate carefully before assuming you’re fully covered.
- Breakdown cover documentation: ensure your breakdown cover extends to Europe and carry the policy documents and emergency number. If your current cover doesn’t extend abroad, add it before you travel.
- Environmental zone stickers where applicable: France’s Crit’Air scheme requires a windscreen sticker for driving in many urban low-emission zones. These must be ordered online in advance , as you cannot buy them on arrival. Other countries have their own schemes, so check the requirements for each country on your route.
- Toll tags and vignettes where applicable: Austria, Switzerland and several other countries require the purchase of a road tax vignette for motorway use. Check requirements before you travel as driving without one can result in fines that dwarf the cost of the vignette itself.
Your European Driving Kit — What's Legally Required
The following items are either legally mandatory or strongly advised when driving in mainland Europe. In France, Spain, Germany, Italy, Belgium, Austria and Poland, several of these are required by law, and you will be fined for not having them in your car.
- Reflective/hi-vis vests: required in many European countries. They must be accessible inside the car, not in the boot, so you can put one on before you exit the vehicle in an emergency or breakdown.
- Warning triangle: must be placed behind your stationary vehicle to warn approaching traffic in the event of a breakdown or accident.
- Headlamp beam deflectors: right-hand drive cars dip their headlights to the left, which means they dip into oncoming traffic when you’re driving on the right. Beam deflector stickers redirect the dip and are essential for any night driving in Europe.
- First aid kit: mandatory in some countries, strongly advisable everywhere.
- Breathalyser: legally required in France. Pre-sealed single-use ones are the standard.
The easiest approach is a pre-assembled European driving kit, which typically includes all of the above plus a UK sticker. They’re widely available online and far cheaper than an on-the-spot fine in Normandy. For anyone heading all the way over to central Europe, by the way, I’ve also written a guide on driving in Austria.
How Much Alcohol Can I Bring Back from Europe?
One of the biggest benefits of taking your car on a ferry is the ability to bring back with you loads of ‘souvenirs’! It’s important though, to know the limits for bringing booze and other goodies back to the UK, as if you’re way over and you end up getting them confiscated, it’s gonna be one hell of a staff party at Portsmouth customs at your expense!
Here’s what you’re legally allowed to bring back into the UK:
| Type of Alcohol | Allowance |
|---|---|
| Beer | 42 litres |
| Still wine | 18 litres |
| Spirits (over 22% ABV) | 4 litres |
| Other alcoholic drinks up to 22% ABV (cider, port, sherry, sparkling wine) | 9 litres |
The beer and wine allowances are separate from the spirits/other allowance, so you can bring all of them simultaneously. You can also split the spirits/other allowance — for example, 2 litres of spirits and 4.5 litres of sparkling wine. Full and up-to-date details are on the gov.uk website – defo worth a quick check before you load up.
Customs & Immigration - What to Expect on the Day
Be prepared to go through customs and immigration procedures either on arrival at your destination or prior to your departure at your home port, or both. There may be a bit of queue at each end (more so now since the gradual introduction of the EES), but these are generally well-oiled machines and you’ll soon be on the road and ready to explore.
WHERE TO BOOK CHEAP FERRY TICKETS?
You may already have a clear idea of where to book your ferry tickets online, but if not then my guides on ferries to France, Spain, ferries to and from Ireland, and UK to Netherlands ferries include full details of all the routes available to you and which ferry companies operate them.
Once you know which company operates your route, I recommend buying your ferry tickets directly from them. I say this because if things go tits up, and you need to rearrange your plans, the customer service you’ll get when dealing directly with the ferry company will probably be better than if your ticket was purchased via a third party aggregator. It’s similar to how airline tickets work in that regard.
Having said that though, it’s also worth checking with Direct Ferries, as they collate the largest range of possible routes and current deals offered by each company, sometimes even offering cheaper ferry tickets.
IS IT WORTH BOOKING A CABIN ON A FERRY?
Right, let’s talk whether or not to pay more for a cabin, or to rough it with the unwashed masses in the cheap(er) seats. Firstly, you don’t really need a cabin for day crossings. There’s usually plenty to do on-board and you’ll be wanting to explore the ferry and spend time out on deck if the weather’s nice during the day.
As for overnight ferries, I’ve done both seat-only and private cabin crossings. And let me tell you, as I’m getting a little older, I definitely recommend booking yourself a cabin, despite how tempting it is to save money.
In a cabin, you’ll get bed rather than just a seat, and you won’t be kept awake by lying across multiple arm rests, having to sleep on the floor, people coming in and out of the room, snoring, and from generally being uncomfortable.
Besides, I find sleeping in ferry cabins to be really comforting and cosy, perhaps due to the constant low hum of the ferry engines. Either way, there’s no real competition here – if you’re travelling by ferry from the UK on an overnight crossing then ALWAYS pay the extra for a cabin with your own bed. Otherwise, there’s a decent chance that your first day in France, Spain, Ireland or the Netherlands will be a hazy fog of tiredness!
Onboard Facilities
Find out what onboard facilities and amenities are on offer during your journey, including restaurants, cabins, duty free shops and maybe even a swimming pool, a kids club or a cinema, on one or two of the longer routes! This is what I like to do straight after boarding and it was always one of the most exciting parts of the whole ferry experience for me, as well as getting out on deck and watching as you slowly chug away from the port.
PET TRAVEL ON FERRIES
If you’re planning on travelling with your furry friend, then steel yourselves as this is a pretty complicated topic which requires a lot of preparation on your part. If you’re travelling with a dog, cat or a ferret (who has a ferret?!) the process seems to be a little more straightforward than with other species. Among other things, the pet travel documentation and other measures required include:
- Animal Health Certificate/EU Pet Passport
- Rabies vaccination
- Microchip
- Tapeworm treatment for dogs coming back into the UK
However, due to the complexity involved with bringing animals across borders, definitely review each carrier’s specific pet travel requirements and policies, as well as those for the country you plan to visit. Furthermore, if your pet is a Tortoise (hurray!) or something equally exotic, you may also require a CITES certificate for entry into the EU.
Here are the detailed pages on ferry pet travel for Brittany Ferries, P&O (who have their own dedicated ‘Pet Lounge’ on their Dover to Calais route!), DFDS, Irish Ferries and StenaLine. You’ll find details of their policies on where your animal can and can’t be on the ferry, potential kennel space on-board, as well as guidelines for boarding and other tips to make the journey for your pet as comfortable as possible.
ACCESSIBILITY ON BRITISH FERRIES
I’m not really qualified to talk about this, so I can only really give you an indication of how much information is available from each company’s websites:
P&O seem to offer comprehensive information on accessibility, which covers each of their ships and ports. They also link to Euan’s guide – an independent review site which provides real-life reviews of on-board experiences from people with mobility issues. Additionally, two of their newest ferries on the Dover/Calais route (P&O Pioneer and the P&O Liberte) have accredited Changing Places facilities – which are larger toilets designed to support children and adults with profound and multiple disabilities. Full details of P&O’s accessibility can be found here.
Brittany Ferries also has its own dedicated page with general travel advice for disabled passengers, from which they link to various other pages with information on port and ship facilities. I found the information a little harder to find and quite widely scattered across their site, and would advise them to collate more of this on fewer (ideally one) page.
Irish Ferries have a very comprehensive special assistance page, where give detailed information on disabled facilities for wheelchair users on all of their ships, information on disability discounts, and how to get Sunflower Lanyards for any passengers with hidden disabilities. They encourage you to reach out to them via email to their disability officer at least 2 days before travel to let them know of your needs. Most of the information I found was also just on one page, which was great!
Similarly, DFDS Seaways want to know of any special requirements at least two days before, but ideally at the time of booking. If you require an accompanying person to travel with you, DFDS may also offer free fares for this individual. Among the various information given is disabled toilet locations, port facilities, and lift dimensions. DFDS are also part of the Hidden Disabilities Sunflower programme, whereby travellers with non-visible disabilities or illnesses are easily recognised and given any support they may need on-board. Either pick up your lanyard on-board or email them before your trip.
TRAVELLING AS A FOOT PASSENGER
Here are the most important things to know about travelling as a foot passenger between the UK and Europe:
Generally speaking, travelling as a foot passenger is quite a bit more restrictive than taking your car, at least if you’re planning to depart the UK from Dover. P&O, for example, only allow foot passengers to travel on three of their daily crossings from Dover to Calais, whereas DFDS don’t allow foot passengers to travel at all on either their Dover to Dunkirk nor Dover to Calais routes.
Foot passenger space on all remaining ferry routes from the UK is also quite limited and is subject to availability on your particular ship.
Check in, boarding and disembarkation times are also a little different than when travelling with a vehicle, so do be sure to check the individual policies for the ferry company that you’re sailing with or risk missing your ferry! Of all the companies I checked, Brittany Ferries have the most comprehensive information about travelling as a foot passenger, and seem to be the most open to it!
Having said that, StenaLine have a couple of great deals going called the Dutchflyer Rail & Sail Rail, and Rail & Sail to Ireland. These includes massively discounted rail and ferry combined fares from several different British cities to their ferry ports in Ireland and the Netherlands. This is a brilliant offer for anyone committed to reducing their carbon footprints as far as possible.
Travel as a Foot Passenger and Rent a Car on Arrival
Absolutely, you can! For many reasons, it might be worth considering buying your ferry tickets as foot passengers, and then renting a car in Europe on arrival…
- If you’re price sensitive then this could save you money, although obviously you need to make sure that the cost of the car rental itself doesn’t outweigh the savings made on your ferry ticket.
- Renting a car in-situ may also make more sense for you if your existing UK car insurance or breakdown cover doesn’t cover international trips.
- Renting a car in France, Holland or Spain would also make sense if you’re worried about driving on the right in a vehicle with its steering wheel also on the right. This makes overtaking pretty dangerous guesswork, unless of course you’ve always got a willing passenger to help you check for oncoming vehicles.
If you are a little freaked out about driving on the right in a right hand drive car, then check out Discover Cars, as they aggregate the best prices of local vehicles from French, Dutch and Spanish car hire companies, thus avoiding this issue.
TRAVELLING BY FERRY REQUIREMENTS: OUTRO
There are always a ton of things to do before going on holiday and I admit, all of this does sound like a lot, but follow these general requirements for travelling by ferry from the UK, and you’ll be good to go.
It’s totally worth the effort as taking a ferry is WAY more exciting than jumping on yet another anonymous plane. On a ferry you get to start your adventure earlier and give your family something new and exciting to experience.
If you’re headed to France and you’re looking for inspiration, then definitely check out my post on ferries to France, and for anyone considering taking a ferry to Spain, you may want to look at my Santander travel guide. Otherwise, check out my posts on England to Holland ferries or your options for ferries to Ireland. My entire back catalogue of ferry posts can be found here too.
Anyway, I hope this general guide on travelling by ferry has helped you with your planning, and I wish you many happy hours in Europe on your hols!
Travelling afternoon from Portsmouth, arriving Caen late evening. My husband has food allergies and we will be packing a picnic supper. Do we clear customs before boarding the ferry, or on arrival in France?
Similar question for the return trip a week later (July) when we leave France 8.30 a.m.
Hi Jacky,
Thanks for your question! You’ll be going through customs on arrival in Caen, and it’s the other way around on your return to trip to Portsmouth, but be sure to have all your documents (including for passport control) within easy reach at both ports in each direction.
Not sure if baguettes, brie and wine are on your husbands banned list of foods, I certainly hope not for his sake!
Have a great trip – James