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Ferry Services around Scotland Click here to return to the Top of the Page
As part of an island, Scotland, with its rugged western isles, has developed an extensive ferry network.

The various Ferry Companies offer routes for internal Scottish travel and also for passengers from Northern Ireland, Southern Ireland and the near continent.

In almost every case, the Ferry Services that operate in Scotland offer passage for vehicles as well as passengers.
Caledonian MacBraynes Click here to return to the Top of the Page
Ferry Routes from the Islands and Clyde Estuary
Caledonian MacBraynes (Calmac) specialise in ferry services to the Western Isles and the Clyde Coast Region.
The routes span the various minches and sounds between the mainland and the far flung Islands of the Outer Hebrides, the Inner Hebrides and the Islands of Arran, Bute and Cumbrae.
The islands serviced by the current timetables are as follows.
Lewis, Harris, North Uist, South Uist, Barra, Raasay, Skye, Canna, Rhum, Eigg, Muck, Coll, Tiree, Lismore, Mull, Iona, Colonsay, Islay, Gigha, Arran, Bute and Cumbrae.
None of the Calmac services operate between Ireland and Scotland.
 
For more information, route planning & on-line booking
NorthLink Ferries Click here to return to the Top of the Page
NorthLink Orkney and Shetland Isles Ferry Service
Travel to Stromness in the Orkney Islands from Scraster, a small port near Thurso on the Scottish mainland.
An alternative to the Scrabster - Stromness route is service sailing from Aberdeen to Kirkwall, capital town of the Orkney Islands.
The Shetland Islands can be reached by two routes. The first is the direct sailing from Aberdeen to Lerwick. The second is also from Aberdeen to Lerwick, but via Kirkwall in the Orkneys. This ferry can be joined at Kirkwall by passengers who have arrived at Orkney from the Scrabster - Stromness route.
 
For more information, route planning & on-line booking
P&O FerriesClick here to return to the Top of the Page
P&O Irish Sea Routes
P&O run a regular ferry service over the Irish Sea between Larne in Northern Ireland and Troon in Scotland.
During march to September, they also run their 'SuperFerry Fast Craft' service between Larne and the port of Cairnryan in Scotland.
Other P&O Irish Sea routes run from Larne to Fleetwood in England and a number of ferries run further south from Dublin and Rosslare to English and French destinations.
 
The P&O Northern Isles Service
Regular sailings from Aberdeen to Stromness and Aberdeen to Lerwick service the Orkney and Shetland Isles. Sailings from Scrabster to Stromness are also available and a service from Stromness to Lerwick connects the two Island groups..
 
For more information, route planning & on-line booking
SeaCatClick here to return to the Top of the Page
Fast Ferries across the Irish Sea
SeaCat offer Fast Ferry crossings between Belfast and Troon.
Other Irish Sea services they offer run between Northern Ireland, The Isle of Man and Northern England.
 
For more information, route planning & on-line booking
Stena Line Click here to return to the Top of the Page
Irish Sea Ferry Crossings
Stena Line run a service over the Irish Sea between Belfast and Stranraer. They have conventional and High Speed options on this route.
Further South, Stena Line operate services between Rosslare and Fishguard, Dublin and Holyhead, Dun Laoghaire and Holyhead and on the other side of England, they run a service from Harwich to the Hook of Holland.
 
For more information, route planning & on-line booking
SuperFast Ferries Click here to return to the Top of the Page
Scotland to Belgium
Superfast operate a service from Rosyth on the east coast of Scotland all the way down to Zeebrugge in Belgium.
This is the only ferry link to the near continent from Scotland.
 
For more information, route planning & on-line booking
Ferry Services from EuropeClick here to return to the Top of the Page

There are a wealth of ferry crossings to and from the near continent.

The following list is a sample of the available routes.

To/From
European Port
Newcastle
Stavanger-Bergen, Göteborg, Esbjerg, Hamburg.
Hull
Rotterdam, Zeebrugge.
Harwich
Zeebrugge, Hook of Holland, Göteborg, Esbjerg, Hamburg.
Ramsgate
Dunkirk.
Dover
Ostend, Calais.
Folkestone
Boulogne.
Newhaven
Dieppe.
Portsmouth
Santander, Bilbao, St Malo, Cherbourg, Caen, Le Havre.
Southampton
Cherbourg.
Poole
Cherbourg.
Plymouth
Santander, Roscoff.


If you bring your car to one of these ports, follow the routes to Scotland and then follow the directions in our Journey by Road page.