Ferry Poole - Cherbourg

Poole – Cherbourg with Brittany Ferries

This route links Poole with Cherbourg, operated by Brittany Ferries. The two ferry terminals are about 120 kilometres (65 nautical miles) apart in a straight line. Use the search engine above for current timetables and fares, or use the Direct Ferries button at the top of the page to compare the sailings.

Brittany Ferries was created in 1972 by Breton farmers who wanted to sell their vegetables in Britain, and began operating from Roscoff in 1973. Based in Roscoff and Portsmouth, it links Brittany and Normandy with Plymouth and Portsmouth, and runs overnight crossings to Santander, Bilbao and Cork. It is also a minority shareholder in Condor Ferries.

Poole

Poole Harbour is one of the largest natural harbours in the world, and for centuries its merchants made fortunes far from home: in the 1600s and 1700s the town was one of England's main ports in the Newfoundland cod trade, and the handsome Georgian houses around the old quay were built on the proceeds. Ceramics put Poole on the map in a different way: Poole Pottery, founded in 1873, is still synonymous with bright mid-century designs. For a short, characterful detour, take the little chain ferry across the harbour mouth at Sandbanks, in operation since 1926, to reach Studland's beaches and the Isle of Purbeck, where Corfe Castle stands in a gap in the hills. Beneath the Purbeck heath, Wytch Farm is often described as the biggest onshore oil field in western Europe, hidden so well that most visitors never notice it.

Cherbourg

Cherbourg is a port with a flair for the dramatic. In June 1864 spectators lined the breakwater and the shore to watch the American Civil War raider CSS Alabama fight the USS Kearsarge a few miles offshore; the Alabama sank, and Édouard Manet painted the scene. A century later, the town gave its name to one of the best-loved French films, Jacques Demy's 1964 musical The Umbrellas of Cherbourg, which won the Palme d'Or at Cannes and made a star of the young Catherine Deneuve. Both stories fit a harbour that has long looked outward. The ferry terminal is close to the centre, so with a few hours between sailings you can walk to the old harbour and its fish restaurants, and the souvenir umbrellas on sale around town nod to the film.