Ferry Newhaven - Dieppe

Newhaven – Dieppe with DFDS Seaways

This route links Newhaven with Dieppe, operated by DFDS Seaways. 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.

Founded in Copenhagen in 1866, DFDS is one of the oldest shipping companies in Europe still sailing under its original initials. For British travellers it runs Dover–Calais, Dover–Dunkirk, Newhaven–Dieppe and the overnight Newcastle–Amsterdam crossing, mostly on routes it gained through its 2010 purchase of Norfolkline.

Newhaven

Newhaven's most unlikely arrival came in March 1848, when the last King of the French, Louis-Philippe, fled the revolution in Paris and landed here in disguise, travelling as "Mr Smith". He spent the rest of his exile in England. The town has been a gateway ever since, and it is the sea crossing on the Avenue Verte, the signposted cycle route linking London and Paris. To the east of the harbour lie the Tide Mills, the ruins of a village abandoned in the 1930s. A few miles inland, Lewes, a market town with a castle and a spectacular bonfire procession each November, and the South Downs make a good first stop on a trip along the Sussex coast.

Dieppe

Dieppe has attracted English-speaking artists and writers for well over a century. Walter Sickert lived here from 1898 to 1905 and painted its streets and harbour again and again, and in 1897 Oscar Wilde, newly released from prison, settled for a few months in the nearby village of Berneval-sur-Mer. Every two years, in September, the beach fills with enormous kites for the town's international kite festival. The best day to visit is Saturday, when the market takes over the streets of the old town, with Normandy cheeses, cider and seafood; and the pebble beach and the long lawn behind it make a pleasant place to wait for the crossing back to England.