Royan to Le Verdon ferry across the Gironde

How does the crossing work?

The ferry from Royan to Le Verdon is run by the Gironde département with two ships, La Gironde and L’Estuaire. The crossing is 6 km and takes 20 to 30 minutes. In comparison, driving round via Bordeaux is about 230 km. The ferry runs all year: eight crossings a day in winter and at least 18 in summer, with the ships shuttling back and forth continuously in the peak weeks of July and August. Allow 30 minutes before departure, and note that the boat can leave early once it is full.

Navigation

You can navigate to Rue de la Galiote in Royan and follow the signs to the departure point. When you arrive at Rue de la Galiote, it’s important to stay in the right lane. The left lane leads to the harbour but not to the ferry entrance, which isn’t clearly indicated. You’ll often see cars waiting in the right lane, which may cause you to hesitate, but this is the correct lane. If you don’t join here, you’ll have to take a long detour.

Tickets available at the port

Tickets can be purchased at the entrance of the waiting area, or in advance online at boutique-bacs.gironde.fr, which saves a queue at the kiosk. In the summer it can get quite busy and you may need to wait for the next ferry, so factor that into your plans. Boarding in Le Verdon is much simpler.

Our take

Whether the ferry is worth it depends on where you are going on the other side. For the Médoc beaches, Soulac, the wine villages or anywhere north of Bordeaux on the left bank, it saves two hours and the ring road, and a car with two adults pays €51 in summer, less than the fuel and tolls for the 230 km round trip. If Bordeaux itself or the A63 south is the destination, the detour by road is just as quick and you skip the queue. Coming down from the Channel ports it slots neatly into a coast road: Portsmouth to Saint-Malo, then La Rochelle, Royan, the ferry and the Médoc. Our Atlantic coast road trip runs that whole stretch down to Lisbon.