Ferries to Portugal
Travel to Portugal by ferry
No ferry sails to Portugal from the UK or Ireland. The crossings on this page go to Santander and Bilbao in northern Spain, and from there Portugal is a day’s drive: Bilbao to Porto is about 650 km, six and a half hours; Santander to Porto about 600 km; Lisbon is another three hours on. For most British and Irish drivers that is still quicker and cheaper than driving the whole way through France, and you arrive rested after a night or two at sea.
On this page, you will find more about travelling to and from Portugal by ferry. Portugal is a popular vacation destination[1]Most famous tourist destinations for UK passengers, Statista located at the Southwestern tip of Europe at the Atlantic Ocean. How to get to Portugal by ferry? You’ll find advice and information on this page.
The ferry from Setubal to Troia
There aren’t too many ferries within Portugal. One of the more popular Portuguese ferries is the ferry from Setubal to Troia and vice versa. It connects the Troia Peninsula directly to Setubal without dealing with a big detour.
Our take: Portugal by ferry and car
We have driven this corridor ourselves, Porto and Lisbon included, and sailed the Spanish crossings that feed it: Plymouth to Santander on Pont-Aven with three young children last July, and Brittany Ferries’ Santoña, one of the ships on the Portsmouth routes. The pattern that works is simple. Take the Bilbao or Santander ferry, stop in San Sebastián or the Rioja for a night instead of racing west, and you reach Porto on the second day without ever touching a French motorway. For the Algarve, Santander to Faro is a long 900 km, so plan two driving days or break it in Lisbon.
Worth reading before you book: our Plymouth to Santander crossing with kids, the Portsmouth to Santander guide with the Santoña on board, Spain and Portugal without the plane, and our Atlantic coast road trip with fifteen stops between Saint-Malo and Lisbon.
While Portugal is located on the coast of the Atlantic Sea, there aren’t too many ferries to Portugal. You might think that at least there would be ferries from the UK and Ireland directly to Portugal, but these ferries sail to Northern Spain instead of Portugal. From there you can travel relatively easily to Portugal by car, motorhome or public transport.
Ferry Guides for Portugal
Everything you need to know before booking your ferry trip
Domestic ferry crossings
Within Portugal the ferries are local: the Setúbal to Tróia car ferry, the commuter boats across the Tagus in Lisbon, the Porto Santo Line from Madeira to Porto Santo and the Atlânticoline boats between the Azores islands. There is no ferry from the mainland to Madeira or the Azores, and the old Madeira to Canary Islands link is gone as well: what happened to the Madeira ferry.
All Crossings to Portugal
These are all the ferries to Portugal
Blogs & News
Interesting blogs and useful tips about ferry travel and/or Portugal
Ferry Talk
Questions or experiences? We'd love for you to share them.
References
| ↑1 | Most famous tourist destinations for UK passengers, Statista |
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Is there also a ferry from Funchal to Porto Santo Island? Let me know!
@Portuguese M
Yes there is, we will list this route and guidance for this route in a future update, thanks for the question though, because of the question we found out we missed this one.
Yes there seems to be, thanks for the tip / question. We will add the ferry from Funchal to Porto Santo Island to FerryGoGo shortly.
hola deseo viajar desde francia hacia portugal. cual es el puerto de partida desde francia hacia portugal?