For Irish motorists heading to mainland Europe, the question is increasingly not whether to take a ferry, but which one makes the most sense.
Ireland now has direct passenger ferry connections from Dublin, Rosslare and Cork into France, and a direct route from Rosslare into northern Spain. The launch of Hibernia Line’s Cork-Boulogne service earlier this year added another option into that French network.
For families, motorists, campervan owners and anyone planning a longer European road trip, that’s a useful alternative to flying – but it also makes the route choice more complicated. Ferry comparison site FerryGoGo has expanded its Irish site with a new interactive overview of these routes, letting travellers compare ports, destinations and onward drives visually rather than working it out from separate operator timetables.
Explore the interactive ferry routes on FerryGoGo Ireland
France has the widest choice
France remains the country with the most direct ferry links from Ireland. Dublin connects to Cherbourg with Irish Ferries; Rosslare connects to Cherbourg with Brittany Ferries and to Dunkirk with DFDS; Cork connects to Roscoff with Brittany Ferries and now also to Boulogne-sur-Mer with Hibernia Line.
The best crossing isn’t necessarily the shortest one. Cork-Roscoff puts the car on the right side of France immediately if you’re headed for Brittany. Cherbourg suits Normandy and points further into western and central France. Dunkirk and Boulogne make more sense if the trip continues towards northern France, Belgium, the Netherlands or beyond. Which port you land in can matter more than an hour or two of sailing time.
Or skip France and sail straight to Spain
Spain is a different kind of option. Brittany Ferries runs Rosslare to Bilbao year-round, giving Irish travellers a way into northern Spain without first driving the length of France – useful for the Basque Country, San Sebastian and road trips across the north. Rosslare-Santander runs on a more seasonal pattern and opens up Cantabria, Asturias and routes towards western Spain and Portugal.
These are long crossings, not short hops. The point is that most of the distance is covered while you eat, relax and sleep on board, then drive off with your own car at the other end – which can reshape the whole feel of a two-week trip.
Bringing the car isn’t automatically cheaper
Price is part of the decision, though comparing a ferry fare with an airfare rarely tells the full story. FerryGoGo’s research into summer 2026 fares found some of the longer Ireland-France crossings among the pricier routes in its European sample: Cork-Roscoff and Rosslare-Dunkirk were often around £1,250 return in June for a family of four with a car.
A separate FerryGoGo comparison looked at the full cost of a Dublin-Cherbourg trip by ferry against flying. The ferry, with the family’s own car and a cabin, came to roughly £1,326. Flying, plus hotel nights and a week’s car hire, came to around £1,250 – about £75 cheaper.
That’s a useful result precisely because it doesn’t flatter the ferry. Taking your own car isn’t automatically the cheaper option, and flying isn’t automatically cheaper once hire car and luggage are added either. For families carrying bikes, camping gear or simply a full boot, or for trips long enough that a week’s car hire would be needed anyway, having your own car at the other end can tip the balance regardless of the ticket price.
Start from the destination, not the operator
The more useful way to compare routes is often to start with where you’re going rather than which sailing looks cheapest. Someone heading to Brittany gains little from landing in northern Spain because a particular crossing is on offer; a family aiming for a Basque Country road trip can cut out a lot of driving by sailing direct to Bilbao instead of arriving in northern France.
Departure port matters too – Dublin for the capital and the north and east, Rosslare for the south-east, Cork for Munster.
FerryGoGo’s new Ireland overview puts these routes on interactive maps so the geography is clear before the fare comparison starts. With Ireland’s direct ferry network expanding again, working out where each ship actually takes you is a reasonable first step – often more useful than chasing the fastest or cheapest sailing on the booking screen.
