There’s a sense of adventure in boarding a boat. Boats can get to places – hidden coves, meandering marshlands – that other means of transport cannot.
Before motorised transport, sailing boats and, later, steam ships provided the quickest way to travel between coastal communities in the UK (as well as to transport goods around the country).
As seaside resorts grew in the 19th century, pleasure steamers became a popular diversion. In the 1820s, steam packet companies ran excursions from Liverpool to the resorts of north Wales, while Southampton’s Royal Pier was opened in 1833 to cater to steamboats offering trips to the Isle of Wight or along the Hampshire coast.
Ferries, too, have a long history of offering the speediest means to explore Britain’s coastline. The Helford River crossing, near Falmouth in Cornwall, for example, is mentioned in the Domesday Book.
If you’re looking for a way to link coastal walks or a trip away from the crowds, we’ve picked a few of the best ferry routes to consider.
1. Plymouth to Cawsand, Kingsand and Rame peninsula
Devon
The Cawsand Ferry takes you across the border – and, some might argue, back in time – from busy Plymouth in Devon, with its boat-packed harbour, to the quiet former fishing villages of Cawsand and Kingsand in Cornwall.
Both lie a half-hour ferry ride across Plymouth Sound and offer small shingle-and-sand beaches, rockpools and simple facilities. Exploring their narrow twisty lanes and wooded hill slopes, you can imagine the skulduggery that might have gone on in the 18th and 19th centuries when smugglers would frequent these shores. Both Cawsand and Kingsand are good starting points for a walk, either to explore the gardens and parkland of Mount Edgcumbe Country Park, or, along the South West Coast Path around Penlee Point and Rame Head with their commanding views across Plymouth Sound and the Channel.
Fancy an overnight stay? Residence One, Plymouth (01752 262318) has doubles from £169, including breakfast.
How to do it
Cawsand Ferry (01752 253153) operates from April 1 to November 2, from Plymouth to Cawsand and Kingsand and costs £6 for an adult single and £3 for a child.
2. Helford Passage, near Falmouth, to Helford village
Cornwall
Not many public transport services in Britain can truly declare to be ‘on demand’. But pop down to Helford Passage on the Helford River in Cornwall, and the jolly red-and-white ferry boat will immediately whisk you across the water, tides permitting. If you arrive at Helford village on the southern riverbank, simply ‘open’ the bright yellow circular sign to show you’re waiting. A ferry of some sort has operated this mile-long crossing since at least the 11th century, saving travellers a 40-minute diversion by car around the inlet.
This is the Cornish countryside of Daphne du Maurier; narrow lanes, ancient oak woodland and smugglers’ coves. The ferry, which takes foot passengers and bicycles, leaves from below the Ferry Boat Inn in tiny Helford Passage and arrives, handily, close to the 16th-century Shipwrights Arms in Helford. Both villages are full of thatched Cornish charm and there’s a tiny beach at Helford Passage. Both locations are on the South West Coast Path.
If you’re looking for somewhere to stay, Budock Vean (01326 250288), located near Helford Passage, has doubles from £179, including breakfast.
How to do it
Helford Ferry (01326 250770) operates April 1 to October 31 from Helford Passage to Helford Village and costs £7/£9 (single/return) for an adult and £4/£6 for a child.
3. Glenelg to Skye
Scotland
“Speed bonnie boat, like a bird on the wing … Over the sea to Skye”. The 19th-century folk song probably didn’t have this extraordinary ferry in mind, yet it’s surely one of the best ways to arrive on the island. Turn off the main road to Kyle of Lochalsh – the traditional crossing point to Skye – at Shiel Bridge and follow the narrow road over Mam Ratagan, with its glimpses of Skye’s Cuillin Hills. Drive 11 miles to just north of tiny Glenelg on the shores of the Kylerhea Narrows and you’ve made it.
From here the MV Glenachulish, the world’s last manually operated turntable ferry, carries you across the narrow passage to Kylerhea on Skye. The ingenuity of the turntable, on which the cars sit, means the ferry can berth alongside the slipway whatever the tidal height and strength of current (strong, hereabouts). From Kylerhea, it’s a five-mile drive up lonely Glen Arroch to the main road to Portree; better still, head south to enjoy the wildness of under-the-radar Sleat Peninsula.
How to do it
Skye Ferry (01599 522700) operates from April to mid-October, departing from a mile north of Glenelg for Kylerhea, and costs £20/£30 for a car (single/return) and £3/£5 for foot passengers.
4. Butley River Ferry
Suffolk
Among the marshlands and heathlands of the far reaches of east Suffolk, home to marsh harriers, waders and wildfowl, and where hamlets have names such as Shingle Street and Duck Corner, is possibly the smallest ferry boat in Europe. With a maximum capacity of four (or two adults and two bicycles), it is one of only two ferries in Britain reliant on human power. The oarsman carries passengers across Butley River, which flows into the Alde and then out to sea around the southern tip of Orford Ness.
A ferry has operated here since the 14th century, when the riverside farmland belonged to Butley Priory, until the 1930s. Revived in 1993 and run by volunteers, it provides a welcome service to walkers, cyclists and nature-lovers who enjoy the peace, the sightings of seals hauled on the riverbanks as well as the birdlife – and the welcome pubs in nearby Orford (with 12th-century castle) and Chillesford.
Looking for somewhere to stay? Check out The Crown and Castle, Orford (01394 450205) with doubles from £150, including breakfast.
How to do it
Butley Ferry (07913 672499) operates on weekends and bank holidays from April 19 to October 12 across Butley river near Orford and costs £2.50 for an adult single and £1.50 for a child.
5. Seahouses to Holy Island
Northumberland
Holy Island, or Lindisfarne to give it its Celtic name, can be reached by causeway twice a day from the Northumbrian mainland when tides allow. But to get a real sense of its isolation – and one that its first Anglo-Saxon settlers, including St Aidan and St Cuthbert, would have experienced – arrive by boat. Billy Shiel’s boats have been operating out of Seahouses since 1918, and are well-known for their trips to the Farne Islands (of Grace Darling, puffins and seals fame).
In the warmer months, they also offer a four-and-a-half hour round trip to Holy Island. The route includes a tour around the Farnes, plus chances to spot porpoises and dolphins, before landing on Holy Island for a two-hour visit. Boats land at high tide, so you can experience the ‘cut off’ serenity of the island with its lofty castle, Norman Priory, small museum and cafes offering locally caught crab sandwiches.
How to do it
Billy Shiel’s Boat Trips (01665 720308) operates Easter holidays, and then May to October from Seahouses to Holy Island and costs £45 for an adult round trip and £25 for a child.
6. Bardsey Island
Wales
Follow in the footsteps of pilgrims on the boat trip to Ynys Enlli (Bardsey Island) two miles from the tip of the Llyn Peninsula in north-west Wales. Settled by Celtic Christians in the 6th century, the remote island is one-and-a-half-miles long by half-a-mile at its widest and was chosen by Augustinian Canons in the 13th century (remains of St Mary’s Abbey can be seen) before a farming and fishing community took over.
Today it is still farmed but is perhaps better known for its protected wildlife status – a National Nature Reserve, among other things – with Manx shearwater, puffins, choughs, grey seals and dolphins to look out for. The 30-minute boat ride from Porth Meudwy near Aberdaron allows four hours to explore the island before the trip back. Looking for somewhere to stay? Porth Tocyn (01758 713303) in Abersoch has doubles from £175.
How to do it
Bardsey Boat Trips (07971 769895) operates from March until the end of October, from Porth Meudwy, near Aberdaron, to Bardsey Island and costs £50 for an adult round trip and £25 for a child.
7. Brightlingsea to East Mersea and Point Clear
Essex
Brightlingsea, around the corner from Essex’s brassy Clacton-on-Sea and down river of Roman Colchester, may not be on your summer holiday bucket list, but it works its charm hard. There’s a simple beach, a long row of jolly beach chalets and a surprisingly busy harbour of power-boats and yachts.
Among them, the 12-passenger foot-ferry zips around the mouth of the River Colne calling at Point Clear, with its walk along St Osyth sea wall and aircraft museum in a former Martello Tower, then across the estuary to East Mersea on Mersea Island. At the latter, you can enjoy the sandy beach at Cudmore Grove Country Park. It beats road traffic hands down: Brightlingsea to Point Clear is 20 miles, and three minutes by ferry; to Mersea Island is around 40 miles, but 10 minutes by ferry.
How to do it
Brightlingsea Harbour Commissioners Ferry (01206 302200) operates from April 5 to September 21, from Brightlingsea to Point Clear and East Mersea and costs £5 for an adult single and £4 for a child.
This story was first published in May 2024 and has been revised and updated.