As Britain is an island, ferries were the only way to get into the country prior to the advent of aviation and later the construction of the Channel Tunnel which gave a "dry foot" route from Britain to the continent for the first time since the Ice Ages. See also the Get in section of the Britain article. Below is a list of routes that cross the North Sea, English Channel or Irish Sea. It may not be complete.

The modern Seven Sisters Ferry, Newhaven

Major airports and ferry routes (some are missing)

Portsmouth and Southampton act as ports for transport to the Isle of Wight; Portsmouth and Poole also have routes to Guernsey and Jersey, provided by Condor Ferries.

The Irish Ferries Ulysses, the world's largest ferry

From Mainland Europe and Ireland to Britain

Overseas port	British port	Crossing duration	Service pattern	Carries	Operator
Amsterdam-IJmuiden, The Netherlands	Newcastle (Tyne Corporation Quay)	16 hours	1 nightly	🚶🚘🚲	DFDS Seaways
Rotterdam-Europoort, The Netherlands	Hull King George Dock	10 hours	1 nightly	🚶🚘🚲	P&O Ferries
Zeebrugge, Belgium	Hull King George Dock	8 hours	Service withdrawn.	∅	P&O Ferries
the Hook of Holland (Hoek van Holland), The Netherlands	Parkeston Quay Harwich International Port	7 hours	The "Hook Continental" route. 1 daily, 1 nightly	🚶🚘🚲	Stena Line
Dunkirk (Dunkerque), France	Dover Eastern Docks	105 minutes	Every 2 hours, atop each even hour	🚘🚲	DFDS Seaways
Calais, France	Dover Eastern Docks	90 minutes	The "Golden Arrow" route. Frequently, though irregularly, throughout each day	🚶🚘🚲	P&O Ferries
Calais, France	Dover Eastern Docks	90 minutes	The "Golden Arrow" route. Frequently, though irregularly, throughout each day	🚘🚲	DFDS Seaways
Dieppe, France	Newhaven Town	4 hours	The "Transmanche" route. In Summer, 2 daily & 1 nightly In Winter, 2 daily northbound, 1 daily & 1 nightly southbound	🚶🚘🚲	DFDS Seaways
Le Havre, France	Portsmouth International Terminal	6 hours	Service suspended (as of Oct 2021)	🚶🚘🚲	LD Lines
Ouistreham (Caen), France	Portsmouth International Terminal	6 hours	3 daily, 1 nightly	🚘	Brittany Ferries
Cherbourg, France	Portsmouth International Terminal	3 hours	Service suspended (as of Oct 2021), normally 1 weekly, southbound Sunday nights / Monday mornings, northbound Monday nights / Tuesday mornings	🚶🚘	Brittany Ferries
Cherbourg, France	Poole	5 hours	1 each morning southbound, 1 each evening northbound. Seasonal service, operates April–October only.	🚶🚘	Brittany Ferries
Saint Malo, France	Portsmouth International Terminal	11 hours (9 hours during day)	4-6 per week, depending on season	🚶🚘	Brittany Ferries
Saint Malo, France	Poole	4.5 hours	No information	🚶🚘🚲	Condor Ferries
Roscoff, France	Plymouth	6 hours	2-6 per week, depending on season	🚶🚘	Brittany Ferries
Bilbao, Spain	Portsmouth International Terminal	36 hours	The "Peninsular" route. 3 weekly	🚘	Brittany Ferries
Santander, Spain	Plymouth	24 hours	2 weekly	🚶🚘	Brittany Ferries
Rosslare–Europort, Ireland	Pembroke Dock, Wales	4 hours	2 daily	🚶🚘🚲	Irish Ferries
Rosslare–Europort, Ireland	Fishguard, Wales	2 hours	The "Innisfallen" route. 2 daily eastbound, 1 daily & 1 nightly westbound	🚶🚘🚲	Stena Line
Dun Laoghaire, Ireland	Holyhead, Wales	2 hours	Service withdrawn; the "Irish Mail" route no longer serves Dún Laoghaire, & now docks at Dublin Port (see Dublin to Holyhead below)	∅	Stena Line
Dublin Port, Ireland	Holyhead, Wales	2 hours	The "Irish Mail" route. Every 6 hours. 🚶 not conveyed on certain late-night & early-morning sailings.	🚶🚘🚲	Stena Line
Dublin Port, Ireland	Holyhead, Wales	2 hours	The "Irish Mail" route. Every 6 hours; additional sailings operate in the Summer. 🚶 not conveyed on certain late-night & early-morning sailings.	🚶🚘🚲	Irish Ferries
Belfast (Terminal 2), Northern Ireland	Liverpool/Birkenhead, England	8 hours	1 daily, 1 nightly.	🚶🚘🚲	Stena Line
Larne, Northern Ireland	Fleetwood, England	6 hours	No information.	∅	Stena Line
Belfast, Northern Ireland	Loch Ryan (near Stranraer), Scotland	2 hours	6 daily. 🚶 not conveyed 23:00–06:00.	🚶🚘🚲	Stena Line
Larne, Northern Ireland	Cairnryan (near Stranraer), Scotland	2 hours	The "Northern Irishman" route. 7 daily	🚶🚘🚲	P&O Ferries

From Ireland and Britain to Mann (Douglas), all operated by the Isle of Man Steam Packet Co and conveying 🚶🚘🚲.

From	Crossing duration	Service pattern
Heysham (Lancaster), England	3 hours 45 minutes	2 daily
Liverpool, England	2 hours 45 minutes	1 each evening, April–October only.
Dublin, Ireland	2 hours 55 minutes	Infrequent and seasonal
Belfast, Northern Ireland	2 hours 45 minutes	Infrequent and seasonal

These routes may be subject to change. It is recommended to contact the ferry operators and book ahead.

By coach or bus

If you are booked onto a scheduled international bus route that crosses the Channel, it may either go by ferry or through the Channel Tunnel; you don't get the choice. However, in general FlixBus uses the tunnel, Sindbad and Transmarian use the ferry, and Eurolines use both, depending on route. Schedules can change day-to-day depending on conditions at sea and fluctuations in ticket prices between the ferry companies and Eurotunnel. You can also catch a domestic bus to any Channel port of your choosing and take the ferry as a foot passenger, but this is not possible with the Eurotunnel. If you are going on a package coach holiday, the company will always explain how you are supposed to get to and from your start point.