Ferries to Edinburgh

Superfast Ferry sailing up River Forth, viewed from Edinburgh Castle

Belgium to Edinburgh (Rosyth)

THE ZEEBRUGGE-ROSYTH FERRY SERVICE ENDED IN SEPTEMBER 2008. ANOTHER OPERATOR IS BEING SOUGHT BUT IN THE MEANTIME THIS OPTION IS NOT AVAILABLE

Superfast Ferries have a 3 times a week overnight service From Zeebrugge to Rosyth, which is less than half an hour from Edinburgh city centre. The end of the journey offers great views as the ferry passes up the river Forth north of the city and under the Forth railway and road bridges. You will later cross the Forth Road Bridge on your way into Edinburgh. If you come with a bike instead of a car, Rosyth is less than 2KM from the National Cycle Network and you are also within 2km of Rosyth, Inverkeithing and North Queensferry stations. "First Scotrail" trains take bikes without booking, but you can get left behind if there are already bikes on the train. If you come without transport there are coach links from the ferry terminal to nearby bus and train stations.

Sweden, Norway, Netherlands to Newcastle

DFDS Seaways offer twice weekly sailings from Gothenburg via Kristiansand to Newcastle. There is also a daily departure from Amsterdam to Newcastle. The drive to Edinburgh will take about 2 hours, with a choice of the A1 (busy road with lorries, slightly longer - but more chance to overtake and some sea views with cliffs) or the A697 (Less busy, shorter than the A1, rolling hills and farmland scenery, more chance of getting stuck behind farm vehicles so not necessarily quicker). There is also a bus link from the ferry terminal to Newcastle Central Station.

Belgium, Netherlands to Hull

P&O Ferries sail daily from Zeebrugge and Rotterdam to Hull. If you choose this route you still have a long drive ahead, but it's still half the distance compared with using Dover as your entry point. The journey will be about 5 hours up the A1M East Coast road to Newcastle then the same two choices above. You also have the option of turning off earlier onto the A68 to pass the Hadrian's Wall area then the heart of the Scottish Borders. This is a direct route but slow.

Denmark - Harwich

DFDS Seaways sail 3 times a week from Esbjerg to Harwich. This is not particularly handy for Edinburgh, but at least you miss London, and you might choose it if travelling from Denmark.

France - Dover

Calais - Dover is the cheapest and shortest crossing, offered by P&O and SeaFrance ferries. But then you will have a whole day experiencing the the joys of the congested British motorway network, including the notorious M25 round London and the M6 through Birmingham. More about Driving to Edinburgh

Northern Ireland to the West Coast

Coming from Northern Ireland or Eire, you can travel with P&O from Larne to Troon, which is a fast crossing that brings you within 2 hours of Edinburgh. This service is March to October only. From there, the fast but busy route to Edinbugh is north to Glasgow then follow the M8. You can also use the more direct A71 which is a smaller and slower road, with slightly more scenery (not much). You can also go from Larne to Cairnryan with P&O and from Belfast to Stranraer with Stena Line - more frequent shorter crossings but a much longer Journey to Edinburgh after you reach Scotland.

Lerwick / Kirkwall - Aberdeen

Northlink Ferries provide this overnight service from the Orkney and Shetland Isles. If you live there you'll know about it :-). Aberdeen is about 2 hours from Edinburgh on the A90 and M90 roads.

www.neilsedinburgh.com