Part of the adventure of coming to the Isle of Wight is sense of ‘going abroad’ when boarding one of the ferries required to reach our little Island.
Choosing which route is best for you and understanding how easy it is to travel is all laid out below in our handy guide to ferry travel to the Isle of Wight.
Wightlink operate ferries from Lymington and Portsmouth, including a foot passenger ferry from Portsmouth Harbour Train Station.
Portsmouth Car Ferry – This is the busiest and most popular route to the Island, with crossings every half hour during the summer months.
Foot Passenger: estimated crossing time, 22 minutes
Car: estimated crossing time, 45 minutes
Founded in: 1992
Red Funnel operate a car ferry and foot passenger ferry, both from Southampton, a short hop from the City Centre and shops. The car takes 1 hour, but the new larger ferries have a large café area, Bar, coffee Bar and a 2nd upper deck with 2 additional large cafes, one of which is the pet friendly café. WiFi is also available onboard. These ferries run hourly.
Foot Passenger: estimated crossing time, 23minutes
Car: estimated crossing time, 50 – 60 minutes
Founded in: 1861
Hovertravel operate a foot passenger hovercraft ferry from Southsea to Ryde, which is the quickest route to the Island, at approx. 10 minutes.
Number of crossings per day: Please check Hover Travel for an up-to-date timetable.
Foot Passenger: estimated crossing time 10minutes
Founded in: 1965
We are always delighted to help our customers get to the Isle of Wight, in conjunction with their holiday booking, at a discounted rate.
Please fill in our form to make an enquiry and one of our team members will be in touch!
