There are 3 ferry services running across the North Sea from the UK to the Netherlands – Harwich to Hook of Holland, Newcastle to Amsterdam Ijmuiden and Hull to Rotterdam.
If you are not keen on flying or simply enjoy travelling by ship then these UK-Holland ferries could be a good way to get to Amsterdam or Rotterdam – particularly if you live on the eastern side of England.
They are also convenient if you want to bring your own car or vehicle to the Netherlands.
UK to Holland ferry map
The following map shows the 3 UK to Holland ferry services:
1. Harwich-Hook of Holland (Stena Line)
2. Newcastle-Amsterdam (DFDS Seaways)
3. Holl-Rotterdam (P&O Ferries)
1. Harwich – Hook of Holland (Stena Line) – Ferry Review
Stena Line runs a daily and nightly ferry service both ways between Harwich and Hoek van Holland (Hook of Holland). You can book the Harwich-Hook of Holland ferry here
The 240m sister ships Stena Britannica and Stena Hollandica ply the route over the North Sea and the trip takes roughly 7 hours. The ships are very comfortable akin to a small floating hotel with 538 cabins, bar/restaurant and lounge facilities. There is capacity for up to 1,200 passengers and 230 cars.
| Route | Departs | Arrives | Sail time |
| Harwich-Hoek van Holland (day) | 0900 | 1715 | 7 hours 15 minutes |
| Harwich-Hoek van Holland (night) | 2300 | 0800 (+1) | 8 hours |
| Hoek van Holland-Harwich (day) | 1415 | 1945 | 6 hours 30 minutes |
| Hoek van Holland-Harwich (night) | 2200 | 0630 (+1) | 9 hours 30 minutes* |
*likely to arrive in port earlier.
Stena Britannica/Hollandica ship facilities
The main ship facilities are on level 9 which has the Taste self-service restaurant, the more expensive a la carte Taste Plus restaurant, the Riva bar, the Barista bar (for coffee and teas), a duty-free shop, a guest services desk, a cinema and kids corner play and games area.
The paid Stena Plus lounge is a quiet sitting area with complimentary snacks, drinks and newspapers.
At the back of the ship you can head out on deck for some sea air although a lot of smokers seem to congregate here.
Stena Britannica/Hollandica Cabins
The on-board cabins are well appointed with decent beds, compact toilet/shower, tea/coffee making facilities and TV (English and Dutch channels). All the cabins are located on floors 10 and 11.
You can choose inside cabins or outside cabins with windows. There a various cabin configurations including single, 2-berth and family (3-berth, 4-berth and 5-berth). Higher level cabins – Comfort Class, Captain’s Class and the Captain’s Suite include a free minibar.
The spacious Captain’s Suite at the front corner of the ship is an excellent choice. It is a combined bedroom-living room area with double bed, toilet/shower, sofa/seats, 3 large porthole windows, free minibar and 2 TVs.
Stena Line: Harwich-Hoek van Holland Fares
Fares are priced in pounds or euros depending on whether you book from UK or the Netherlands.
Car + driver starts from £67/€79 one-way with each additional passenger priced from £27/€30. Foot passengers fares start from £50/€57 one-way. Fares are split into economy (non-refundable), flexi (refundable) and premium (refundable with lounge access).
Note, on overnight sailings you are obliged to pay extra for a cabin. Prices of the cabins vary between £50-£209/€57-€240 – depending on cabin type and fare level. Cabin prices are half-price on day sailings.
You can book the Harwich-Hook of Holland ferry here
Stena Line Rail & Sail – Dutch Flyer Service
This is a combination ferry ticket for foot passengers that can include rail tickets in UK. Note that NS (Dutch Railways) has currently suspended its pre-booked Rail&Sail tickets for rail travel in the Netherlands until further notice. You can still book separate Dutch metro and rail tickets instead.
From the UK you can travel from any of the Abellio-Greater Anglia (AGA) stations including: London Liverpool Street, Ipswich, Colchester, Norwich and Cambridge. The trip between London Liverpool Street and Harwich International ferry terminal is about 1 hour 20 minutes.
On the Dutch side the RET Metro Line B is operating from Hoek van Holland Haven towards Rotterdam in direction Nesselande. See our Rotterdam Metro map.
You have 2 options to get to Amsterdam. The first is to get out at Schiedam Centrum metro stop and take an Intercity train from the rail station to Amsterdam Centraal. These run half-hourly and take about 1 hour 8 minutes.
Alternatively you could consider taking the faster Intercity Direct trains from Rotterdam Centraal to Amsterdam Centraal. These take just 40 minutes but require an extra €2.90 supplement. From Rotterdam you can also connect to other destinations on the Dutch rail network.
A metro ticket (RET 2 Hour) costs €4.50. A single between Schiedam Centrum and Amsterdam Centraal costs €17.20 – 2024 prices.
To get from Hoek van Holland to Rotterdam Centraal you need to change lines at Beurs.
From the UK, tickets including [AGA rail+ferry] are priced from £67 each way. From the Netherlands you can book the [ferry+AGA rail] ticket from €69 single.
If you have the time the Stena Line ferry is an excellent way to travel between the south-east UK and the Netherlands. We’ve done this sailing on a good number of occasions and have found the trip to be very comfortable.
2. Newcastle – Amsterdam (DFDS Seaways)
There is a daily overnight ferry service each way between Newcastle-North Shields and Amsterdam-Ijmuiden.
Sailings over the North Sea take approximately 16-17 hours – each evening a ship departs Newcastle at 1700 and Amsterdam at 1730. They arrive the following morning at 0915 (Newcastle) and 0945 (Amsterdam). Book your DFDS Newcastle-Amsterdam ferry here
The large King Seaways and Princess Seaways ferries operate on the route. There are a range of cabins on offer: inside cabins, sea-view cabins, economy cabins and premium cabins (Commodore and Commodore De Luxe). There is a Commodore De Luxe lounge available on King Seaways.
Other on-board facilities include the Explorer’s Kitchen and North Sea Bistro restaurants, Coffee Crew café, games area, a cinema, 4 bars, casino and a nightclub.
Ijmuiden is a seaside port about 20 km west of Amsterdam – don’t be put off by the large Tata steel works close by! It has a marina with a Leonardo hotel and the start of a good (blue-flag) beach running south.
DFDS has a bus service for passengers between the Ijmuiden ferry terminal and Amsterdam Central. The journey takes about 30-45 minutes.
At Amsterdam Central station the DFDS bus goes from the bus stop at De Ruijterkade 153. The bus departs back to the ferry port between 1530 and 1600. Tickets can be reserved online from £9/€10 each way.
Public transport options are available but not so convenient as they require walking and multiple changes – better to stick with the DFDS bus or take a taxi.
A taxi from the Ijmuiden ferry terminal to central Amsterdam would cost around €85. You can book a taxi with Sneleentaxi here
There is a DFDS bus service from International passenger Terminal (North Shields port) to Newcastle city centre (Bewick Street near the station) which costs from £7 each way and takes 20-30 minutes. Or walk from the port to Percy Main station (15-20 mins) and take the metro to Newcastle.
Prices for the ferry vary considerably depending on season.
For a standard ferry crossing, prices for a 2 bed inside cabin start from around £68/€80 each way. Add about £85/€100 for a car each way.
Book your DFDS Newcastle-Amsterdam ferry here
There is also the possibility of doing a 2 night return minicruise from Newcastle to Amsterdam or from Amsterdam to Newcastle at a slightly reduced rate.
3. Hull – Rotterdam (P&O Ferries)
P&O operates a daily overnight ferry service between Hull and Rotterdam Europoort terminal. The crossings take 11-12 hours using the large Pride of Rotterdam and Pride of Hull ships.
The ferry departs Hull at 2030 arriving in Rotterdam at 0830 – a trip of 11 hours.
It departs Rotterdam at 2100 (Mon-Fri) and 2030 (Sat-Sun) arriving in Hull at 0800 (Mon-Fri) and 0730 (Sat-Sun) – a trip of 12 hours.
Facilities on-board ship include The Brasserie restaurant, The Kitchen buffet restaurant, a coffee bar, a paid Club Lounge, a show bar with live entertainment, a shop, cinema and kids play area.
Choice of cabins are Standard (bunks), Premier (twin beds or double bed), Club (TV, minibar) and the top-of-the-range Club Stateroom cabin and Club Suite cabin.
Be aware that the Europoort terminal is some 37km from Rotterdam centre. A special bus service (operated by De Jong Tours) can be pre-booked with P&O that runs from Europoort Rotterdam to central Rotterdam (international bus stop at Conradstraat).
At the UK end, buses run from Hull port (King George Dock) to the Paragon Interchange, Stand 38.
Ferry prices vary depending on season, cabin booked and type of ticket (Standard, Flexi or Fully Flexi). For 2 foot passengers in a standard cabin expect to pay from about £138/€159 each way.
Book your Hull-Rotterdam P&O ferry here
So if you are looking to take a ferry to Amsterdam from the UK then any of the above 3 services could be a good travel option.
Note that as of 2024 the EU is adding a Environmental Trading Scheme (ETS) charge to ferry ticket prices.
This article was originally published in 2010 and has continuously been updated. Last update 12 February 2024.
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