Ferry Companies to France

Four companies run ferries from the UK to France — P&O Ferries, DFDS, Brittany Ferries and Irish Ferries — and rather than competing head-to-head on every route, each has carved out its own patch.

Which one is right for you depends less on the brand than on where you're sailing from and what kind of crossing you want: a quick vehicle shuttle across the Straits of Dover is a very different trip from an overnight cabin crossing to Brittany. Here's how the four compare on their French services.

DFDS

DFDS runs the widest French network of any single operator, with three routes across the eastern Channel. That range is its real strength: you can take Dover-Calais for speed, Dover-Dunkirk to land further east for Belgium and the Low Countries, or Newhaven-Dieppe to drop straight into Normandy.

Its ships on the Dover routes are large modern vehicle ferries built for the short, frequent shuttle; the Newhaven-Dieppe boats are smaller but carry foot passengers, cyclists and cars alike. In one 2026 Which? survey of ferry passengers, DFDS scored better than P&O on the Dover crossing for customer satisfaction.

P&O Ferries

P&O Ferries is the historic Dover operator, and Dover-Calais is one of just three routes it runs in total, alongside Hull-Rotterdam and Cairnryan-Larne. Its whole focus on France is the short, high-frequency Straits of Dover shuttle, with large modern ships — including the new hybrid Pioneer-class vessels — and frequent daily sailings that make turn-up-and-go realistic.

It's also the only Dover-Calais operator that carries foot passengers. One honest note: in that same 2026 Which? survey, the Dover-Calais crossing overall was rated the lowest-scoring way to reach France despite being the most popular — a reflection of the functional, get-across-quickly nature of the route rather than a mark against any single operator.

Brittany Ferries

Brittany Ferries owns the western crossings, sailing Portsmouth-Caen and Plymouth-Roscoff to France alongside a wider network to Spain and Ireland. These are the longer, more comfortable crossings, and the comfort is the point: the fleet of nine modern ships includes the flagship Pont-Aven, with a swimming pool, two cinemas and the à la carte Le Flora restaurant, while the Armorique was purpose-built for the Roscoff route in 2009.

This is also the operator for anyone travelling with a dog — Brittany Ferries carries over 100,000 dogs a year and offers pet-friendly cabins across much of the fleet. In the 2026 Which? survey it was the operator most likely to be rated as making the trip feel like part of the holiday.

Plymouth-Roscoff carries a nice piece of history too: it was the company's founding route, launched in 1973 by Breton farmers to export produce to Britain.

Irish Ferries

Irish Ferries is best known for its Ireland routes, but since 2021 it has also run Dover-Calais — the one route in its network that doesn't touch Ireland. Its arrival added a third operator to the busy Straits of Dover, running modern vehicle and foot-passenger services in direct competition with P&O and DFDS.

For travellers, that competition is the main benefit: if you're price-comparing Dover-Calais, Irish Ferries is the third quote worth getting, and it often undercuts the two incumbents.

Which ferry company should you choose?

The honest answer is that the route usually matters more than the company. On Dover-Calais you have three operators to choose between, and the sensible move is to compare all three on price and sailing time for your exact dates rather than picking a brand.

For Normandy or Brittany, Brittany Ferries is effectively your only option from Portsmouth or Plymouth — and the longer crossing is the point, since you're paying for comfort and a shorter drive at the French end.

For a foot-passenger trip, your route decides your company: P&O on Dover-Calais, DFDS on Newhaven-Dieppe, or Brittany Ferries on the western crossings. In short: decide where you want to land first, and the company usually chooses itself.