Is there still a ferry from Dover to Boulogne? Yes !

For years the answer was no. The old passenger ferry between Dover and Boulogne stopped running in the 2010s, and most people assumed the link was gone for good. It is back, though not as it was. There is once again a way to cross the Channel between the two towns, under sail, and it looks nothing like the ferry you remember.

What happened to the old Dover to Boulogne ferry?

The last company to run a passenger service on this route was LD Lines, a French operator. They opened the Boulogne crossing in 2009 and pulled the passenger service a couple of years later, in the early 2010s. The reason was simple and had nothing to do with the route's appeal: the Dover Strait was carrying far more ferry capacity than there were passengers to fill it, a price war followed, and the numbers stopped adding up. When the ships left, Boulogne was left as a port with no passenger ferry at all, and that is how it stayed for more than a decade.

So when people search to check whether the Dover to Boulogne ferry still exists, they are right to be unsure. The big car ferry is not coming back. What has returned is something different, built for a different kind of traveller.

So what is there instead?

SailLink is a sailing catamaran, Echoes, that crosses the Channel between Dover and Boulogne-sur-Mer during the season. We are not trying to replace the old car ferry, and we are not competing with the big ships of the past. We carry up to twelve passengers a crossing, and we are here for the people who travel on foot and by bike, the ones who want some adventure back in the journey itself.

That is the whole idea. Crossing a border is usually the dull, slightly stressful part of a trip, the bit you endure to get to the good part. We turn it the other way round. The crossing becomes the experience, lived at human scale, from the sail itself to the way you step off the boat straight into town. A passage that used to be something to get through becomes the part of the trip people remember most.

Marina to marina, straight into town

This is where a SailLink crossing parts ways with any ferry you have taken before. There is no industrial terminal, no shuttle bus, no long walk across a car park to find the town. You arrive in the middle of each place, at a pontoon, a few minutes from everything.

In Boulogne you land at the Quai Gambetta pontoon, set between the town centre and the beach. The EV4 cycle route runs right past it. The station is about ten minutes away by bike, twenty on foot; the town centre is a ten-minute walk, the old fortified upper town about twenty. You step off and you are among the cafés and restaurants straight away. In Dover you arrive at the marina below the castle, right by the seafront, on the front of the town. The centre is a ten-minute walk, the station twenty minutes on foot or five by bike, and the NCN1 and NCN2 cycle routes pick up from there.

What crossing a border at the pontoon is actually like

Border control happens right beside the boat, and most people are surprised how calm it is. All your details are sent across in advance. On the day, the officers come to the pontoon to check that the people on board match the paperwork, passports in hand. The French border police handle the French side, UK Border Force the English side, and the process is the same in both directions: you wait a few minutes for the officers to arrive, they confirm everyone, and you are on your way. No terminal, no queue hall, about ten minutes beside the water.

What the crossing itself is like

The sail takes around four and a half hours, though that depends entirely on the wind. On a fast day it has been done in 2h18; with no wind it can stretch to five and a half. There is no fixed arrival time, and that is worth planning for: build a little flexibility into whatever comes next, because the sea sets the pace, not a timetable.

Once you are out there, you watch one coast slip away behind you and the other rise up ahead. You see the Channel from the water itself, the swell under the hulls, the sails up and working, the sound of the wind in them and the water sliding past. You can take the helm and steer Echoes yourself, rest, talk, stretch out on the nets at the front, or learn a little about how the boat is sailed. The tankers crossing the Strait pass close enough to be a sight in themselves, and now and then the wildlife catches you off guard. It is the Channel seen from an angle most people never get.

A passage that used to be something to get through becomes the part of the trip people remember most.

Can you take your bike across?

Yes, and it is one of the reasons the crossing exists. Up to twelve bikes travel on each crossing, stored inside the boat in the cockpit, out of the salt and the spray. The crew roll them on, position them and strap them together safely. Nothing needs dismantling; you just take your bags off the bike to make it easier to secure and to keep the weight down. At the other end they roll straight off and you carry on. A standard bike is £10, a tandem or large bike £15.

With a bike, both coasts open up fast. On the English side you have the NCN1 and NCN2, with Canterbury within easy reach. On the French side you pick up the EV4 and the Vélomaritime at the pontoon, and can head down into Normandy, up towards Dunkirk and Belgium, or inland on the Avenue Verte and the Véloscénie. And if you want to go further, the train links both Dover and Boulogne onward to London, Paris and beyond.

When does it run, and how do you book?

SailLink sails in season, roughly three to four days a week, with the schedule built around the tides on both sides of the Channel. Crossings are mostly run as returns, and you book directly on our booking page for the date you want. The 2027 season is still being put together, likely running from around mid-May through September. If you want the dates before anyone else, the surest way is to join our newsletter: we open bookings towards the end of the year and newsletter readers hear first.

Why bring this crossing back at all?

Because Boulogne and Dover are underrated, both of them. They are treated as places you pass through, and they are far more than that. Each has a maritime and historic heritage worth crossing for in its own right, whether you come for a weekend or a longer stay on the coast. Two neighbours that drifted apart for too long now have a link between them again, and with it the chance to step from one culture into another that sits so close and yet feels a world away. You get a proper change of scene, two authentic towns and coastlines, and two genuine hubs for carrying on by bike or by train. That is worth sailing for.

If you have a question before you book, or you just want to talk a crossing through, write to us at info@saillink.co.uk. We are always glad to help.