Portsmouth to Cherbourg runs about 4 times a day, with the first departure around 06:26 and the last around 07:30. One passenger pays €11.88, every fee included. The fastest door to door is 5h 53m over 141 km, on services run by 1 operator across 1 mode.
What one seat costs
Every operator we hold on this corridor starts at €11.88, so there is no spread to show.
Typical fares · Priced for 5 October 2026
€11.88
- 144%Moves across the booking window
When it runs, leaving Portsmouth
No operator has filed a timetable for this direction yet, so the first and last departure below follow the pattern of the corridor. Read them as the shape of the service day rather than as times to turn up for.
- 06:26First departure
- 07:30Last departure
- 4Services per day
- 25%Run direct
Departures on 28 September 2026
Real departures, filed by the operators themselves. We hold no fare for these services, so there is no price here to mislead you.
20:0412:1540h 11m
SouthernSouthern6 changes
Portsmouth Harbour → Cherbourg
Bikes carriedStep-free
Book with Southern02:2012:1533h 55m
030National Express7 changes
The Hard Interchange (Stand A) → Cherbourg
Reservation required
National Express timetable
Brittany Ferries runs this service and does not sell it here. AFerry takes the payment.
Buying this journey
AFerry holds the sailings between these two ports, with the crossing times and the fares.
See Portsmouth to Cherbourg on AFerry
Or compare on Direct FerriesOr compare on Ferryhopper
Partner link. We do not sell this ticket, and we earn nothing from this one.
Fares by date
What this journey usually costs, by departure date. It shows which days run dearer.
Typical fares
- about €28.94Sun20
- about €20.14Mon21
- about €20.14Tue22
- about €17.39Wed23
- about €17.94Thu24
- about €22.34Fri25
- about €21.79Sat26
- about €14.64Sun27
- about €15.74Mon28
- about €14.09Tue29
- about €16.84Wed30
- about €16.29Thu1
- about €15.74Fri2
- about €15.74Sat3
- about €13.54Sun4
- about €11.88Mon5
- about €11.88Tue6
- about €12.44Wed7
- about €14.64Thu8
- about €12.44Fri9
- about €11.88Sat10
Based on what this route has cost recently. The operator sets the price on the day, and the live fare is confirmed when you book.
The ferry gets you into Cherbourg. It does not get you a bed, and neither do we.
A room in Cherbourg for the night the ferry gets in
Sort by distance from Cherbourg railway station and you can see which places are ten minutes on foot and which are not.
Search Cherbourg on Booking.comOr compare on Expedia
Partner links. We do not sell accommodation. We earn a commission when a booking completes, and it never changes what you pay.
When to book Portsmouth to Cherbourg
The same search run across the whole booking window, so the shape of the curve is visible rather than described.
- €12.9990 days
- €11.8860 days
- €11.8845 days
- €11.8830 days
- €11.8821 days
- €15.7414 days
- €21.797 days
- €20.143 days
- €28.941 days
- Cheapest lead time
- Fares bottom out around 60 days ahead, at €11.88.
- How much it moves
- The gap between the cheapest and dearest lead time is 144 percent. The dearest point is €28.94, 1 days out.
- What that means
- Today sits inside the cheap window, which closes about 60 days before departure. Waiting from here has usually cost money on this corridor rather than saved it.
Book now Fares on this route are lowest around 21 days ahead. You are inside that window.
This corridor, specifically
Facts that apply to Portsmouth to Cherbourg and to no other route on the site.
Clocks
21:04 → 03:57
1 hours ahead on arrival. The clock moves even though you do not.
The shape of it
141 km
134 km as the crow flies, 5% further by the route services take. The bearing runs south.
Who lives at each end
208,100 → 26,655
Population at the departure city and at the arrival city, which is usually what decides how often anything runs.
How we know
Observed
Every operator on this corridor is named in a carrier record.
The route
What the journey looks like
Direct or connecting, how far the route really runs, and what happens when a connection is missed.
- Direct or connecting
- 20% of the services we sell on this corridor run through without a change. The remaining 80% involve one connection.
- How far it really runs
- The route covers 141 km against 134 km in a straight line, a detour of 5 percent. Track and road geometry account for the difference.
- Where the change is
- Connections are made at Poole, Cowes, Saint-Malo, Le Havre. The gap between arriving and leaving is 47 minutes, of which about 14 is walking.
- If the connection is missed
- The tightest connection we sell here has a 20 percent chance of not being made on the timetable alone. Part of this journey is a self transfer between separate tickets, so leave more time than the minimum and expect to check in again.
Who runs this route
Cherbourg is small enough to see in an afternoon, which is easier without the luggage. Storing it is not our business.
Left luggage near Cherbourg railway station
Most of the points near Cherbourg railway station open before the first train and shut after the last one.
Check Cherbourg on StasherOr try Bounce
Partner links. We do not run these networks. We earn a commission on a booking, and the price is the same as going direct.
Questions about Portsmouth to Cherbourg
The questions people actually ask about this journey, answered from the same prices and times the page above is built on rather than written once and left to go stale.
How long does it take to get from Portsmouth to Cherbourg?
The fastest journey from Portsmouth to Cherbourg takes 5h 53m door to door, of which 4h 43m is spent moving, on the ferry. Most services take around 6h 8m, because that average includes slower stopping services and journeys with a connection. Times include reaching the terminal and leaving it at the far end.
How much does it cost to travel from Portsmouth to Cherbourg?
The cheapest fare from Portsmouth to Cherbourg is €11.88, as of 19 September 2026. A typical fare across the next three weeks is €15.74. Both figures are the total for one passenger, including taxes, supplier fees and our service fee, so nothing is added at checkout.
What is the cheapest way to get from Portsmouth to Cherbourg?
The cheapest way from Portsmouth to Cherbourg is by ferry, at €11.88 for one passenger on 5 October 2026. That journey takes 6h 13m door to door. Cheaper is rarely faster on this corridor, and the comparison table on this page shows what each mode costs against what it saves.
When should I book Portsmouth to Cherbourg?
Fares from Portsmouth to Cherbourg bottom out around 60 days before departure, at €11.88. Across the whole booking window the gap between the cheapest and the dearest lead time is 144 percent, measured on 19 September 2026. Booking inside the last week has consistently cost more on this corridor.
Which day of the week is cheapest for Portsmouth to Cherbourg?
Tuesday is the cheapest day to depart from Portsmouth to Cherbourg, at €14.09. That is the median of 21 priced departure days across the next three weeks, as of 19 September 2026. Shifting a departure by one day is usually worth more than shifting the booking by one week.
Which month is cheapest for Portsmouth to Cherbourg?
November is the cheapest of the next 5 months to travel from Portsmouth to Cherbourg, at €11.88 for one passenger. Each month is priced on its fifteenth, so the comparison is like for like rather than a mix of weekends and midweek departures.
Who runs services from Portsmouth to Cherbourg?
1 operators sell services from Portsmouth to Cherbourg across 1 mode: Brittany Ferries. Journey times, fares and fare conditions differ between them, and the operator table on this page compares all of them on speed, flexibility and what is provided on board.
Is there a direct service from Portsmouth to Cherbourg?
20 percent of the services we sell from Portsmouth to Cherbourg are direct. The rest connect at Poole, Cowes, Saint-Malo, Le Havre, with about 47 minutes between the two services. Both legs are sold on one booking, so a missed connection is rebooked at no charge.
Which station or terminal do services from Portsmouth to Cherbourg use?
Services from Portsmouth to Cherbourg by ferry leave from Cherbourg and arrive at Cherbourg. Allow about 1h 30m in total for reaching the departure terminal and leaving the arrival one, which is already included in every door to door time on this page.
Can I change or refund a ticket from Portsmouth to Cherbourg?
1 of the 1 operators we sell from Portsmouth to Cherbourg allow a change or a refund. A change on a changeable fare costs €5.00. The operator table on this page names which is which, and the condition is shown again before you pay.
Where these numbers come from
Places, coordinates, operators, which operator serves which pair, and every distance on this page are real and come from open data. Where a corridor has a filed timetable the departure times are real too, and ferry fares are the prices the operators publish themselves.
Observed service A carrier record shows this named operator serving this named pair, and we carry that through unchanged.
Where no operator publishes a fare for a corridor, the price here is our own estimate, worked out from the real distance and the real operator through a fare curve that follows lead time, day of the week and season. It tells you roughly what the journey costs. It is not a seat anyone has agreed to sell, and the payment step will not take it.
Defined in full at Door to door, Fares, The booking window, Carbon, Distances
- On this page
- Every figure above was computed for Portsmouth to Cherbourg on 19 September 2026: 141 km of route against 134 km in a straight line, 5 services a day, 1 operator a cheapest fare of €11.88, and 5h 53m door to door on the fastest mode. The return direction is computed separately and its numbers are not these numbers.
Being on the water gives Cherbourg a set of days out that do not start at a station. We do not sell those either.
Day trips out of Cherbourg and across France
Day trips that leave Cherbourg in the morning and cover a good part of France by evening.
See Cherbourg on GetYourGuideOr browse Viator
Partner links. We do not sell tours or tickets. We earn a commission on a booking, and it never changes the price.
The two ends, compared
Portsmouth reaches 79 places in 3 countries on services we hold, over distances from 15 to 849 km. Cherbourg reaches 32 places in 3 countries, from 106 to 684 km.
Other ways to make this journey
Leaving Portsmouth
- 79Places you can leave for
- 3Countries
- 7Operators
Arriving in Cherbourg
Leaving Cherbourg
- 32Places you can leave for
- 3Countries
- 2Operators