Cairnryan to Belfast runs about 4 times a day, with the first departure around 07:15 and the last around 19:30. One passenger pays €11.88, every fee included. The fastest door to door is 3h 56m over 75 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 September 21, 2026
€11.88
- 9%Moves across the booking window
When it runs, leaving Cairnryan
First and last sailing as the operators themselves filed them for September 17, 2026, counted in this direction only. The return crossing runs on its own timetable and this page does not speak for it.
- 07:15First departure
- 19:30Last departure
- 4Services per day
- 100%Run direct
Departures on September 28, 2026
Real departures, filed by the operators themselves. We hold no fare for these services, so there is no price here to mislead you.
13:1517:0051h 45m
923Scottish Citylink9 changes
Ferry Terminal → Belfast
Reservation required
Scottish Citylink timetable13:1508:3043h 15m
923Scottish Citylink6 changes
Ferry Terminal → Cork
Reservation required
Scottish Citylink timetable
Sailings on September 17, 2026
Real sailings, with the fares the operator is charging. Check the season before you count on one.
07:1509:302h 15m
STENA LINEVessel STENA SUPERFAST VIIDirect
CAIRNRYAN → BELFAST
from €42.00 €57.00
Vehicles carriedPets carried
11:1513:302h 15m
STENA LINEVessel STENA SUPERFAST VIIIDirect
CAIRNRYAN → BELFAST
from €42.00 €57.00
Vehicles carriedPets carried
15:3017:452h 15m
STENA LINEVessel STENA SUPERFAST VIIDirect
CAIRNRYAN → BELFAST
from €42.00 €57.00
Vehicles carriedPets carried
19:3021:452h 15m
STENA LINEVessel STENA SUPERFAST VIIIDirect
CAIRNRYAN → BELFAST
from €42.00 €57.00
Vehicles carriedPets carried
Fares on the crossing run from €42.00 to €63.00 on September 17, 2026, depending on the sailing and on whether you take a deck space, a seat or a cabin.
Stena Line runs this service and does not sell it here. AFerry takes the payment.
Buying this trip
AFerry holds the sailings between these two ports, with the crossing times and the fares.
See Cairnryan to Belfast on AFerry
Or compare on BookawayOr compare on Direct Ferries
Partner link. We do not sell this ticket, and we earn nothing from this one.
Fares by date
What the operator is charging, by departure date.
September 17, 2026
€42.00
STENA LINE
This crossing was checked for one date, and that is the only date we hold a fare for. The operator sells the rest of the season.
The ferry gets you into Belfast. It does not get you a bed, and neither do we.
A room in Belfast for the night the ferry gets in
Sort by distance from Belfast Lanyon Place and you can see which places are ten minutes on foot and which are not.
Search Belfast 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 Cairnryan to Belfast
The same search run across the whole booking window, so the shape of the curve is visible rather than described.
- €11.8890 days
- €11.8860 days
- €11.8845 days
- €11.8830 days
- €11.8821 days
- €11.8814 days
- €11.887 days
- €11.893 days
- €12.991 days
- Cheapest lead time
- Fares bottom out around 90 days ahead, at €11.88.
- How much it moves
- The gap between the cheapest and most expensive lead time is 9 percent. The most expensive point is €12.99, 1 days out.
- What that means
- Today sits outside the cheap window, which opens around 90 days before departure. There is no advantage to booking this minute.
Book now Fares on this route are lowest around 7 days ahead, so there is no rush yet.
This corridor, specifically
Facts that apply to Cairnryan to Belfast and to no other route on the site.
Clocks
14:15 → 18:11
Both ends keep the same time, so the arrival is the departure plus the journey.
The shape of it
75 km
71 km as the crow flies, 6% further by the route services take. The bearing runs south-west.
Who lives at each end
3,757 → 348,005
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.
- How far it really runs
- The route covers 75 km against 71 km in a straight line, a detour of 6 percent. Track and road geometry account for the difference.
The fare from BFS into Belfast is the one price on this trip we cannot show you, because it is not ours.
A car waiting when you land in Belfast
Settled in advance, so the ride into Belfast costs what it said it would rather than what the cab stand says.
Book a ride from BFS with Welcome PickupsOr check Daytrip
Partner links. We do not operate transfers. We earn a commission on a booking, and the fare is the same as going direct.
Who runs this route
The ferry gets in hours before any room is ready. Holding a bag is not what we sell.
Baggage storage near Belfast Lanyon Place
Most of the points near Belfast Lanyon Place open before the first train and close after the last one.
Check Belfast 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 Cairnryan to Belfast
The questions people actually ask about this trip, 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 Cairnryan to Belfast?
The fastest journey from Cairnryan to Belfast takes 3h 56m door to door, of which 2h 27m is spent moving, on the ferry. Most services take around 4h 6m, 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 Cairnryan to Belfast?
The cheapest fare from Cairnryan to Belfast is €11.88, as of September 17, 2026. A typical fare across the next three weeks is €11.88. 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 Cairnryan to Belfast?
The cheapest way from Cairnryan to Belfast is by ferry, at €11.88 for one passenger on September 21, 2026. That journey takes 3h 57m 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 Cairnryan to Belfast?
Fares from Cairnryan to Belfast bottom out around 90 days before departure, at €11.88. Across the whole booking window the gap between the cheapest and the most expensive lead time is 9 percent, measured on September 17, 2026. Booking inside the last week has consistently cost more on this corridor.
Which day of the week is cheapest for Cairnryan to Belfast?
Sunday is the cheapest day to depart from Cairnryan to Belfast, at €11.88. That is the median of 21 priced departure days across the next three weeks, as of September 17, 2026. Shifting a departure by one day is usually worth more than shifting the booking by one week.
Which month is cheapest for Cairnryan to Belfast?
October is the cheapest of the next 5 months to travel from Cairnryan to Belfast, 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 service from Cairnryan to Belfast?
1 operators sell services from Cairnryan to Belfast across 1 mode: Stena Line. 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 Cairnryan to Belfast?
Every service we sell from Cairnryan to Belfast is direct, with around 4 departures a day and a fastest journey of 3h 56m door to door. No connection is needed, so there is no missed connection risk to plan around on this corridor.
Which station or terminal do services from Cairnryan to Belfast use?
Services from Cairnryan to Belfast by ferry leave from CAIRNRYAN and arrive at BELFAST. 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 Cairnryan to Belfast?
1 of the 1 operators we sell from Cairnryan to Belfast 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 Cairnryan to Belfast on September 17, 2026: 75 km of route against 71 km in a straight line, 4 services a day, 1 operator a cheapest fare of €11.88, and 3h 56m 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 Belfast a set of days out that do not start at a station. We do not sell those either.
Day trips out of Belfast and across United Kingdom
Day trips that leave Belfast in the morning and cover a good part of United Kingdom by evening.
See Belfast 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
Cairnryan reaches 1 places in 1 countries on services we hold, over distances from 71 to 71 km. Belfast reaches 88 places in 28 countries, from 71 to 5,107 km.
Other ways to make this journey
Arriving in Belfast
Leaving Belfast
- 88Places you can leave for
- 28Countries
- 31Operators