I’m so here for this! I’m a big fan of Scandinavia who is trying to eliminate flying completely, and I am so frequently infuriated by the lack of ferries between the uk and Denmark/Norway. The train takes you such a long way round! It seems insane! I’ve just spent the week in the far north of Scotland - 500km from Norway but 1000km from London, and it seems so insane that you can’t just cross the North Sea!
Yes! When I was in Lerwick two years ago I was so struck by the ghosts of the Bergen ferry service - they still have signs around the port in Norwegian! It felt so clear that Shetland was part of the north sea islands chain (Norway, Faroes, Iceland, even Greenland…) but the infrastructure just isn’t there. Such a shame.
Wow! I spoke to someone who worked on the Arran ferry in Ardrossan in the late 1990s and she remembered lots of Norwegian's rocking up on a Monday or a Tuesday, just after the weekly ferry from Newcastle. Maybe there was a circular tour to and from Bergen?
A few years ago whilst Interrailing we took the overnight sleeper train from Hamburg to Malmo (only summer seasonal and only three times a week) whereby the train is put on the ferry. A magical journey, but would’ve been nice to see during the day.
Later in the trip we took a ferry from Bergen to Hirtshals at the top of Denmark, which was equally picturesque.
I haven’t taken it myself, but know the ferry from either Portsmouth or Plymouth down to Bilbao is quite epic. I’m not sure if it still operates from both ports, but that could be one to look into?
Thanks Chris! I’m guessing that sleeper journey is now continuously on land as a result of all the new tunnels in Germany and Scandinavia - one of the more positive reasons for the loss of ferry routes. I may take the ferry from Hirtshals as part of one of these journeys (Bergen to Newcastle).
A project on Britain's lost ferry crossings is such a good idea, and I'm looking forward to reading more about it here on Substack!
Like you my very first trip abroad was via the Newcastle-Esbjerg ferry, sometime in the early nineties. Unfortunately our trip coincided with a severe gale and my only memory of the crossing is being very unwell! Luckily it didn't put me off though. Later I did the Newcastle-Bergen ferry as part of an orchestra exchange to Norway, with a van full of instruments on board. I seem to remember one way took 27 hours, but the last part weaving our way up the Norwegian coast was magical. It was a great trip and would ultimately spur me on study Scandinavian languages later on. Presumably such an exchange would be much trickier and more expensive (maybe impossible?) to organise without the ferry connection these days. I'm so sad these travel routes are no longer an option.
Thanks for the follow Hannah. I am glad that these trips inspired you too and motivated you to study Scandinavian languages. I also did Newcastle to Bergen a few years later (1990) and remember the extraordinary scenery, particularly as we approached Stavanger. If all goes well, this will be the final trip in this project. I have a couple of journeys still to decide on and hoping that the comments and feedback will help me to settle on them. There are so many contenders as you note the route map is becoming so deminished sadly.
Larne (Belfast) - Cairnryan - late 80s-early 90s. not along-lost ferry, but always some trepidation as Northern Ireland was in a downwards spiral at the time.
Then North Shields - Hamburg was my route in the early 90s whilst working in Germany. The final hours, cruising up the Elbe, were memorable. Cabins on the old DFDS less so. They were shared with whoever happened to be ticketed together. On one crossing I thought I had one to myself, until the last minute when the door opened and my fellow passenger walked in. He says ' I've got double bad news for you. One, you're sharing a cabin, and two, I'm a smoker'. Then he chain-smoked all night. Return trip was always good - a night out in Hamburg then the morning ferry back to Shields.
Later in life - Ijmuiden-North Shields was the go-to. Trained hard for the Great North Run in 2002, got to Ijmuiden and couldn't find passport. No passport, no ferry, no GNR.
Sorry about you missing the GNR and the chain-smoking cabin buddy! I never went on the service to Hamburg but the cruise up the Elbe would be lovely! I heard about a service to Bremerhaven too. Tyne Commission Quay must have been busy in those days!
When I was a student in Newcastle in the late 60's the Bergen ferry was still running. Out of season you could get a really cheap crossing which included access to the smorgasbord. We rarely got off the ship preferring to come straight back home. It was cheaper than staying home for the weekend.
I travelled on it in 1990. On my Notes you can see a video by a contact from the late noughties on one of the last Newcastle - Bergen ferries. WIll try and dig out the link.
A lovely piece, Rosie. I have nostalgic memories of ferry crossings to France on my first family holidays abroad in my teens. Long drives down to The South, overnight stays at conveniently located friends or family in Canterbury or Brighton, depending on the port, then rolling onto the ship the next morning.
Those channel crossings remain largely unchanged, but my beloved sleeper train from Mediterranean Barcelona to Atlantic Cadiz is no more, thanks to the otherwise wonderful AVE high-speed service shortening journey times. I wonder how many other cross-European sleeper services have also been axed, and are only now being potentially revived?
Thanks for the follow Matthew and the kind words. Yes, you have touched on something I have noticed too. There are tonnes of Irish Sea and North Sea “ghost crossings” but channel crossings do seem to be largely unchanged. The two on my radar are Ramsgate - Ostend and the hovercraft crossing to Boulogne-sur-Mer. I’d be very happy to hear of any I have missed and I am hoping to “crowdsource” a couple more to complete the project. A sleeper train project would be awesome. I have only taken one sleeper, from Ostend to Interlaken but I had to change at Brussels and Basel.
The northern Spain routes seem to come and go. I've used them a few times, and while there has always been one available, whether you travel between Plymouth/Portsmouth and/or Santander/Bilbao seems to vary depending on which ferry operator is showing an interest in the route at the time.
Brittany Ferries were always better than P&O as I recall, as the French food was fantastic.
Years ago I wrote an (unpublished) travel book retracing Laurie Lee's journey across Spain, but was unable to sail to Vigo as he had, since that crossing had ended years earlier.
Thank you for all the wonderful comments on my first post - I visited it last night and was delighted to see all the comments, which I had missed because somehow I had turned off the notifications! I have rectified this now. It's great to see people share their most-missed ferry routes. I am hoping to do a post based on some of your suggestions in the near future. I am also considering some subscriber only content - so please subscribe if you haven't already.
Another interesting one that was lost was the ability to get to Faroes and Iceland via Shetland. Smyril line linked Lerwick, Torshavn, Bergen and Iceland. OK, one had to get to Shetland first but that would just have been part of the adventure! I regret never having managed that. 😢
I’m so here for this! I’m a big fan of Scandinavia who is trying to eliminate flying completely, and I am so frequently infuriated by the lack of ferries between the uk and Denmark/Norway. The train takes you such a long way round! It seems insane! I’ve just spent the week in the far north of Scotland - 500km from Norway but 1000km from London, and it seems so insane that you can’t just cross the North Sea!
And Symril Lines runs Denmark -Faroes-Iceland so why can’t they just stop at Aberdeen en-route? Or Lerwick like they used to….
Yes! When I was in Lerwick two years ago I was so struck by the ghosts of the Bergen ferry service - they still have signs around the port in Norwegian! It felt so clear that Shetland was part of the north sea islands chain (Norway, Faroes, Iceland, even Greenland…) but the infrastructure just isn’t there. Such a shame.
Wow! I spoke to someone who worked on the Arran ferry in Ardrossan in the late 1990s and she remembered lots of Norwegian's rocking up on a Monday or a Tuesday, just after the weekly ferry from Newcastle. Maybe there was a circular tour to and from Bergen?
Very good Rosie!
A few years ago whilst Interrailing we took the overnight sleeper train from Hamburg to Malmo (only summer seasonal and only three times a week) whereby the train is put on the ferry. A magical journey, but would’ve been nice to see during the day.
Later in the trip we took a ferry from Bergen to Hirtshals at the top of Denmark, which was equally picturesque.
I haven’t taken it myself, but know the ferry from either Portsmouth or Plymouth down to Bilbao is quite epic. I’m not sure if it still operates from both ports, but that could be one to look into?
Thanks Chris! I’m guessing that sleeper journey is now continuously on land as a result of all the new tunnels in Germany and Scandinavia - one of the more positive reasons for the loss of ferry routes. I may take the ferry from Hirtshals as part of one of these journeys (Bergen to Newcastle).
A project on Britain's lost ferry crossings is such a good idea, and I'm looking forward to reading more about it here on Substack!
Like you my very first trip abroad was via the Newcastle-Esbjerg ferry, sometime in the early nineties. Unfortunately our trip coincided with a severe gale and my only memory of the crossing is being very unwell! Luckily it didn't put me off though. Later I did the Newcastle-Bergen ferry as part of an orchestra exchange to Norway, with a van full of instruments on board. I seem to remember one way took 27 hours, but the last part weaving our way up the Norwegian coast was magical. It was a great trip and would ultimately spur me on study Scandinavian languages later on. Presumably such an exchange would be much trickier and more expensive (maybe impossible?) to organise without the ferry connection these days. I'm so sad these travel routes are no longer an option.
Thanks for the follow Hannah. I am glad that these trips inspired you too and motivated you to study Scandinavian languages. I also did Newcastle to Bergen a few years later (1990) and remember the extraordinary scenery, particularly as we approached Stavanger. If all goes well, this will be the final trip in this project. I have a couple of journeys still to decide on and hoping that the comments and feedback will help me to settle on them. There are so many contenders as you note the route map is becoming so deminished sadly.
Different ferries at different stages of life:
Larne (Belfast) - Cairnryan - late 80s-early 90s. not along-lost ferry, but always some trepidation as Northern Ireland was in a downwards spiral at the time.
Then North Shields - Hamburg was my route in the early 90s whilst working in Germany. The final hours, cruising up the Elbe, were memorable. Cabins on the old DFDS less so. They were shared with whoever happened to be ticketed together. On one crossing I thought I had one to myself, until the last minute when the door opened and my fellow passenger walked in. He says ' I've got double bad news for you. One, you're sharing a cabin, and two, I'm a smoker'. Then he chain-smoked all night. Return trip was always good - a night out in Hamburg then the morning ferry back to Shields.
Later in life - Ijmuiden-North Shields was the go-to. Trained hard for the Great North Run in 2002, got to Ijmuiden and couldn't find passport. No passport, no ferry, no GNR.
Sorry about you missing the GNR and the chain-smoking cabin buddy! I never went on the service to Hamburg but the cruise up the Elbe would be lovely! I heard about a service to Bremerhaven too. Tyne Commission Quay must have been busy in those days!
When I was a student in Newcastle in the late 60's the Bergen ferry was still running. Out of season you could get a really cheap crossing which included access to the smorgasbord. We rarely got off the ship preferring to come straight back home. It was cheaper than staying home for the weekend.
the Bergen ferry was called the 'mail boat' in North Shields. Wonder what year it finished?
I travelled on it in 1990. On my Notes you can see a video by a contact from the late noughties on one of the last Newcastle - Bergen ferries. WIll try and dig out the link.
A lovely piece, Rosie. I have nostalgic memories of ferry crossings to France on my first family holidays abroad in my teens. Long drives down to The South, overnight stays at conveniently located friends or family in Canterbury or Brighton, depending on the port, then rolling onto the ship the next morning.
Those channel crossings remain largely unchanged, but my beloved sleeper train from Mediterranean Barcelona to Atlantic Cadiz is no more, thanks to the otherwise wonderful AVE high-speed service shortening journey times. I wonder how many other cross-European sleeper services have also been axed, and are only now being potentially revived?
Thanks for the follow Matthew and the kind words. Yes, you have touched on something I have noticed too. There are tonnes of Irish Sea and North Sea “ghost crossings” but channel crossings do seem to be largely unchanged. The two on my radar are Ramsgate - Ostend and the hovercraft crossing to Boulogne-sur-Mer. I’d be very happy to hear of any I have missed and I am hoping to “crowdsource” a couple more to complete the project. A sleeper train project would be awesome. I have only taken one sleeper, from Ostend to Interlaken but I had to change at Brussels and Basel.
The northern Spain routes seem to come and go. I've used them a few times, and while there has always been one available, whether you travel between Plymouth/Portsmouth and/or Santander/Bilbao seems to vary depending on which ferry operator is showing an interest in the route at the time.
Brittany Ferries were always better than P&O as I recall, as the French food was fantastic.
Years ago I wrote an (unpublished) travel book retracing Laurie Lee's journey across Spain, but was unable to sail to Vigo as he had, since that crossing had ended years earlier.
Thank you for all the wonderful comments on my first post - I visited it last night and was delighted to see all the comments, which I had missed because somehow I had turned off the notifications! I have rectified this now. It's great to see people share their most-missed ferry routes. I am hoping to do a post based on some of your suggestions in the near future. I am also considering some subscriber only content - so please subscribe if you haven't already.
In the meantime, do check out my mini series on unlikely ferry destinations. You can find the latest one on Greenore in the Republic of Ireland here: https://www.rosieniven.com/p/from-steamers-to-pirate-radio-the?r=1eakux&utm_campaign=post-expanded-share&utm_medium=web
Thanks Rosie! Will follow you ….
Another interesting one that was lost was the ability to get to Faroes and Iceland via Shetland. Smyril line linked Lerwick, Torshavn, Bergen and Iceland. OK, one had to get to Shetland first but that would just have been part of the adventure! I regret never having managed that. 😢
Chris
That must have been some journey. I would have enjoyed that too.