Brittany Ferries runs five direct routes from Portsmouth to France and Spain, and since buying Condor it runs the Guernsey crossing too. For most people leaving Portsmouth it is the company you will be dealing with, so it is worth knowing how it works and what it is like when something goes wrong.
Routes from Portsmouth
Portsmouth to Le Havre was the sixth until September 2026, when it ended earlier than planned. What happened is here, and the rest of the reshuffle is on the 2026 changes page.
They are not the only operator any more
For years Portsmouth was effectively a Brittany Ferries port for anyone crossing to the continent. That changed in 2025, when DFDS started running Portsmouth to Jersey after winning Jersey’s sea link contract. So there are now two operators sailing from the same terminal, with separate booking systems and separate check-in arrangements. See our DFDS page.
Brittany Ferries also took majority ownership of Condor in 2024 and now runs the Guernsey operation, which is why the Guernsey crossing appears above under a name that is not quite either company’s. More on that on the Condor page.
Who they are
Brittany Ferries is French, and unusually for a ferry company it started as a farmers’ venture: Breton growers in the early 1970s wanting a way to get their produce to British supermarkets without going through middlemen. The passenger business grew out of the freight business rather than the other way round, and the company still has a cooperative streak in its ownership.
It shows on board. The ships feel French rather than generic, the food is better than it needs to be, and the Spanish routes have Spanish crew and Spanish decor rather than the same fit-out with different signage. Whether that matters to you is a question of taste, but it is a real difference from the short Dover crossings.
The ships
Brittany Ferries rotates several ships across its Portsmouth routes rather than fixing one to each, so the vessel named on any route page, ours included, is likely rather than guaranteed.
We have sailed on the Santoña, an LNG-powered ship in service since 2023, and the Saint-Malo, an LNG hybrid new for 2025, and photographed the Guillaume de Normandie and the Galicia in port without sailing on either. See ships from Portsmouth for what each is actually like, and which ones we can genuinely speak to.
Our own experience
Sailed with them: a family trip in August 2025, out to Saint-Malo and back overnight from Cherbourg, with two young children.
The thing worth reporting is what happened when it went wrong. Our clutch failed as we were coming off the ship at Portsmouth, in the middle of a disembarking vehicle deck, which is roughly the worst place a car can die. Brittany Ferries staff pushed the car off by hand, arranged a tow, and let us rebook the return sailing on a flexible ticket while it was being repaired.
None of that shows up in a route listing. It is also the only real test of a ferry company: not what the crossing is like when everything works, but what happens when it doesn’t. They came out of it well. The full version of that story is in the Portsmouth port guide.
Booking
Direct with Brittany Ferries, always, for live availability. We are not a booking site and we do not handle your booking. Some links here are affiliate links, and we may earn a commission at no extra cost to you. See our affiliate disclosure.
One practical note from experience: the flexible ticket is worth the extra if anything about your trip is uncertain. Ours paid for itself when we had to rebook twice around a breakdown. More on what drives the cost on our prices page, including two real fares we paid.
Compare all the routes side by side on the Portsmouth ferries overview, or start with the Portsmouth to France and Portsmouth to Spain guides.
Routes and ownership checked September 2026.