top of page

How to travel from Scotland to Europe without flying

8 minute read | Author: Richard Hammond


It is possible to travel from Scotland to mainland Europe without flying, by taking the ferry (either in a car, coach or as a foot passenger) or by coach or by train, or a combination of these. The direct passenger ferry operating between Scotland and Europe (between Rosyth and Zeebrugge) ceased in 2010, however, ferry services from Newcastle and Hull are easily accessible by train from Scotland via Carlisle and Berwick-upon-Tweed. There’s also a cheaper option to connect to the Hull and Newcastle ferries by coach, although this can take longer than the train. The North Sea ferries head east to Amsterdam, Rotterdam or Hook of Holland from where you can head further into mainland Europe. There are also direct a ferry between Scotland and Northern Ireland from where you can travel overland to Ireland (which is in Europe), see our Guide to UK Ferry Routes.


See below for information on all the various ways of travelling across to Europe as well as detailed information to how to take public transport to the ferry ports at Newcastle, Hull and Harwick.


For coach and and rail services to Europe, you need to travel down to the Channel Tunnel to cross The Channel, so you have to factor in the time it takes to get south. If you take the train, once on the other side of the tunnel, you’re then connected to the European high-speed rail network, which can whizz you to many European capitals and beyond within hours. I have been on most of these routes and have tried to summarise all the available options based on my experience.


From Scotland, there are several ferry routes to Holland, else you

can take a coach or Eurostar across the English Channel.

Images: DFDS ferry Newcastle to Amsterdam, Eurostar, Flixbus

Ferries from the North and East of England to The Netherlands


Ferry from Newcastle to Amsterdam

The ferry port closest to the Scottish border that connects with Europe is Newcastle, from which DFDS takes foot passengers on its 17.00 overnight sailings to Amsterdam.

Journey time: 15.5 hours (overnight)

Timings*: Departs Newcastle 17:00, arrives Amsterdam 9.45am.

Facilities on board the ferry: bars, restaurants, casino, cinema and kids club

Sleeper Cabins: take from 2-5 people, and, unlike most ferry operators that insist dogs are kept in cars or kennels, there are cabins suitable for up to two dogs to travel alongside their owners.

Luggage: There’s no limit on luggage. Foot passengers can travel with a bicycle for a charge of £5 each way, and those without wheels can hop onto a coach on arrival at the port of Ijmuiden to travel the 25 miles into central Amsterdam. Other info: DFDS offers a ‘mini cruise’ option, which includes breaks in Amsterdam from five hours to two nights and include coach transfers at either end. From Amsterdam it’s easy to connect by rail to cities and regions across the Netherlands, as well as onto France, Belgium, Luxembourg, Germany, Italy, Switzerland and beyond.





Ferry from Hull to Rotterdam (The Netherlands)

Scottish travellers willing to travel further south still along the east coast can travel with P&O Ferries overnight between Hull and Rotterdam in the Netherlands.

Journey time: 12 hours (overnight). On arrival at Hull station by train, there’s a bus that goes to the port from the adjoining interchange station. Number 70 operates from Paragon Interchange to the ferry terminal at 5pm and takes 15 minutes, but for more flexibility, a taxi is a good bet.

Timings*: Hull to Rotterdam departs 20:30 and arrives Rotterdam at 8:15 (9:00 at weekends)

Facilities: Restaurants, bars, cinemas, a casino and kids play area.

Sleeper Cabins: options range from a standard cabin, with a toilet and shower room, to a sea view cabin or a club cabin with extra space and a television - sleeping between two and five people per cabin

Luggage: There’s no limit on luggage, and you can travel with a pet and a bicycle. Pets are charged at £22 each way and must travel in a kennel. Bicycles are carried free of charge but only one is allowed per foot passenger booking, so a group travelling with multiple bikes need to make a separate booking per bike.


You can book the ferry solely as transport, but for some, it’s the holiday in itself - a mini cruise out of Hull with P&O offers two nights on a ferry to and from Rotterdam with a day trip (which can be extended to an extra night) to explore the city between sailings. Themed mini breaks take this up a notch with entertainment such as live music or darts competitions onboard. Many passengers use Rotterdam as a gateway to Brussels, Antwerp or Paris but from either point, it is straight-forward to connect by rail to other destinations in the Netherlands and Belgium as well as Germany, Luxembourg  and France.





Ferry from Harwich to Hook of Holland (The Netherlands)

The shortest ferry route across the North Sea from the UK is from Harwich in Essex with Stena Line to The Hook of Holland (known as ‘Hoek van Holland’). You can choose to go across the North Sea either during the day or overnight.

Journey time: it is a 7-8 hour crossing (day time or overnight)

Trains stop at Harwich International Station, which is next to the ferry port.

Timings*: departs Harwich at 9am, arrives Hook of Holland at 17.15; overnight service departs Harwich at 23:00, arrives Hook of Holland at 08:00. Facilities: restaurants and bars, a cinema and shops.

Sleeper Cabins: on the overnight ferry you can choose from a range of cabins, from a single inside cabin with television and ensuite bathroom to cabins for two, three, four of five people, including the Comfort Class cabins with sea view and complimentary minibar.

Luggage: There’s no limit on luggage. Foot passengers with bicycles pay an extra fee of £5 for adults and £2.50 for children and it costs £20 to bring your dog, which must travel in a kennel.




How to travel by public transport to the ferry ports

Newcastle Port

By train: Train to Newcastle Central Station from where there’s a shuttle bus (it departs from Bewick Street opposite the railway station) that takes 20–30 minutes to the port terminal that is timed to coincide with ferry departures.

By bus/coach: Coach to Newcastle coach station from where it’s a 5-minute walk to where the shuttle bus departs on Bewick Street opposite the railway station (as above).

Hull Port

By train or coach: Take either the train or coach to the Hull Paragon Interchange (home to the coach and railway station) from where there’s shuttle bus, which takes about 10-15 minutes to reach the ferry terminal building. Alternatively, there’s a taxi rank outside Hull Paragon Interchange for the 4-mile journey to the ferry terminal.

Harwich Port

By train: Harwich International railway station is immediately adjacent to the port, so it is a quick transfer from the train platform to the ferry check-in, and on the other side, it’s the same quick transfer off the ferry to the Hook of Holland railway station, which has train services to Rotterdam, Amsterdam and beyond. Stena Line sells a Rail and Sail ticket to Holland, known as the Dutchflyer, which is a combined train and ferry ticket from London Liverpool Street (or any National Express East Anglia station, such as Cambridge, Colchester, Ipswich and Norwich) to Harwich International port, from where you can catch either the morning or overnight Stena Line ferry service to the Hook of Holland, and take any onward train to any station in Holland.


*Ferry sailing times and journey times can change so do check with the operator for the latest times before you book.


By Coach to Europe


Travelling by coach is usually the cheapest way to travel to Europe from Scotland, but also the most lengthy. Flixbus runs an intercity coach service from cities across Scotland, which now incorporates the Eurolines and Isilines bus companies, with services out of London Victoria. It offers destinations beyond the nearest cities in northern Europe - such as Vienna from London in 26 hours, Frankfurt in 13.5 hours and Prague in 24 hours. You can even travel as far as Bucharest - a 44-hour journey across six countries.


Coaches go direct from Aberdeen, Glasgow and Edinburgh to London Victoria where you can change to its international coach services which go to many European cities, including Calais, Paris, Lille, Amsterdam, Rotterdam, The Hague, Utrecht, Brussels, Antwerp and Bruges.


Here are a few sample journey times:

  • Aberdeen to Paris: from 25 hours

  • Aberdeen to Amsterdam: from 26 hours

  • Glasgow to Paris: from 21 hours

  • Glasgow to Amsterdam: from 22 hours

  • Edinburgh to Paris: from 22.5 hours

  • Edinburgh to Amsterdam: from 22.5 hours


Luggage: You can take a hand luggage bag and medium-sized bag for the hold weighing no more than 20kg. Only folding bicycles are accepted.

Facilities: coaches are air conditioned and have free wifi, charging sockets, toilets, and on some journeys food and drink is sold onboard in addition to the refreshment stops. Alternatively, pack your own food and drink for the journey and/or make use of the stops that are made at service stations en route to stock up on supplies.





coach on road
Flixbuscoaches are air conditioned and have free wifi, charging sockets, and toilets

National Express also runs an intercity coach service from cities across Scotland including Aberdeen, Glasgow and Edinburgh and from Inverness with Scottish Citylink services. The same luggage restrictions apply with one piece of hand luggage and one hold luggage up to 20kg. The cost varies depending on the route, time of year and so on, so check the coach operator’s website for fares.

By Train to Europe


To access Europe by rail, travellers from Scotland must first travel to London before connecting to Eurostar services from London St Pancras International Railway Station.


Here are a few journey times (times show the total duration of the trip, including allowing for sufficient time to walk to the Eurostar check-in from Euston or Kings Cross and for the 30/45-minute check-in time at Eurostar, based on appropriate times of connecting trains in to and out of London):

  • Train from Edinburgh to Paris: 8 hours; Edinburgh to Amsterdam: 9.5 hours

  • Train from Glasgow to Paris: 8.5 hours; Glasgow to Amsterdam: 10 hours

  • Train from Aberdeen to Paris: 10.5 hours; Aberdeen to Amsterdam: 13.5 hours


Trains from cities in Scotland are operated by a variety of rail companies into London - LNER runs trains from St Pancras up the east coast via Peterborough, York and Newcastle to Edinburgh, with some continuing on to Glasgow, Aberdeen or Inverness. Avanti West Coast operates trains on the other coast between Glasgow and Edinburgh via Birmingham and Manchester. These terminate at London Euston, which is a 10-minute walk from London St Pancras. Also terminating at Euston is the Caledonian Sleeper, an overnight rail service that connects London with Edinburgh, Glasgow, Inverness, Aberdeen and beyond to some of the more remote Highland rail stations such as Aviemore. The sleeper arrives between 7-8am at Euston, and travellers should allow at least an hour and a half to get to St Pancras and adhere to the 30-minute Eurostar check-in (45 minutes at weekends).


Eurostar runs direct services to Paris, Brussels, Lille, Rotterdam and Amsterdam (during the winter there’s an indirect ‘Eurostar snow train’ service vai Lille to Moûtiers, Aime-la-Plagne and Bourg-St-Maurice). You can buy through-tickets that start in Scotland and go beyond Eurostar’s destinations travelling with local operators. If you are travelling with a bike, check which routes accept bikes. The fee is around £30. Dogs are not permitted on Eurostar except guide dogs.





Tickets provided by Trainline, which allows you to buy tickets for multiple train operators in multiple European countries. It does charge a small booking fee, but offers several useful facilities, such as a free email alert service to let you know as soon as bookings open for your chosen route so you can snap up the cheapest tickets when they become available.


How to book train tickets as part of a package with accommodation

If you want someone to book the whole journey for you or combine it with staying in hotels en route, get in touch with the travel agent Byway through its page for booking enquiries.


How to book train tickets as part of a package with accommodation

If you want someone to book the whole journey for you or combine it with staying in hotels en route, get in touch with the travel agent Byway through its page for booking enquiries.


Eurostar runs direct services to Paris, Brussels, Lille, Rotterdam and Amsterdam. Photo: Eurostar
Eurostar runs direct services to Paris, Brussels, Lille, Rotterdam and Amsterdam. Photo: Eurostar

============

Please note: The information on this page aims to give you a reasonable idea of train and ferry routes, times and tickets, in order that hopefully there’s enough detail to know what's available, how to plan an overland journey and where to book tickets. The information was up to date at time of publication, but services do change from time to time and we cannot take responsibility for any errors or inaccuracies we provide. Always confirm details when you book with the relevant travel operator. If you are aware of any inaccuracies, we'd really appreciate being informed via our contact page so we can make the relevant changes to the information provided for the benefit of other travellers.

 

Bon Voyage!



  • Instagram
  • Twitter
  • Facebook
  • Green Traveller's Youtube Channel
  • Green Traveller's Pinterest Boards

Green Traveller is owned & operated by Greentraveller Limited

Tel: +44 (0)7557 025542. Contact

Copyright © 2006-2025 Greentraveller Limited. All rights reserved.

No part of this site may be reproduced without Green Traveller's written permission

Privacy Policy and Terms of Use

bottom of page