Cherbourg Flights

In Sept 2001 a single adult ticket on the Cherbourg-Caen train cost 104F (10.40GBP) for a trip that took 1 hour and 10 minutes.

For Caen-Bayuex it was 33F (3.30GBP) adult single for a trip that took 15-20 minutes.

Then for Bayeux-Cherbourg we paid 85F (8.50GBP) each for a journey that took 50 minutes.

Two people travelling together get a 25% discount on return journeys, but you have to specify the trains you plan to travel on, which is limiting if you're not sure how long you intend to spend in a place. The stations had automatic ticketing machines which offer bookings in different languages if you're paying by card.

Cherbourg is easily reached by ferries from the United Kingdom, departing from such ports as Poole, Portsmouth and Southampton. There is an airport here, and I imagine that it is served by flights from at least some of the UK airports

Ferries travel from both the UK and Ireland to Cherbourg.

Several centres are served by fast trains from Paris and the town even has its own airport!

To get to and from Cherbourg's ferry terminal, a bus supposedly connects the ferry terminal with the Gare SNCF, but it didn’t wait for those of us disembarking. A taxi between the train station and ferry terminal cost 55F (5.50GBP) in Sept 2001, which I thought was a bit dear.

Ask the other foot passengers disembarking with you about sharing a taxi into town as there are minivans that can hold a lot of people and luggage. Otherwise it's a 20-minute walk along a busy highway to the quayside.

If you catch a bus, hold on tight!!!

Being a key port on the Channel, it's no surprise to find that the there are plenty of opportunities of getting to and from the town by ferry. From Cherbourg you can get ferries across to England, with departures for Poole and Portsmouth, but also longer journeys to Cork in Ireland. From Portsmouth there are three kinds of ferries available. On the more traditional ferry, there is the five hour day journey, and eight hour night journey. Or you can take the Portsmouth Express, which gets you to Cherbourg in just under three hours. From Poole there are two options the standard ferry, which takes just over four hours, and the Fastcraft, which takes just over two hours. The Poole trip tends to be more expensive than Portsmouth.

Check the link below for more details on times and ticket prices.

Cherbourg is at the end of one of the many rail axes that spread out from Paris, which means you can reach the capital direct in less than three hours. Another option, if coming from the UK, is Eurostar, which often has deals to this part of France for as little as 60 pounds return, which can make it a cheaper option than the ferry or plane, especially if you live in London. For more information on booking French trains see SNCF, and for England see the Eurostar site.

Rather than taking the ferry, it might be more convenient to take a bus, especially if you are coming from somewhere other than Poole or Portsmouth. Buses will include the ferry journey in the price, which can make life easier than booking tickets to the port and then the ferry separately. Unfortunately they don't tend to run very often. The best place to look for tickets is the French or British sites on Eurolines.