The island is an hour away. The ferry leaves at nine.
Which crossings are worth a whole day ashore, when a return ticket beats two singles, and how early the bikes go on the Rottnest boat. Reviews of ferry trips and ferry day trips, port by port.
Four ferry crossings that carry the whole day.
What each ticket costs, how long you are actually on the water, and what the people who sailed it say.
01The harbour runStatue of Liberty & Ellis Island with FerryOut to Liberty Island and Ellis, the only way to stand under the statue. Take the first sailing; the security tent at the pier is the real queue.
02The twenty-minute hopReturn Ferry Ticket to Lobos Island FuerteventuraFuerteventura across to a volcanic islet with no cars and one kitchen. The return ticket is more or less the whole cost of the day.
03The bike-and-boat dayRottnest Island Full-Day Bike and Ferry TripFremantle over to Rottnest, then a hire bike and no traffic at all. Book both together and ride the west end before the coaches land.
04The Bay of NaplesCapri Guided Tour with Ferry Tickets & MinibusNaples to Capri on the fast boat, with the Faraglioni off the bow on the way in. The evening sailing back fills first.
The American ferry runs worth building a day around.
Liberty Island, Alcatraz, Fort Sumter, Martha’s Vineyard. Four harbours, four boats, and a ticket price that settles most of the argument.
★★★★★★★★★★ 4.6 · Statue of Liberty & Ellis Island with Ferry
San FranciscoAlcatraz, Sausalito and the bridge from underneath.
New York CityLiberty Island and Ellis, plus the free Staten Island run.
BostonSalem on the fast boat, and the day out to Martha’s Vineyard.
Hilton Head IslandDaufuskie and the low-country creeks, reachable only by hull.
All 83 American ferry trips →
Pick a coast and the ferry timetable plans the day for you.
Harbour runs in the States, half-hour island hops off Western Australia, the Canaries shuttle, Naples out to Capri, the Inside Passage north of Vancouver, and the long-tail boats to the Andaman islands.
Some islands have no bridge, and that is the entire appeal.
Lobos, Comino, Fitzroy, La Graciosa, Waiheke. No cars, one road round the edge, and a boat that decides when your day ends whether you like it or not.
The ferry trips more travellers book than any others.
Every ferry review →The crossings that carry the most bookings on the site, and what earns each of them the slot.
1
Statue of Liberty & Ellis Island with Ferry
Review of the $19 Statue of Liberty and Ellis Island ferry tour, with timing tips, museum details, security advice, and honest value notes.
From · $19
Read our review →
2
Muir Woods and Sausalito (Return by Bus or Ferry)
from $91
3
Fort Sumter Admission and Self-Guided Tour with Roundtrip Ferry
from $43
4
Waiheke Island: Ferry & Hop-On Hop-Off Explorer Bus Tickets
from $59
5
Boston to Martha’s Vineyard Day Trip with Optional Island Tour
from $129
6
Return Ferry Ticket to Lobos Island Fuerteventura
from $20
7
Fort Sumter Entry Ticket with Roundtrip Ferry
from $43
8
Victoria & Butchart Gardens Tour with Ferry from Vancouver
from $228
The ferry ticket you buy decides how long you get ashore.
A return is nearly always cheaper than two singles, and it puts your name on a specific boat home. A day-trip ticket adds a guide, a bus or a hire bike at the far end. Read the last sailing time before anything else on the page.
In Australia the ferry is public transport with a view.
Fremantle to Rottnest in half an hour, Circular Quay to Manly for not much more than a bus fare, Cairns out to Fitzroy, and Brisbane across to the sand tracks of Moreton.
Every Australian ferry trip →
What a ferry crossing actually costs.
Every ferry trip on the site, grouped by price. A fair number of the best days on the water cost less than the taxi to the port.
Commuter runs, harbour hops and the short return tickets out to a car-free island.
The full-day standards: Capri and back with a guide, Rottnest with a bike, Tangier and lunch.
Private charters, small-group island days and the long crossings that eat a whole calendar day.
Four ferry bookings that will not wait until you land.
Most crossings you can buy at the kiosk an hour before sailing. These four run on hull capacity, one departure a day or a season that closes, and the last boat back is not a negotiation.
- 01Alcatraz Ticket, Ferry, & Self-Guided AppSailings are capped by the size of the boat and go weeks ahead in summer. There is no walk-up ticket to the island.
- 02Rottnest Island Full-Day Bike and Ferry TripThe hire bikes run out before the seats do. Buy the ferry and the bike on one ticket or you are walking the west end.
- 03Statue of Liberty & Ellis Island with FerryCrown access is a separate quota released months out and it is tiny. The ferry ticket on its own will not get you up there.
- 04Return Day Trip Ferry Ticket to TallinnThis is a working commuter route sold as a day return. Miss the evening sailing and the next one is tomorrow morning.
Three ferry crossings that are the reason for the trip.
Every harbour on earth runs a sightseeing cruise. A lagoon you can only anchor in, a prison island in a cold current, and a car-free island of quokkas are a different proposition.
The Blue Lagoon crossing
Comino has a permanent population you could fit in a minibus, and a channel of water so shallow and so pale that boats appear to hover in it. The ferries run out of Sliema and Marfa and the small ones tie up right in the lagoon; the big ones anchor off and tender you in. Go on the first sailing. By eleven there are forty hulls in the bay and the colour is the only thing left that is worth the ticket.
- 1Sliema/St. Paul’s: Gozo, Comino & Blue Lagoon Ferry Cruise★★★★★★★★★★ 4.1 · 1,137 reviews
- 2Roundtrip Ferry to Comino Blue Lagoon w/Gozo Option★★★★★★★★★★ 4.7 · 539 reviews
- 3Okikoki Banis – Comino Blue Lagoon Speedboat Trip- Fast Ferry★★★★★★★★★★ 5.0 · 78 reviews
The boat to the prison
The crossing from the V&A Waterfront takes half an hour across the Benguela current, which is cold enough that the spray on the outer deck stops being funny quickly. The sailing is the reason the trip gets cancelled: a southeaster in summer shuts the harbour with no notice, and the ticket is for a fixed departure. Take the earliest one on your first free morning and keep the next day spare.
- 1Robben Island Ferry Ticket and Guided Prison Tour★★★★★★★★★★ 4.1 · 1,792 reviews
- 2Robben Island Ferry Tour with 1-Way Hotel Pickup★★★★★★★★★★ 4.2 · 1,380 reviews
- 3Robben Island Ferry Ticket and Townships Tour★★★★★★★★★★ 4.5 · 400 reviews
The car-free island
Rottnest sits eighteen kilometres off Fremantle and allows almost no private vehicles, so the whole island runs on bikes, one bus loop and your legs. Boats leave from Fremantle, Perth city and Hillarys, and the Fremantle run is the short one. The hire bikes are finite and they go before the seats do, which is why the ferry-plus-bike ticket exists at all.
- 1Rottnest Island Full-Day Bike and Ferry Trip★★★★★★★★★★ 4.7 · 2,548 reviews
- 2Rottnest Island Ferry and Bus Tour★★★★★★★★★★ 4.6 · 1,246 reviews
- 3Rottnest Island Ferry and Bike Day Tour★★★★★★★★★★ 4.6 · 805 reviews
Mediterranean ferries: Naples to Capri, Tarifa to Tangier, Ibiza to Formentera.
Short crossings between places that feel a great deal further apart than they are. Most of them are under ninety minutes. One of them changes continents over lunch.
- 1Return Ferry Ticket to Lobos Island Fuerteventurafrom $20
- 2Capri Guided Tour with Ferry Tickets & Minibusfrom $129
- 3Capri and Anacapri Small Group Tour + Ferryfrom $116
By port and island
Fuerteventura to Tangier: a run where the ferry is every leg.
Fuerteventura
Lanzarote
Tarifa
TangierThe newest ferry trip reviews.
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