Brittany Ferries · Pont-Aven
Ferry from Plymouth to Santander
The shortest crossing to Spain: around 20 hours 30 minutes on the Pont-Aven, with a single night at sea rather than two. We sailed it in August, five of us in a Commodore Suite, and we would book it again.
Plymouth to Santander ferry timetable
Two return sailings a week, running from late March to early November. This route pauses over winter, unlike Portsmouth to Santander, which runs all year.
| Direction | Departs | Arrives | Ship |
|---|---|---|---|
| Plymouth → Santander | Wednesday 15:45 | Thursday 13:00 | Pont-Aven |
| Plymouth → Santander | Sunday 16:45 | Monday 15:15 | Pont-Aven |
| Santander → Plymouth | Monday 18:15 | Tuesday 15:00 | Pont-Aven |
| Santander → Plymouth | Thursday 16:00 | Friday 11:15 | Pont-Aven |
Times are local at each port, from the Brittany Ferries schedule for April to November 2026. Individual dates move, so confirm your exact sailing when you book. All northbound departures from Spain are on our Spain to the UK page, and live times for every route are on the 2026 timetable.
The clock reads an hour longer than the crossing takes
Leave Plymouth at 15:45 and arrive Santander at 13:00, and the clock says 21 hours 15 minutes. Spain runs an hour ahead, so the real time at sea is around 20 hours 15 minutes. The Sunday sailing is about an hour longer than the Wednesday one, which is worth knowing if you are choosing between them.
What the crossing costs
Your total is built from three things: the passengers, the vehicle if you bring one, and the cabin or reserved seat. The third is compulsory, because the crossing is overnight.
The advantage of this route is that it is one night, not two. On the Portsmouth crossings you pay for cabin accommodation twice. Same cabin grade here, roughly half the accommodation cost, which often closes the gap even when the headline fare looks higher.
What pushes the price up
- School holidays and peak summer sailings
- Booking close to departure
- Motorhomes, vans and anything towing
- Sea-view and Commodore grades over inside cabins
- Splitting across two cabins rather than filling one
What brings it down
- Booking as early as the schedule opens, up to 16 months ahead
- Late March, April, October and early November
- Travelling as a foot passenger or by bike
- Inside cabins over outside
- Filling the cabin you book, since they are priced per cabin
Fares move constantly, so check live prices for your own dates rather than working from a published table. Our guide to the cheapest crossing to Spain explains what actually moves the number.
Crossing the Bay of Biscay
Plymouth to Santander is the fastest way to get a car into Spain by sea, and the reason is the ship rather than the distance. The Pont-Aven cruises at 22 knots; the three newer E-Flexer vessels on the Portsmouth and Rosslare routes are slower. That single difference is worth twelve hours.
If you are prone to seasickness, book a cabin with a window and take something before you feel unwell rather than after. It never stopped us enjoying the ship, and the payoff was waking up to open sea and, eventually, the Spanish coast.
Sea conditions for your sailing
Biscay has a reputation and earns it in winter, though our August crossing was calm. Check the forecast the day before you sail, and remember that conditions halfway across often differ from the weather at either port.
What the crossing was actually like
We drove down to Plymouth on a Wednesday and joined the queue about two hours before departure. Longer than we needed, but that is where the trip started feeling like a trip.
Walk the boarding lanes while you wait
Check-in closes 45 minutes before departure, or 90 minutes with a pet, but the queue builds well before that. Rather than sitting in the driver’s seat, get out and look down the lanes. There were Ferraris and old-timers waiting alongside us. Plenty of people bring serious cars across to Spain on this route, and it is better entertainment than the radio.
Full detail on parking, directions and what the terminal is like is in our Plymouth ferry port guide.
What a Commodore Suite actually gets you
Twin beds, a separate seating area, a private bathroom and a picture window over the sea. Enough room that five of us were not on top of each other for twenty hours.
Book early and the suite barely costs more than a cabin
We booked well ahead and the Commodore Suite came in close to the price of a standard cabin. At that gap it is an easy decision. The private lounge access alone justifies it, and on a crossing where you are awake for most of the daylight hours, the extra space earns its keep. Leave it late and the gap widens sharply, because Commodore is one of the first grades to sell out.
The bed we almost missed
We did not realise a fourth bed folded down from the ceiling until we found it ourselves. Felt like complete novices working that one out, but worth knowing before you are stood there wondering where everyone is meant to sleep.
On board with children
The kids found the arcade and the pool before we had finished unpacking. The Pont-Aven is the only ship sailing to Spain with an indoor pool, which is a genuine reason to pick this route over the Portsmouth ones if you are travelling with a family.
Dinner at Le Flora
Le Flora is the ship’s buffet restaurant, with a broad spread of French and Spanish dishes. Styling and food on the Pont-Aven lean French, which is the deliberate difference from the Spanish-themed E-Flexer ships.
Le Flora is worth it, children and all
We ate there the first night and the food was genuinely good. Our kids nearly took the place apart in the process, apologies to whoever was sitting near us, but the quality more than made up for it.
More on how to fill the hours in our guide to what to do on a ferry to Spain.
Arriving in Santander
Unusually for a ferry port, you dock in the middle of the city. The terminal at Muelle de Mali&antilde;o is ten minutes from the centre and walkable in about twenty, which is the direct contrast with Bilbao, where the terminal sits 13 miles outside town.
Cabins are vacated 30 minutes before arrival, so be on deck for the approach. Then it is Spanish roads immediately: see the Santander port guide for driving out, and things to do in Santander if you are staying a day.
“Was it worth it? Yes, genuinely. For a family, it turns a stressful cross-country dash to catch a flight into part of the trip itself: no airport queues, you bring as much luggage as the car holds, and the kids get a proper adventure before you’ve even reached Spain.”
Ready to book?
Brittany Ferries, Plymouth to Santander, twice weekly from late March to early November.
Book your tickets →Brittany Ferries Plymouth terminal: Millbay Docks, Stonehouse, Plymouth PL1 3EW
