What to Do on a Ferry to Spain: 20 Hours On Board

A crossing to Spain is 20 hours 30 minutes at the shortest and up to 36 at the longest. That is a long time on a ship with no way to get off, and it is either the best part of the trip or the worst, depending almost entirely on whether you arrive with a plan.

We sailed Plymouth to Santander on the Pont-Aven in August 2026 with three children. This is what there actually is to do, with photographs from that crossing.

First: work out how many nights you have

This changes everything about how you plan the time.

Plymouth to Santander: 20h 30m, one night. You board, eat, sleep, and arrive. There is one morning to fill.
Rosslare to Bilbao: 27 to 31 hours.
Portsmouth to Santander: around 33 hours, two nights and a complete day at sea.
Portsmouth to Bilbao: up to 36 hours, two nights and a full day.

On the Portsmouth routes that middle day is the thing to prepare for. On Plymouth you barely need a plan at all.

The pool, if you are on the Pont-Aven

The indoor pool deck aboard the Pont-Aven ferry — *The indoor pool. Our kids reckoned it was on the cold side.*

The Pont-Aven is the only ship sailing to Spain with an indoor pool. The three E-Flexer vessels, the Galicia, Salamanca and Santoña, do not have one. If you are travelling with children and the pool matters, that is a reason to choose the Plymouth route specifically, not just a nice extra.

She also has two cinemas and spa treatment rooms, neither of which the newer ships carry.

The arcade, which your children will find first

The onboard arcade aboard the Pont-Aven ferry — *Located within minutes of boarding, and revisited rather a lot.*

Ours found it before we had unpacked. Bring change, or accept your fate. Every ship on the Spanish routes has a games area of some kind, plus an indoor children’s play area and, on the E-Flexers, interactive digital games.

Whale watching, and why it is worth setting an alarm

This is the most underrated thing on board, and it costs nothing.

The Bay of Biscay holds over a third of the world’s whale and dolphin species. Through the summer months Brittany Ferries carries trained guides from the marine conservation charity ORCA on the Spanish sailings, who set up on deck and help you spot things. Free to join.

A passing ferry seen from the deck in the Bay of Biscay — *Deep water and a long horizon. Biscay is busier than it looks from a map.*

The longer crossings are better for this, simply because you spend more hours over deep water. On Portsmouth to Bilbao, the longest of the four, you have an entire day to try.

Eat properly, it is better than you expect

Food is a genuine part of the experience rather than something to endure, and it differs by ship.

Pont-Aven: styling and dining lean French. Le Flora is the buffet restaurant, with a broad spread of French and Spanish dishes.
Galicia, Salamanca, Santoña: styling and dining lean Spanish. Restaurant Azul is the main restaurant, with a separate Taberna de Tapas.

We ate at Le Flora the first night and the food was genuinely good. Our children nearly took the place apart in the process, with apologies to whoever was sitting near us, but the quality more than made up for it.

On the E-Flexers, try a pintxo in the Taberna rather than defaulting to the main restaurant. It is the part of those ships people tend to remember, and it is open for breakfast as well as dinner.

Be on deck for the right moments

Sunset over the Bay of Biscay from the deck of the Pont-Aven — *Just before our first sleep on the ferry started.*

Two moments are worth planning around: sunset on the first evening, and the coast coming up on the last morning. Cabins are vacated 30 minutes before arrival anyway, so you may as well be outside for the second one.

A child at the railing watching the Spanish coastline come into view — *First sight of land after a night at sea. This is the bit that makes the ferry worth it with children.*

Find a spot and stay in it

A table with a sea view aboard the Pont-Aven — *A table with the sea going past. The single most underrated activity on board.*

The thing nobody lists as an activity, and the one we did most of. Sitting somewhere with a window, a drink and nothing scheduled is the actual appeal of a ferry over a flight. You cannot do this at 35,000 feet.

Duty-free, and the wine shop raffle

Golden ticket raffle promotion in the duty-free wine shop on board — *The onboard wine shop runs a golden ticket raffle.*

Every ship has duty-free. Worth knowing before you fill the trolley on the way home: since April 2025, almost all meat and dairy from EU countries is banned from entering Great Britain, so the jamón and the Manchego are out. Alcohol allowances still apply normally. The detail is on our sailing home page.

Two practical things that catch people out

Sign on board showing the ship operates on British time — *The ship runs on British time the whole way across.*

The ship runs on British time, Spain is an hour ahead. Every published crossing time looks an hour longer than it is, and you lose an hour the moment you dock. Set your expectations for arrival accordingly.
You cannot go back to the car deck. They seal for the whole crossing. Pack a separate bag before you drive on: medication, chargers, a change of clothes, anything for the children, the dog’s paperwork.

Use the time to plan the Spanish end

A long crossing is a rare block of time with nothing else demanding attention, and you are about to drive off into a foreign country. Work out your first two junctions out of the port, book the first night if you have not, and decide whether you are stopping.

If you are docking at Santander, the city is worth a day before you drive on. At Bilbao, remember the terminal is 21 km out at Zierbena, so plan the transfer if you are on foot. Things to do in Bilbao covers the city end.

Full detail on what each ship offers is on our four ships page, and the route comparison shows which one you get on each crossing.