UK to Norway is most desired missing ferry link

Re-establishing a ferry link between the UK and Norway is something regular ferrygoers most want to see happen in the near future, a survey suggests.

For those who want to take a motorhome or campervan to Europe, there will be the important choice of whether to take the ferry or Eurotunnel.

Ferry comparison website FerryGoGo surveyed nearly 200 people looking at booking a ferry crossing for its UK Ferry Travel Survey 2026 last month, and the link between the UK and Norway was most frequently cited – by a wide margin – of all the missing ferry routes passengers wanted to see.

Overall, some 56.9% of respondents wanted to see the link re-established, compared with just 10.2% going for re-establishing a link between the UK and Sweden, the next most popular option.

While there are various ferry routes crossing the Channel, the survey also suggested that it is the absence of useful routes, and not necessarily price, which is putting passengers off using ferries more frequently.

The last ferry service between the UK and Norway, operating between Newcastle and Bergen (pictured above), ceased running in 2008. The last link to Scandinavia, between Harwich and the Danish port of Esbjerg, ended in 2014.

But earlier this year, Newcastle City Council said it would explore ways of reopening a ferry link to Bergen, although as recently as 2022, a similar attempt by Norwegian company Bergen Cruise Line came to nothing.

A link back to Norway, however, proved much more popular than a link between Scotland and mainland Europe, which the Scottish government is currently exploring. That was cited as desirable by only 7.6% of the respondents.

Overall, some 74.1% of respondents said a lack of direct routes was the main barrier to them taking more ferry crossings, compared with only 27.4% who mentioned price as a factor.

A ferry crossing was also seen as the most comfortable option, while night ferry crossings were often cited as a way of cutting down on accommodation costs.

In other recent news, a popular overnight stopover for ‘van owners looking to catch a ferry to France or Spain has added an overnight parking charge. Since the change, which was introduced last month, motorhomers and campervanners who stay overnight to catch an early morning ferry will face a £10 parking charge.

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PeterBaber

Peter Baber is Reviews Editor of Practical Motorhome. He has been reviewing motorhomes for over a decade now. Before that he had a 20-year career in business journalism which saw him edit a wide variety of magazines, and launch a few too, including one that won an award. Although he enjoyed that, he always knew he wanted to write about one of his biggest passions, a passion that he first picked up when his parents took him half way around Australia in a VW campervan when he was eight. Peter reports on all the new models that make it to dealer forecourts each season, giving his judgement online and in magazine reviews. He also writes many travel articles for the magazine, having taken motorhomes twice to France and all over the UK in the past three years. When he is not doing that, he likes to throw the odd pot or two (he is part of a pottery studio near where he lives and has just started selling his wares), bake the odd cake, or get on with finishing his novel.