{"id":437259,"date":"2026-05-07T17:14:13","date_gmt":"2026-05-07T17:14:13","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/437259\/"},"modified":"2026-05-07T17:14:13","modified_gmt":"2026-05-07T17:14:13","slug":"hop-on-the-bus-in-cork-and-get-off-in-france-with-new-year-round-ferry-route","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/437259\/","title":{"rendered":"Hop on the bus in Cork and get off in France with new year-round ferry route"},"content":{"rendered":"

Everyone loves a good trip abroad, but while it’s plenty of fun once you’ve touched down, travel<\/a> can often be the most stressful part of any holiday.<\/p>\n

For those looking to avoid those early mornings at the airport<\/a>, the hassle of long security lines and the mad dash to the departure gates, a new ferry service makes it possible to hop on a bus in the city and arrive on the continent in less than 24 hours.<\/p>\n

A new year-round ferry service for both cars and foot passengers (bikes and dogs welcome too) launched in Cork today, just in time for the summer holiday season. It means that for your holidays this year, you can hop on the 223X bus on South Mall to Ringaskiddy, walk onto the ferry and get off in Boulogne-sur-Mer.<\/p>\n

There was an air of excitement in Ringaskiddy this morning as ferry giant Hibernia Line marked the launch of the new Cork<\/a>-France route, with the first service set to depart within weeks. It will directly connect the Port of Cork with Boulogne-sur-Mer, a city in northern France that’s only a few hours’ travel from popular destinations like Paris, Amsterdam and Brussels.<\/p>\n

The new year-round service will operate six times per week and takes about 21 hours from dock to dock.<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

Hibernia Line CEO Aidan Coffey, Captain Paul Roche, and Monica Mac Laverty, Tourism Ireland.(Image: Daragh Mc Sweeney\/Provision)<\/p>\n

In a time when the airline industry is facing uncertainty due to soaring jet fuel costs,<\/a> it’s a great alternative for those who want to travel to the continent without worrying about luggage allowances, cancelled flights, or hiring a car abroad.<\/p>\n

While those looking to head away on a city break might get more bang for their buck with air travel, the ferry service is great for longer trips through the countryside or to places less accessible by public transport – particularly when excess costs like luggage and car hire are taken into account.<\/p>\n

In terms of price, a return trip with a car costs around \u20ac485 and, which can vary depending on the size of the vehicle. Foot passengers are \u20ac60 each way; however, all trips need to be booked at least a few days in advance.<\/p>\n

The vessels are designed for comfort on longer crossings, with private cabins, pet-friendly and accessible options, dining and refreshment areas, lounges, a children\u2019s play area and entertainment facilities.<\/p>\n

It’s a major boost for jobs here, too. Around 100 crew members are needed to operate each ship; a further 35 land-based roles will be created here in Cork, and another 15 will be based in France. Some of these new employees will be cadets from the National Maritime College of Ireland, based in Ringaskiddy, and in total, the new route is creating 250 jobs across both countries.<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

The new service was launched at the Port of Cork this morning(Image: Daragh Mc Sweeney\/Provision)<\/p>\n

The Cork-headquartered company expects around 250,000 passengers in the first year of operation, and the ferry will cater to both tourists and the freight industry. Each ship is capable of carrying large cargo loads across the Celtic Sea, so the new service is expected to both strengthen Cork’s economy and boost tourism numbers. In total, more than \u20ac20 million has been invested in establishing the new route.<\/p>\n

Speaking at the launch event this morning, Hiberna CEO Aidan Coffey told CorkBeo: \u201cIt\u2019s a fantastic morning here at the Port of Cork. We\u2019ve been working hard for three years trying to make this happen, and it\u2019s great to make the public announcement and get our website live.<\/p>\n

“We estimate that in the year we\u2019ll handle around 250,000 passengers and 70,000 trucks. Ferry travel is on the rise, and we want to promote more of it. We don\u2019t have any luggage constraints, we don\u2019t have any concerns about hiring a car when you do go abroad – to bring your car with you and travel with it makes a lot of sense.<\/p>\n

\u201cThere are a lot of Irish people who want to go to Europe, but there\u2019s a huge amount of Europeans who want to visit Ireland, particularly the Dutch and the Germans, who are great for bringing their campervans. We\u2019re a little low on accommodation in Ireland, and it suits people to bring their own campervans or caravans – but we\u2019re open to all sorts of passengers.\u201d<\/p>\n

When questioned on whether the launch of the new ferry service occurred at a difficult time, considering the current fuel crisis, Mr Coffey had a rather optimistic outlook. He said: \u201cNo, as a matter of fact, I think it\u2019s better, another shipping company recently announced that because of the situation some of the airlines are experiencing, their numbers are up by around 40%.<\/p>\n

\u201cI wouldn\u2019t think it\u2019s a bad time at all. It\u2019s a double-edged sword; the fuel price goes up, but we have to manage that, and we have a surety of bunker supplies. We\u2019re not the same as airline fuel or home heating oil; we operate on a different kind of fuel altogether, and we\u2019re assured there are absolutely no problems with supply.\u201d<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

Hibernia Line CEO Aidan Coffey and Captain Paul Roche sharing a laugh at the Port of Cork this morning<\/p>\n

The service is particularly handy for those who can’t bear the thought of leaving their pets behind when they head abroad, as the ferry has a range of pet-friendly options for those looking to travel with their furry friends. The \u2018St Patrick\u2019 holds 193 cabins and the \u2018MV Akka\u2019 has 227, with capacity for over 600 passengers per sailing.<\/p>\n

This new route is built around evening departures. Passengers can board in Cork at 9 pm, settle into a cabin and arrive in France the following evening. In the opposite direction, sailings depart Boulogne-sur-Mer at 10 pm CET and arrive in Cork the next day.<\/p>\n

H.E. C\u00e9line Place, Ambassador of France to Ireland, said, \u201cI am delighted to see the opening of the new year-round ferry service linking Ringaskiddy with Boulogne-sur-Mer. It is now one of many ferry services between Ireland and France, so travelling to your closest neighbour in the EU is only getting easier!<\/p>\n

\u201cNew maritime connections such as this one have added significantly to the vibrancy of the Franco-Irish relations in recent years. Congratulations to everyone at Hibernia Line for making this happen.\u201d<\/p>\n

Passenger bookings can be made now on the Hibernia Line website<\/a>, and freight passenger bookings will open in the coming weeks. The first service is scheduled to depart in mid-June.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Everyone loves a good trip abroad, but while it’s plenty of fun once you’ve touched down, travel can…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":437260,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[61,60,43,2521],"class_list":["post-437259","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-ireland","tag-ie","tag-ireland","tag-news","tag-travel"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/437259","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=437259"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/437259\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/437260"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=437259"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=437259"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=437259"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}