Transatlantic

The route across the North Atlantic is one of the busiest shipping lanes in the world and there are a large number of passenger services available. Most routes will connect a Northern European port, such as Felixstowe (England), Antwerp (Begium), Hamburg (Germany), Bremerhaven (Germany), Rotterdam (Netherlands), or Le Havre (France) with ports on the East Coast USA, such as Boston, New York, Philadelphia, Baltimore, Norfolk, Charleston, Savannah and Miami. A smaller number of services will connect Europe with the Gulf Coast ports such as New Orleans, Houston, Mobile and also ports in Mexico such as Veracruz and Altamira.

There is also a service connecting Great Lakes ports such as Cleveland (Ohio) and Burns Harbor (Indiana) with ports in Europe or North Africa. This is a "tramp" service, so you need to be very flexible regarding your final destination.

Some transatlantic services will connect USA ports with ports in Southern Europe such as Lisbon (Portugal), or if you want a longer trip, ports in the Mediterranean such as Barcelona (Spain), Valencia (Spain), Fos sur Mer (France), La Spezia (Italy), Genoa (Italy), Rome (Italy), Naples (Italy), Athens (Greece), Limassol (Cyprus), Haifa (Israel), Alexandria (Egypt)

Voyage Durations

A short transatlantic voyage, say between Le Havre (France) and Boston/New York would be about 8-10 days. Europe down to Miami would be about 14-18 days. Europe to the Gulf ports or Mexico would be about 18-24 days. Europe to the Great Lakes ports would be about 12-20 days. From the USA to the Mediterranean ports would usually be about 18-24 days depending on how far into the Mediterranean you wish to go of course.

Approximate Fares

For a guide to fares, please see our "costs" page.