Appledore–Instow Ferry
Foot ferryEngland · Appledore & Instow Ferry
two hours either side of high water
About two hours either side of high waterSailing window
1 April to Saturday 24 October2026 season
£2.00, card onlyAdult single
One page per crossing: the sailings the operator publishes, the fares in force, and how to reach each slipway. Beside every table is the date it was last checked.
A British ferry can be a lifeline vessel holding a Scottish island to the mainland, a chain ferry hauling cars across a harbour on a wire, or a man with a boat who crosses an estuary when the tide allows. They answer to different masters — CalMac under contract to Transport Scotland, an islands council running its own fleet, a Devon estate with a single launch — and none of them publishes in the same way.
That difference decides what each page can say. Lifeline routes publish sailing times a season ahead, because the ferry is the road and the timetable is a public commitment. Tidal foot ferries publish no grid at all: they run either side of high water, and the hours move with the moon. Where that is the case, the page explains the mechanism rather than inventing a timetable that does not exist.
Fares divide along the same line. Scottish island routes follow Road Equivalent Tariff, which prices a crossing as if you had driven the distance; a private estate ferry charges what it charges, in cash, and changes it when it likes. Beside each fare table sits the day it was transcribed, and the operator's own page is one click away.
The pins are slipways and piers, one page each, joined by the crossing they serve. Pick one to see its timetable, what it charges and how to get to either end.
two hours either side of high water
four hours a day, six months of the year
one boat linking three shores of the Colne
four seats in a rowing boat between Butley and Gedgrave
from the Quay down the harbour to Mudeford Sandbank
the launch to Ruskin's lakeside house
ninety minutes up the Dart, on dates set by the tide
ring the bell and the boat comes over to Greenway
cash, a wave and the last October weekends
the hourly winter boat from Falmouth's Prince of Wales Pier
the Bessie James between two old Cornish harbours
four minutes across Portsmouth Harbour, four boats an hour
the pink boat between Hamble-le-Rice and Warsash
a Thames launch from Thames Street to Hurst Park
every Derwentwater landing, both ways round the lake
a river boat timed by the tide, and the season's last sailing is on 8 October
the western Solent crossing, with the car and in 40 minutes
Scillonian III's last summer on the St Mary's run
a twelve-seat boat from Roa Island to the castle
across the mouth of the Fowey every ten to fifteen minutes
the FastCat from the station platform to the end of Ryde Pier
Town Quay to West Cowes in 28 minutes, on foot only
shore to shore across the Solent, and no cars on board
the boat that saves the Walton Bridge detour
Red Funnel's car ferry, hourly until 2 November
the Roseland's coast path hop over the Percuil
Glenridding, Howtown and Pooley Bridge by heritage boat
rowed across the Blyth, cash in hand, by the fifth generation
twelve seats across the North Channel, April to September
a half-hourly government boat across the Narrows of County Down
the boatyard crossing as summer runs out
a smaller relief ship and new times almost every day
Arran's northern door, and the Tarbert question
Bute's back door, thirty-two times a day
ten minutes to the slip, and four miles short of Millport
which days let you go over and come back, summer and winter
forty minutes over the Sound of Barra, five times a day
a mile of Loch Linnhe, six days a week
the short crossing to Orkney that Pentland Ferries built for itself
the hand-turned deck to Skye, in its last October weeks
CalMac's town-centre foot ferry over the Clyde
the longest crossing on Shetland's council network
ten minutes to Unst, twenty-eight times a day
one boat, three island piers, and the order it calls at them
ten minutes from Fionnphort, and the car stays on Mull
every sailing into Port Askaig while Port Ellen is rebuilt
thirteen minutes from Gourock to a Victorian timber pier
Loth pier, a passenger boat until New Year, and the January refit
Orkney's nearest island for a day out
Westray, and the week the timetable turns
South Uist's short crossing, and the weeks it moves to Oban
the southern way onto Skye, and the ship that takes over in winter
direct from Oban some days, by way of Islay on others
CalMac's car deck to Achnacroish
two ships on the Sound, and how to tell which one you are on
four and three quarter hours to Barra
ten minutes to the island's northern tip
25 minutes across Loch Fyne from Tarbert, and a lunchtime gap in winter
Sconser to Raasay on a hybrid boat named after a poem
Tingwall to Rousay, with Egilsay and Wyre on the same small ship
90 minutes past the Old Man of Hoy
Orkney's walkers' boat to Moaness
the North Uist crossing, and what 19 October moves
Skye to Harris in 1 hour 40 minutes, and the days it will not bring you back
out of Loch Broom and across the Minch to Lewis
two sailings a week to Shetland's westernmost isle
from a station ramp to Bute's main town
Laxo, or Vidlin when the wind turns, to Symbister in 30 minutes
the Porth Meudwy boat to Ynys Enlli
the hourly waterbus from Bute Park to Mermaid Quay, winter included
Crossing time and sailings are reproduced as the operator words them, which is why the columns do not always line up: a lifeline route counts one weekday's departures, a chain ferry gives a headway, and a tidal crossing gives neither. An empty cell means that operator publishes no such number, not that we could not find it.
| Crossing | Nation | Service | Crossing time | Sailings | Operator |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Appledore–Instow Ferry | England | Foot ferry | – | – | Appledore & Instow Ferry |
| Bantham–Bigbury Ferry | England | Seasonal service | – | – | Bantham Estate |
| Brightlingsea Foot Ferry | England | Foot ferry | – | – | Brightlingsea Harbour |
| Butley Ferry | England | Foot ferry | – | – | Butley Ferry (Alde & Ore Association) |
| Christchurch Ferry | England | Seasonal service | – | – | Bournemouth Boating Services |
| Coniston to Brantwood Ferry | England | Seasonal service | – | – | Coniston Launch |
| Dartmouth to Totnes Ferry | England | Seasonal service | – | – | Dartmouth Steam Railway & River Boat Company |
| Dittisham Ferry | England | Foot ferry | – | – | Greenway & Dittisham Ferry |
| Felixstowe Ferry to Bawdsey | England | Foot ferry | – | – | Felixstowe Ferry Boat Yard |
| Flushing Ferry | England | Foot ferry | – | – | Flushing Ferry |
| Fowey to Mevagissey Ferry | England | Seasonal service | – | – | Mevagissey Ferries |
| Gosport Ferry | England | Foot ferry | – | – | Gosport Ferry |
| Hamble Ferry | England | Foot ferry | – | – | Hamble-Warsash Ferry |
| Hampton Ferry | England | Foot ferry | – | – | Hampton Ferry Boathouse |
| Keswick Launch Timetable | England | Seasonal service | – | – | Keswick Launch Co. |
| Kingsbridge–Salcombe Ferry | England | Seasonal service | – | – | Kingsbridge Salcombe Ferry |
| Lymington to Yarmouth Ferry | England | Vehicle ferry | – | – | Wightlink |
| Penzance–Scilly Ferry | England | Island service | – | – | Isles of Scilly Travel |
| Piel Island Ferry | England | Foot ferry | – | – | Piel Ferry |
| Polruan Ferry | England | Foot ferry | – | – | Polruan Ferry Company |
| Portsmouth to Ryde Ferry | England | Foot ferry | – | – | Wightlink |
| Red Jet Timetable | England | Foot ferry | – | – | Red Funnel |
| Ryde Hovercraft | England | Foot ferry | – | – | Hovertravel |
| Shepperton–Weybridge Ferry | England | Foot ferry | – | – | The Ferry Point |
| Southampton to East Cowes Ferry | England | Vehicle ferry | – | – | Red Funnel |
| St Mawes to Place Ferry | England | Seasonal service | – | – | St Mawes Harbour (Place Ferry) |
| Ullswater Steamers Timetable | England | Seasonal service | – | – | Ullswater 'Steamers' |
| Walberswick Ferry | England | Foot ferry | – | – | Walberswick Ferry |
| Ballycastle–Campbeltown Ferry | Northern Ireland | Seasonal service | – | – | Kintyre Express |
| Strangford Ferry | Northern Ireland | Vehicle ferry | – | – | Department for Infrastructure |
| Balmaha–Inchcailloch Ferry | Scotland | Seasonal service | – | – | Balmaha Boatyard |
| Berneray to Leverburgh Ferry | Scotland | Vehicle ferry | – | – | CalMac |
| Claonaig–Lochranza Ferry | Scotland | Vehicle ferry | – | – | CalMac |
| Colintraive–Rhubodach Ferry | Scotland | Vehicle ferry | – | – | CalMac |
| Cumbrae Ferry | Scotland | Vehicle ferry | – | – | CalMac |
| Eigg Ferry | Scotland | Island service | – | – | CalMac |
| Eriskay to Barra Ferry | Scotland | Vehicle ferry | – | – | CalMac |
| Fort William–Camusnagaul Ferry | Scotland | Foot ferry | – | – | Highland Ferries |
| Gills Bay Ferry | Scotland | Vehicle ferry | – | – | Pentland Ferries |
| Glenelg Ferry | Scotland | Vehicle ferry | – | – | Skye Ferry CIC |
| Gourock to Dunoon Ferry | Scotland | Foot ferry | – | – | CalMac |
| Grutness–Fair Isle Ferry | Scotland | Island service | – | – | Shetland Islands Council Ferry Services |
| Gutcher–Belmont Ferry | Scotland | Vehicle ferry | – | – | Shetland Islands Council |
| Houton Ferry | Scotland | Vehicle ferry | – | – | Orkney Ferries |
| Iona Ferry | Scotland | Island service | – | – | CalMac |
| Islay Ferry | Scotland | Island service | – | – | CalMac |
| Kilcreggan Ferry | Scotland | Foot ferry | – | – | CalMac |
| Kirkwall to Sanday Ferry | Scotland | Island service | – | – | Orkney Ferries |
| Kirkwall to Shapinsay Ferry | Scotland | Island service | – | – | Orkney Ferries |
| Kirkwall–Rapness Ferry | Scotland | Island service | – | – | Orkney Ferries |
| Mallaig to Lochboisdale Ferry | Scotland | Vehicle ferry | – | – | CalMac |
| Mallaig–Armadale Ferry | Scotland | Vehicle ferry | – | – | CalMac |
| Oban to Colonsay Ferry | Scotland | Island service | – | – | CalMac |
| Oban to Lismore Ferry | Scotland | Vehicle ferry | – | – | CalMac |
| Oban to Mull Ferry | Scotland | Vehicle ferry | – | – | CalMac |
| Oban–Castlebay Ferry | Scotland | Island service | – | – | CalMac |
| Port Appin–Lismore Ferry | Scotland | Foot ferry | – | – | Argyll and Bute Council |
| Portavadie Ferry | Scotland | Vehicle ferry | – | – | CalMac |
| Raasay Ferry | Scotland | Island service | – | – | CalMac |
| Rousay Ferry | Scotland | Island service | – | – | Orkney Ferries |
| Scrabster to Stromness Ferry | Scotland | Vehicle ferry | – | – | NorthLink Ferries |
| Stromness to Graemsay and North Hoy Ferry | Scotland | Foot ferry | – | – | Orkney Ferries |
| Uig–Lochmaddy Ferry | Scotland | Island service | – | – | CalMac |
| Uig–Tarbert Ferry | Scotland | Vehicle ferry | – | – | CalMac |
| Ullapool–Stornoway Ferry | Scotland | Vehicle ferry | – | – | CalMac |
| Walls to Foula Ferry | Scotland | Island service | – | – | BK Marine (for Shetland Islands Council) |
| Wemyss Bay–Rothesay Ferry | Scotland | Vehicle ferry | – | – | CalMac |
| Whalsay Ferry | Scotland | Vehicle ferry | – | – | Shetland Islands Council |
| Bardsey Island Ferry | Wales | Island service | – | – | Bardsey Island Boat Trips (Mordaith Llŷn) |
| Cardiff Aquabus | Wales | Foot ferry | – | – | Aquabus |
It is a route the state pays to keep running because the island has no other year-round link. Transport Scotland contracts most of them, which is why their timetables are published a season ahead and why they sail in weather that would keep a commercial boat alongside. It also means cancellations are announced through the operator rather than left to chance.
Road Equivalent Tariff. On most Scottish island routes the fare is worked out as though you had driven the equivalent distance by road, rather than from what the sailing costs to provide. It is why a long Hebridean crossing can cost less than a short private ferry in the south of England.
Because they depend on the tide. A foot ferry across an estuary can only run when there is water over the sandbank, so the operator publishes the window rather than a grid, and the hours shift by roughly fifty minutes each day. Those pages here set out the mechanism and link to the operator's daily notice.
On the busier island routes in summer, yes — vehicle decks fill weeks ahead and turning up is a gamble. On short crossings, chain ferries and foot ferries, no: you join the queue and board in turn. Where booking is genuinely required rather than merely wise, the page for that crossing says so.
Each table is dated on the day it was transcribed from the operator's own timetable, and the document it came from is archived so the figures can be checked against what was actually published. Crossings are re-researched before their review date falls due. What none of that settles is whether today's sailing runs: wind and swell cancel British ferries at a few hours' notice, and only the operator announces that.