20 September 2023
By Tom Collins
tom@TheCork.ie

Travel News

There are many ways of travelling to and from the Island of Ireland. Many people will already be familiar with the Stena Line and Irish Ferries from Dublin to Hollyhead, but if you are in the South of Ireland, down in Cork there is now a new option on the table.

Brittany Ferries has announced all-season sailings from Cork to Roscoff, and Rosslare to Cherbourg

In a first for the city of Cork, the Ringaskiddy to Roscoff sailings will operate over the winter months 2023/24. The popular Armorique cruise-ferry will offer sailings to Brittany every weekend during November and December 2023, departing Cork on Saturday afternoons and returning from Roscoff on Fridays overnight. Following a winter refit during the first six weeks of 2024, Armorique will then re-open the Cork/Roscoff earlier than ever before, returning on 9th February 2024.

Then on 22 nd March 2024, Brittany Ferries’ 650-cabin flagship cruise-ferry Pont-Aven will rejoin Armorique on the Cork to Roscoff route, giving a total of two weekly departures in each direction throughout the summer and autumn right up until November 2024.

Brittany Ferries which this year celebrates its 50 th anniversary, first opened the Cork to Roscoff service back in 1978, but up until now it had always been a seasonal service, generally running from mid-March to mid-November.

2024 fares on the Cork to Roscoff service start from €179 each way for a car plus two with reclining seats, or €210 with an en suite cabin.

Year-round sailings from Rosslare to Cherbourg

Brittany Ferries will continue to operate year-round to Normandy from Rosslare, with weekly sailings from Rosslare-Europort to Cherbourg operated by the company’s latest vessels

Salamanca, Galicia and Santoña. Additionally, freight-orientated vessel Cotentin will offer a sailing in both directions every weekend on the Rosslare to Cherbourg route, replacing the service that had previously operated from Rosslare to Le Havre.

2024 fares on the Rosslare to Cherbourg service start from €179 each way for a car plus two with reclining seats, or €230 with an en suite cabin.

Pictured (left/right) Aidan Moloney, Assumpta Cahill, Niamh Crowley, and Ashley Okoro alongside the M.V. Armorique, celebrating the announcement.

Four Seasons of Ferries
(left/right) Aidan Moloney, Assumpta Cahill, Niamh Crowley, and Ashley Okoro pictured alongside the M.V. Armorique, celebrating the announcement.

Four Seasons of Ferries
(left/right) Ashley Okoro, Niamh Crowley, Aidan Moloney, and Assumpta Cahill, pictured alongside the M.V. Armorique, celebrating the announcement.

Hugh Bruton, Brittany Ferries’ general manager for Ireland said: “We’re delighted to make our 2024 sailings from Ireland to France available, with more choice than we’ve ever offered before, allowing our customers to put their French holiday plans in place for this winter, next spring, summer, and beyond. And by booking now, they’ll also enjoy the very best choice of sailings, fares and cabins.

Mr Bruton added, “Last year we doubled our sailing frequency from Cork to Roscoff with the arrival of cruise- ferry Armorique on the route. These sailings have proven immensely popular with Irish holidaymakers, so much so that they’re back for 2024, and for the first time in our 50-year history, we’ll keep the Cork to Roscoff link running this winter with sailings in November and December 2023, and in February and March 2024.”

Altogether in 2024 Brittany Ferries will offer up to eight sailings a week between Ireland and France, as well as four linking Ireland and Spain.

The new Ireland-France timetables are available now at www.brittanyferries.ie and customers can book either online or over the phone with Brittany Ferries’ Cork-based contact centre on 021 427 7801.