Flight-free from the UK to Europe
Foot passenger ferries to Europe
UK to Ireland
Map of UK Ferry Routes to Europe
Scotland to Europe
North of England
to Europe
Wales to Europe
Southwest England to Europe
UK to France
UK to Spain
UK to Italy
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Train travel to Europe
Map of Eurostar Routes
Under 5 hours by train from London:
Amsterdam
Brussels
Cologne
Ghent
Lille
Paris
Utrecht
Arrive same day by train from London:
Antwerp
Avignon
Barcelona
Basel
Bayonne
Bordeaux
Brive
Geneva
Hamburg
Interlaken
Lausanne
Marseille
Milan
Munich
Nantes
Nice
Toulouse
Turin
Valence
Zürich
Snow Trains to
French Alps
Require overnight stopover from London:
Copenhagen
Florence
Gothenburg
Lisbon
Naples
Rome
Sicily
Venice
Train + Ferry:
Corsica
Ibiza
Formentera
How to travel from the UK to Italy without flying
7 minute read | Author: Richard Hammond
There are several ways to travel to Italy from the UK without flying thanks to Eurostar's service from London connecting with a variety of high-speed train services from either Paris or Lille to northern Italy. The good news is that you can reach cities such as Turin and Milan as well as lakes Como and Garda in the north of Italy within a day from London. The following morning you can then whizz down by train to further destinations in Italy, including Rome, Florence and Naples, to the Amalfi Coast, and across by ferry to the islands of Sardinia and Sicily.
There is also a slower route to Italy by ferry from Harwich in the East of England to Rotterdam in The Netherlands and then onward by train to Italy, or alternatively, if you live in the North of England or Scotland, you could take the ferry from Newcastle or Hull to The Netherlands an then onward by train to Italy.
Below is a step-by-step guide to the main ways to travel overland to Italy. I have tried to summarise all the available options based on my experience.
It's a lovely journey by train to Italy. Photos: Eurostar and Wix Media
Ferries from the North and East of England to The Netherlands
Ferry from Newcastle to Amsterdam
The ferry port closest to the Scottish border that connects with Europe is Newcastle, from which DFDS takes foot passengers on its 17.00 overnight sailings to Amsterdam.
Journey time: 15.5 hours (overnight)
Timings*: Departs Newcastle 17:00, arrives Amsterdam 9.45am.
Facilities on board the ferry: bars, restaurants, casino, cinema and kids club
Sleeper Cabins: take from 2-5 people, and, unlike most ferry operators that insist dogs are kept in cars or kennels, there are cabins suitable for up to two dogs to travel alongside their owners.
Luggage: There’s no limit on luggage. Foot passengers can travel with a bicycle for a charge of £5 each way, and those without wheels can hop onto a coach on arrival at the port of Ijmuiden to travel the 25 miles into central Amsterdam. Other info: DFDS offers a ‘mini cruise’ option, which includes breaks in Amsterdam from five hours to two nights and include coach transfers at either end. From Amsterdam it’s easy to connect by rail to cities and regions across the Netherlands, as well as onto France, Belgium, Luxembourg, Germany, Italy, Switzerland and beyond.
Ferry from Hull to Rotterdam
Scottish travellers willing to travel further south still along the east coast can travel with P&O Ferries overnight between Hull and Rotterdam in the Netherlands.
Journey time: 12 hours (overnight). On arrival at Hull station by train, there’s a bus that goes to the port from the adjoining interchange station. Number 70 operates from Paragon Interchange to the ferry terminal at 5pm and takes 15 minutes, but for more flexibility, a taxi is a good bet.
Timings*: Hull to Rotterdam departs 20:30 and arrives Rotterdam at 8:15 (9:00 at weekends)
Facilities: Restaurants, bars, cinemas, a casino and kids play area.
Sleeper Cabins: options range from a standard cabin, with a toilet and shower room, to a sea view cabin or a club cabin with extra space and a television - sleeping between two and five people per cabin
Luggage: There’s no limit on luggage, and you can travel with a pet and a bicycle. Pets are charged at £22 each way and must travel in a kennel. Bicycles are carried free of charge but only one is allowed per foot passenger booking, so a group travelling with multiple bikes need to make a separate booking per bike.
You can book the ferry solely as transport, but for some, it’s the holiday in itself - a mini cruise out of Hull with P&O offers two nights on a ferry to and from Rotterdam with a day trip (which can be extended to an extra night) to explore the city between sailings. Themed mini breaks take this up a notch with entertainment such as live music or darts competitions onboard. Many passengers use Rotterdam as a gateway to Brussels, Antwerp or Paris but from either point, it is straight-forward to connect by rail to other destinations in the Netherlands and Belgium as well as Germany, Luxembourg and France.
Ferry from Harwich to Hook of Holland
The shortest ferry route across the North Sea from the UK is from Harwich in Essex with Stena Line to The Hook of Holland (known as ‘Hoek van Holland’). You can choose to go across the North Sea either during the day or overnight.
Journey time: it is a 7-8 hour crossing (day time or overnight)
Trains stop at Harwich International Station, which is next to the ferry port.
Timings*: departs Harwich at 9am, arrives Hook of Holland at 17.15; overnight service departs Harwich at 23:00, arrives Hook of Holland at 08:00. Facilities: restaurants and bars, a cinema and shops.
Sleeper Cabins: on the overnight ferry you can choose from a range of cabins, from a single inside cabin with television and ensuite bathroom to cabins for two, three, four of five people, including the Comfort Class cabins with sea view and complimentary minibar.
Luggage: There’s no limit on luggage. Foot passengers with bicycles pay an extra fee of £5 for adults and £2.50 for children and it costs £20 to bring your dog, which must travel in a kennel.
The slow relaxing route to Europe, by overnight ferry from Harwich, Hull or Newcastle to The Netherlands. Photos of interiors DFDS, ferry: Stenaline.
How to travel by public transport to the ferry ports
Newcastle Port | By train: Train to Newcastle Central Station from where there’s a shuttle bus (it departs from Bewick Street opposite the railway station) that takes 20–30 minutes to the port terminal that is timed to coincide with ferry departures.
By bus/coach: Coach to Newcastle coach station from where it’s a 5-minute walk to where the shuttle bus departs on Bewick Street opposite the railway station (as above). |
Hull Port | By train or coach: Take either the train or coach to the Hull Paragon Interchange (home to the coach and railway station) from where there’s shuttle bus, which takes about 10-15 minutes to reach the ferry terminal building. Alternatively, there’s a taxi rank outside Hull Paragon Interchange for the 4-mile journey to the ferry terminal. |
Harwich Port | By train: Harwich International railway station is immediately adjacent to the port, so it is a quick transfer from the train platform to the ferry check-in, and on the other side, it’s the same quick transfer off the ferry to the Hook of Holland railway station, which has train services to Rotterdam, Amsterdam and beyond. Stena Line sells a Rail and Sail ticket to Holland, known as the Dutchflyer, which is a combined train and ferry ticket from London Liverpool Street (or any National Express East Anglia station, such as Cambridge, Colchester, Ipswich and Norwich) to Harwich International port, from where you can catch either the morning or overnight Stena Line ferry service to the Hook of Holland, and take any onward train to any station in Holland. |
*Ferry sailing times and journey times can change so do check with the operator for the latest times before you book.
By Coach from the UK to Italy
Travelling by coach is usually the cheapest way to travel from the UK to Italy.
The ever expanding Flixbus coach operator, which now incorporates the Eurolines and Isilines bus companies, runs coach services to Europe from many cities, including Edinburgh, Glasgow, Liverpool, Manchester, Leeds, Bristol, Cardiff and Swansea. The coaches travel to London via London Victoria Coach Station and then across the Channel, either via LeShuttle (Eurotunnel) or on the ferries that cross from Dover to Calais, and then on to dozens of cities, including Paris, Lille, Amsterdam, Rotterdam, The Hague, Utrecht, Brussels, Antwerp and Bruges.
From London you can reach cities such as Frankfurt in 13.5 hours, Prague in 24 hours and Vienna in 26 hours. You can even travel as far as Bucharest, a 44-hour journey across six countries.
Luggage: You can take a hand luggage bag and medium-sized bag for the hold weighing no more than 20kg. Bikes can be taken on the bike rack from €9 per journey.
Facilities: Coaches are air conditioned and have free wifi, charging sockets, toilets, and on some journeys food and drink is sold onboard in addition to the refreshment stops. You can also pack your own food and drink for the journey and stops are made at service stations to stock up on supplies.
National Express also runs an intercity coach service from cities across the UK that also go via London Victoria where you can change to its international coach services which go to many European cities.
The cost varies depending on the route, time of year and so on, so check on the coach operator’s website for the latest fares.
By train from the UK to Italy
It is possible to travel by train to Italy in a day from the UK. The fastest route is to take the Eurostar from London St Pancras International Railway Station then change in Paris to catch one of the many high speed TGV trains to Turin and Milan in northern Italy. For instance, you could catch the 10.22am Eurostar and reach Turin at 9.18pm and Milan at 10.07pm.
Alternatively, you could also take any Eurostar to Paris and stay overnight in the French capital and then catch one of the high-speed TGV trains to Italy the following day.
There are several routes you can take:
Via Paris - either from Paris Gare de Lyon to Italy or from Paris Gare de l'Est to Switzerland then on to Italy
Via Lille (for those that prefer not to change trains in Paris) from where you take the train down to Lyon to catch the high-speed trains to Turin and Milan.
See the step-by-step instructions for travelling on these journeys, e.g.
Important: The Paris–Milan line has been blocked due to a landslide in the French Alps but it idue to re-open on 1 April 2025. In the meantime, an alternative route is to go from Paris via Switzerland (changing at Geneva, Lauranne, Basel or Zurich) to Milan. If you leave on one of the early Eurostar departures from London St Pancras you can get to Milan the same day.
Onwards by train through Italy from Turin and Milan
There are onward trains from Turin and Milan to destinations throughout Italy. It's just a short onward journey to both Lake Como (Como San Giovanni) and Lake Garda (there are two stations on Lake Garda (it's a big lake!): Desenzano del Garda-Sirmione and Peschiera del Garda). In fact, both lakes can reached in the same day from London – just take the onward train from Turin or Milan – Lake Como is just 50 minutes from Milan and Lake Garda is about an hour and half from Milan.
Tickets provided by Trainline, which allows you to buy tickets for multiple train operators in multiple European countries. It does charge a small booking fee, but offers several useful facilities, such as a free email alert service to let you know as soon as bookings open for your chosen route so you can snap up the cheapest tickets when they become available.
How to book train tickets as part of a package with accommodation
If you want someone to book the whole journey for you or combine it with staying in hotels en route, get in touch with the travel agent Byway through its page for booking enquiries.
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Please note: The information on this page aims to give you a reasonable idea of train and ferry routes, times and tickets, in order that hopefully there’s enough detail to know what's available, how to plan an overland journey and where to book tickets. The information was up to date at time of publication, but services do change from time to time and we cannot take responsibility for any errors or inaccuracies we provide. Always confirm details when you book with the relevant travel operator. If you are aware of any inaccuracies, we'd really appreciate being informed via our contact page so we can make the relevant changes to the information provided for the benefit of other travellers.
Bon Voyage!