VAN-COMPARATOR Guide
Taking a Ferry with a Motorhome: Booking, Gas, Boarding — the Complete How-To
Dimensions to declare, gas bottles, boarding, night crossings, pets and seasickness: everything to know before driving your campervan onto a ferry.
Corsica, Sardinia, Sicily, Greece, Ireland, Scandinavia: sooner or later a European road trip meets a ferry. With a motorhome the crossing takes a little more preparation than with a car — but nothing complicated once you know the rules of the game. Here they are, in chronological order.
Booking: dimensions set the price
The fare depends on the vehicle’s real length and height: measure with bike rack, rear boxes and aerials included, and declare accurately. An excess spotted at boarding is charged at the full rate, and some companies can refuse an under-declared vehicle if the deck is full. With a rental, get the exact dimensions from the contract before booking the crossing — and book early for summer: high-vehicle slots are limited.
Gas on board
Near-universal rule: bottle valve closed for the crossing, fridge switched off (run it on 12V at the quay and latch it shut). Most companies cap the number of bottles carried and require them to be secured — exact rules vary by operator, so check the conditions when you book. Our guide to gas bottles abroad covers the arrival side.
Boarding, crossing, sleeping
Arrive at the port with the requested margin (often 1 to 2 hours), follow the high-vehicle lane and let the loaders work: they park to the centimetre. Once parked — handbrake on, first or reverse gear engaged — take everything you need: the garage deck is off-limits during the crossing. Overnight, a cabin earns its price; some seasonal lines, notably between Italy and Greece, offer “camping on board”, letting you stay in your vehicle on an open deck — check case by case. Pets travel in onboard kennels, dedicated pet cabins or stay in the vehicle depending on the company: that, too, must be booked.
Seasickness, in numbers
A taboo subject yet massively shared: the survey by Anthony Lawther and Michael Griffin published in 1988 in Aviation, Space, and Environmental Medicine, covering more than 20,000 ferry passengers across 114 crossings, measured that 7% of passengers vomit at sea and one in five feels unwell (Google Scholar page). The practical counter-measures — position on board, horizon, medication — are in our motion sickness guide.
Our destination guides
The line-by-line detail already exists for the big islands: Corsica, Sardinia via Olbia and Sicily each have their full how-to, with companies and ports compared.
Free checklist: your first campervan trip
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