Stena Line: Harwich – Hoek van Holland Ferry Guide & Review

Stena Line runs a twice daily ferry service both ways between Harwich and Hoek van Holland (Hook of Holland).

With a journey time of around 7 hours and prices from £57/€66 one-way, it is a lovely way to travel between the UK and the Netherlands. You can book the Harwich-Hook of Holland ferry here

We’ve made this ferry trip ourselves around 20 times so here is our detailed guide on the Hoek van Holland-Harwich journey.

Stena Line Harwich-Hoek van Holland Timetable (2026)

This is the current timetable which shows the day and night ferry services each way:

*likely to arrive in port earlier.
Europe is 1 hour ahead of UK time

Stena Line Route Map: Harwich-Hoek van Holland

Here is a map showing the North Sea route between Harwich and Hoek van Holland.

Harwich International port is in the county of Essex and lies on the south bank of the river Stour. On the opposite flank is the port of Felixstowe in Suffolk county, the largest container port in the UK.

Hoek van Holland (Hook of Holland) lies on the south-western corner of Zuid Holland province on the Nieuwe Waterweg shipping canal. The Port of Rotterdam, Europe’s largest port lies on the southern side of the canal.

The straight-line distance between Harwich and Hoek van Holland ferry terminals is 197km (122 miles) – calculated with Google Maps.

According to a signpost at Hoek van Holland beach the distance to Harwich is 194km.

During the sailing, live GPS position of the ship is available through one of the TV channels.

Stena Line Ships on Harwich-Hoek route

The sister ships Stena Britannica and Stena Hollandica ply the route over the North Sea. The ships are very comfortable akin to a small floating hotel.

Let’s look at some stats and numbers for the Stena Hollandica and Stena Britannica ships:

• the ships are 240m long with a beam width of 32m
• the ships were built in 2010 in Wismar, Germany
• there are 538 cabins with a total of 1,376 beds
• they have capacity for 1,200 passengers
• they can transport 230 cars and 300 freight vehicles
• each ship has 12 decks
• they can sail at 22 knots (41 km/h)

Stena Britannica/Hollandica ship facilities

The 2 ships underwent a significant refurbishment in 2024. This significantly improved and increased the seating capacity at the main passenger area on level 9.

Facilities includes the Taste self-service restaurant, the Riva bar, the Social Cafe & Bar, a duty-free shop, a guest services desk and a Family Hub area with kids corner.

The paid Stena Plus Lounge has been moved to replace the previous a la carte restaurant. It is a quiet sitting area with complimentary snacks, non-alcoholic drinks and house wine, newspapers and WiFi – available to paying passengers aged 8 and above. Entrance costs from £25 or €29.

At the back of the ship you can head out on deck for some sea air although a lot of smokers seem to congregate here.

Stena Britannica/Hollandica Cabins

The on-board cabins are well appointed with decent beds, compact toilet/shower, tea/coffee making facilities and TV (English and Dutch channels). All the cabins are located on floors 10 and 11.

You can choose inside cabins or outside cabins with windows. There a various cabin configurations including single, 2-berth and family (3-berth, 4-berth and 5-berth).

Higher level cabins – Comfort Class, Captain’s Class and the Captain’s Suite – include a free minibar.

The spacious Captain’s Suite at the front corner of the ship is an excellent choice. It is a combined bedroom-living room area with double bed, toilet/shower, sofa/seats, 3 large porthole windows, free minibar and 2 TVs.

Stena Line: Harwich-Hoek van Holland Fares

Fares are priced in pounds or euros depending on whether you book from UK or the Netherlands.

• Car + driver starts from £94/€107 one-way with each additional passenger priced from £32/€37.
• Foot passengers fares start from £57/€66 one-way.

Fares are split into economy (non-refundable), flexi (refundable) and premium (refundable with lounge access).

Note, on overnight sailings you are obliged to pay extra for a cabin. Prices of the cabins vary between £51-£214/€57-€251 – depending on cabin type and fare level. Cabin prices are half-price on day sailings.

You can book the Harwich-Hook of Holland ferry here

Stena Line Rail & Sail – Dutch Flyer Service

The Rail & Sail ticket is a combination ticket which includes the Stena Line ferry and travel on Greater Anglia (GA) train services between Harwich International and London Liverpool Street.

Note that on the Dutch side, NS (Dutch Railways) has suspended its pre-booked Rail&Sail tickets for rail travel in the Netherlands until further notice. You can still book separate Dutch metro and rail tickets instead.

Trains on the UK side

Greater Anglia is a nationalised rail company which runs trains from London to various destinations including Harwich, Ipswich, Chelmsford, Colchester, Norwich and Cambridge. The Rail & Sail ticket is valid to/from any station on the GA network.

The trip between London Liverpool Street and Harwich International ferry terminal is about 1 hour 20 minutes, timetabled as follows:

For connecting onto the Harwich day sailing to Holland, a GA train leaves London Liverpool St. at 06:30 (Mon-Fri), 06:36 (Sat) and 06:45 (Sun) arriving in Harwich International at 07:51 (Mon-Fri), 07:59 (Sat) and 08:11 (Sun).

For connecting onto the overnight sailing to Holland, a GA train departs London Liverpool St at 20:36 (Mon-Fri) and 20:00 (Sat-Sun) arriving in Harwich International at 21:59 (Mon-Fri) and 21:16 (Sat-Sun).

For connections to London after arriving at Harwich on the day service, a GA train departs Harwich International at 20:45 (Mon-Sat), 20:30 (Sun), arriving at London Liverpool St. at 22:14 (Mon-Sat), 21:43 (Sun).

Finally, connections to London from the overnight ferry, a GA train departs Harwich International at 07:09 (Mon-Fri), 07:20 (Sat-Sun), arriving at London Liverpool St. at 08:53 (Mon-Fri, 08:44 (Sat-Sun).

Metro/Trains on the Dutch side

On the Dutch side the RET Metro Line B operates from Hoek van Holland Haven towards Rotterdam in direction Nesselande. See our Rotterdam Metro map.

If you are travelling onwards to Amsterdam you have 2 options:

[1] The first is to get out at Schiedam Centrum metro stop on line B and take an Intercity train to Amsterdam Centraal from the adjacent rail station platforms. The train service runs half-hourly and takes about 1 hour 9 minutes.

• A metro ticket (RET 2 Hour) costs €5.50 – or check-in/out with your debit card which for Hoek-Schiedam will cost around €5.30. A single train ticket between Schiedam Centrum and Amsterdam Centraal costs €19.50 – 2026 prices.

[2] Travel from Hoek van Holland Haven to Rotterdam Centraal station by metro – with a single change at Beurs station to line D/E.

From Rotterdam Centraal fast and comfortable Intercity Direct trains run to Amsterdam Centraal. These take just 40 minutes but require an extra €3.20 supplement on top of the €20.20 fare.

From Rotterdam you can also connect to many other destinations on the Dutch rail network.

Stena Line Rail & Sail Prices

Rail & Sail tickets with the GA rail+ferry components are priced at £75/€89 each way (£38/€44 for children 4-15).

If you have the time the Stena Line ferry is an excellent way to travel between the south-east England and the Netherlands. Having done this sailing on a good number of occasions, we have found the trip to be very comfortable. We recommend getting a cabin even on the day sailing.

Sneleentaxi offers good value fixed taxi fares between Hoek van Holland and Rotterdam, Amsterdam or any destination in the Netherlands. Book a taxi at fixed rate with Sneleentaxi

This article was originally published on 20 August 2026.

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