Dover Ferry Port, Access & Terminal

Address, postcode and map

The ferry terminal is Dover Ferry Terminal, Eastern Docks, Dover, Kent CT16 1JA - the postcode DFDS and Irish Ferries publish for sat navs; the Port of Dover itself signposts the terminal rather than naming a postcode, and its own office address (Harbour House, Marine Parade, CT17 9BU) is not where you check in. The terminal entrance lies at roughly 51.128 N, 1.333 E, on Jubilee Way directly off the Eastern Docks Roundabout. Once you are on the A20 or A2 inside Dover, ignore the sat nav and follow the port signs: they take you into the correct lane before the roundabout.

Arrival by car: two roads, one roundabout

Both approaches end at the Eastern Docks Roundabout, and the port signage takes over long before that.

• From London and the M20: the motorway becomes the A20 at Folkestone and runs along the coast into Dover; at the Eastern Docks Roundabout take the first exit left into the terminal.
• From the M2: the road becomes the A2 at Faversham and drops into Dover from the north; at the roundabout turn right into the terminal.

London is around 70 miles away, so most journeys fit in about two hours outside the peaks. When cross-Channel traffic is disrupted, Operation Brock can put a contraflow on the M20 between junctions 8 and 9: cars follow the signed contraflow at reduced speed, while lorries must use the signed freight route. Leave fuel and supermarket stops until Ashford at the latest; there is no petrol station inside the port. The live road picture for Kent is collected on live updates and weather.

Parking: none inside the port

The Port of Dover has no parking facilities for ferry passengers - the check-in lanes are for cars that are sailing, and the port asks tourist traffic not to arrive earlier than two hours before departure because waiting space is limited. For a short stop, dropping off or collecting foot passengers, there is space in front of the passenger terminal for stays of up to two hours; taxis can reach the terminal building before port security. For a walk-on trip of several days the port points to independent off-site car parks with a shuttle to the terminal, and the council's long-stay car parks in town allow 24 hours at most. Motorhomes have their own rules on the seafront. Everything, including the Calais side, is on the parking page.

From check-in to boarding

Arrive no earlier than two hours before departure and no later than your operator's check-in deadline, which is the binding one. The sequence after the check-in kiosk catches out first-timers: French border control operates on UK soil in Dover, so you clear French entry checks before you ever see the ship, alongside UK exit and security checks. Since late 2025 this is also where the EU Entry/Exit System (EES) registers non-EU travellers with photo and fingerprints; the extra minutes per car are exactly why the buffer matters in the school holidays. After the checks you park in the numbered boarding lane and wait for the call.

The operator deadlines, documents and the EES details are on the check-in page.

Foot passengers: the terminal and the bus

Only P&O carries foot passengers on Dover - Calais. Check-in is at the P&O desk in the passenger terminal building at the Eastern Docks. From there a port bus takes you to the EES registration area in the Western Docks and back to the ship - the legs are short, but they are why the foot-passenger deadline is longer than the car one. The full process, luggage and bicycle rules are on the foot passengers page.

Arriving without a car is straightforward: Dover Priory station is just over a mile from the terminal - roughly 25 minutes on foot, a short taxi ride from the rank outside the terminal building, or bus 66 - with high-speed trains to London St Pancras in about an hour.

Facilities and assistance

The passenger terminal building has a Costa, a Burger King, a WHSmith, cash machines and currency exchange, free Wi-Fi, toilets with accessible facilities and a children's play area. Travelling with a dog, you will find two exercise areas on the port. Travellers who need assistance should arrange it with their ferry operator at least 48 hours before departure; the terminal has ramps, hearing loops and trained staff.

One warning the port itself publishes: fake ticket websites target this route. Book only with the operators or an established agent - never through a site that merely looks official.

After arrival in Calais

You leave the Calais terminal straight onto the A16/A26 network; Paris is about three hours away, the Belgian border under an hour. The French side, including the terminal address for your return leg and the foot-passenger shuttle, is on the Calais ferry port page; onward routes on both sides are collected under onward travel.