The car ferry from Southampton to the Isle of Wight is the gateway to the seaport town of Cowes, located north of the Island. Passengers have two options when travelling via Southampton. You can travel by vehicle or foot on the car ferry, or you can travel by foot on the hi-speed foot passenger only ferry. Duration of the car ferry is one hour and takes you to East Cowes. The foot passenger ferry is roughly 25 minutes and takes you to West Cowes.
There are faster ways to travel to the Isle of Wight than from Southampton. Wightlink offers routes from Lymington to Yarmouth, Portsmouth to Fishbourne, and Portsmouth Harbour to Ryde Pier Head.
Wightlink’s closest route to Southampton is via Lymington, which is in the New Forest and takes you to the small town of Yarmouth, on the West Wight. Lymington to Yarmouth is our most scenic route where you can travel by car or on foot. It’s also a shorter crossing time of only 40 minutes, meaning it’s the quickest way to the Island if you’re travelling by car.
Another alternative of the car ferry to the Isle of Wight from Southampton, is via the historic seafront city of Portsmouth. A short drive or train journey from Southampton – our most popular route will take you to Fishbourne which is conveniently located on the Isle of Wight for anyone visiting East and Central Wight. You can travel by car or on foot, with a journey time of 45 minutes.