01 / ROUTE FINDER

The shortest water is the longest drive.

Every crossing is the same trade in different proportions: time on a boat against miles on the far side. Tell it where you start and where you are going, and it shows the routes worth considering — with what each one actually buys you.

STARTING FROM

HEADING FOR

Showing every route.

Durations are typical crossing bands, not timetables. Sailing times, frequencies and fares change with the season and the operator, and a motorhome fare depends on your length and height band — which is exactly why this page states neither. Measure the van honestly, then book direct.

02 / THE 90/180 COUNTER

Ninety days in any rolling one hundred and eighty.

Add the trips you have taken or plan to take inside the Schengen Area. The counter works out the worst rolling window across the whole set, counts arrival and departure days as full days, and tells you where you stand. Everything stays in this browser.

ENTERED THE ZONE

LEFT THE ZONE

0DAYS USED IN THE WORST 180-DAY WINDOW · LIMIT 90

Nothing logged yet.

YOUR TRIPS

No trips yet. Add one above — or several, in any order. Ireland does not count and neither do days at home, so only log time actually inside the Schengen Area.

A planning aid, not immigration advice. This does the arithmetic honestly and shows its working, but the only record that matters is the one held at the border. Rules change; visas, residency and work sit outside anything a calculator can tell you. Check the current position with the relevant authority before relying on a number.

03 / DOCUMENTS

What has to be aboard before the boat.

The British travel passport in the tools deck covers a domestic trip. Crossing adds a layer, and most of it wants doing weeks ahead rather than the night before.

THE PEOPLE

Passports and cover

Passport issued within the last ten years on the day you enter, and valid for at least three months after you intend to leave — both conditions, not either.
Travel insurance that covers the whole party and the activities you actually intend.
A GHIC or EHIC for state healthcare, which is not a substitute for insurance.
Children travelling without both parents may be asked for a consent letter.

THE VAN

Papers and plates

V5C logbook in the keeper’s name — the original, not a photocopy.
Insurance certificate, with European cover confirmed by the insurer in writing.
A UK identifier: a UK sticker, or a number plate that carries UK with the Union flag. The old GB sticker no longer serves.
Breakdown cover extended to Europe and to a vehicle of your length and weight — many policies quietly exclude motorhomes.
Headlamp beam deflectors or a headlamp setting adjusted for driving on the right.

IN THE VAN

The legal kit

Warning triangle, and a high-visibility vest for every occupant, stored within reach of the cab rather than in a locker.
Country-specific extras vary and change — the file for each country states its own list, and the correction link keeps it honest.
Spare glasses if your licence requires them.

THE DOG

If the crew has four legs

An animal health certificate from your vet, issued within ten days of travel, unless you hold a valid EU pet passport.
Microchip and a rabies vaccination at least twenty-one days before travel.
Tapeworm treatment before returning to Britain, given by a vet and recorded, within a defined window.
Not every route takes dogs in the cabin — the tunnel keeps you together, most ferries do not.

Requirements change, and this list is stamped FACTS VERIFIED AUGUST 2026. Confirm the current position with the operator, your insurer and your vet before you travel — and if you find something here out of date, the correction link below goes straight to a human.

04 / CROSSING RULES

Four things worth knowing before you book.

RULE ONE

Measure the van, honestly

Motorhome fares are set by length and height bands, and an over-band arrival at the booth is an expensive conversation.
Measure to the furthest point front and rear — bike racks, towbars and rear ladders all count.
Measure to the top of whatever is actually on the roof: solar, aerials, a closed pop-top.

RULE TWO

Book the boat before the route

Peak summer sailings and any overnight cabin sell out months ahead, and the cheap fare goes first.
The long western-Channel and North Sea routes have far fewer sailings than Dover — a missed one can cost a day, not an hour.
Fix the crossing, then build the route around it. Not the other way round.

RULE THREE

Gas is not universal

British bottles cannot generally be exchanged on the continent, and connections differ by country.
Plan for refillable cylinders with the right adaptor set, or work out the exchange system for each country before you rely on it.
Some operators restrict how many cylinders may be carried and require valves closed — check the operator’s own rules.

RULE FOUR

The clock starts at the border

Your 90 days begin the day you enter the zone, whatever time the boat lands.
Ireland is outside Schengen: an Irish trip costs nothing on the clock.
Norway and Switzerland are inside it despite not being EU members — a Norwegian fortnight spends the same days a French one does.

Back to Europe The British tools deck Send a correction

FOUND THIS USEFUL?

Buy the crew a coffee, if you’d be so kind.

Everything here is free and always will be — the expedition files, the Nature Matrix, the seven calculators and the Trip Engine. Nothing sits behind a paywall, and nothing unlocks if you pay.

But if a file saved you a wasted weekend, or the Matrix put a puffin in front of your children, you are very welcome to stand us a coffee. It goes on diesel, ferries and the next expedition — which comes back up here, free, for you.

Fuel for the Nebuchadnezzar£10 · ONE PAYMENT →

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