Getting to the Port of Hull

The Port of Hull is easy to reach, with great road and rail links to the city centre.

ABP Port of Hull Terminal 1

Located in Cardiff, I was pleased to discover Hull was only a four-hour car journey away (if you think that was bad, it could have been worse!).

My car journey took me along the M4 and onto the M5. I circled underneath Birmingham on the M42 before joining the M1. At Doncaster, I split onto the M18 before joining the M62, close to Goole. From there, the A63 runs pretty much right to the port.

If you are travelling from London, you will most likely want to use the A1(M). Detour through Lincoln and across the Humber Bridge to save time compared to going via Doncaster.

If you are travelling from the North, use the A1(M) if you are heading down the east of the country or the M6 and M62 if you are driving down the west coast.

The terminal

The Port of Hull comprises of two passenger terminals. Sailings to Rotterdam depart from Terminal 1. The port had to build a second terminal to accommodate Pride of Rotterdam and Pride of Hull as they both wouldn't fit through the lock gates. Bizarrely the second terminal is now known as Terminal 1!

At the main roundabout with two King George Dock roads diverging, you want to take the second one passing a vast area housing containers on the left. A long straight road bends to the left where you'll travel under a bridge used for loading cargo onto the ferries.

You'll see a big blue terminal building on the left. The car park here is a multi-storey, and the entrance is next to the main entrance to this building. If you drive under the blue bridges (used to load cars and passengers onto the ferries) you've gone too far.

Car parking at the Port of Hull

An external company operates the car parks at the Port. Pay extra care when parking to avoid penalty notices and hefty fines. The entire ground floor level is poorly signed but is reserved for Blue Badge drivers so take care here. At the time of writing, the car park charge was £7 per 24 hours or part thereof.

Don't make the same mistake as me. I arrived on a Thursday evening and left on a Saturday morning. I fed the machine £21 for a mere 41 hours, instead of £14.

Arriving by train

Hull Railway Station is a large transport hub in the centre of the city, adjacent to the Central Bus Station. Direct services run from Hull to York, Bridlington, Doncaster, London via Selby, Sheffield, Scarborough, and Manchester. Plan your journey here.

There's a single bus service running from The Interchange (next to St Stephen's shopping centre) to the terminal. It leaves at 5 pm daily and at the time of writing cost £3.50/€5.00 each way.

Alternatively, a four-mile taxi journey will get you to the terminal doors.

Arriving by coach

National Express Route 562 serves the city of Hull. The bus departs London and travels northwards to Scarborough via Doncaster, Hull and York. Book your tickets here.

Use the shuttle bus service above to transfer to the port.

Checking-In at Hull And Boarding Pride of Rotterdam

I checked in at around 4 pm and expected to have to sit and wait in a departure lounge for a while.

Check-in was very fast thanks to three efficient check-in agents working and only one other person in the queue ahead of me.

I handed over my passport and booking reference number. There are no tickets as such here - if you book online, print out a copy of your booking confirmation with your booking reference number on it.

Even though the sailing time was 8.30 pm, I could board the ferry straight away.

Each mini cruise passenger receives a boarding card, a cabin key card, and a booklet containing a voucher for the return check-in, plus vouchers for bus transfers between Rotterdam port and Amsterdam (where applicable).

The boarding card also doubles up as a meal voucher if you've prepaid for meals. I had a "D" and "B" icon on my card, signifying dinner and breakfast.

I also had a suitcase icon on the card, meaning I could leave luggage in the cabin while off exploring Amsterdam. Mini Cruise holidays often come with this very handy feature (confirmed at check-in). Having the same cabin for both legs of the journey is ideal for leaving clothes and toiletries behind during the day. It is best to keep valuables on you rather than leaving them behind.

The cabin key card had a giant key printed on it so I couldn't get confused about which card was which.

A top tip is to make a note of which cabin you are staying in as for security reasons the number isn't printed on your key card. I left my boarding cards in the cabin along with my luggage to take a few photos of the ship as soon as I boarded. I then forgot which cabin number was mine. Thankfully I managed to retrace my steps to find the cabin.

  • Location
  • Transport access
  • Terminal facilities
4.7

Summary

The Port of Hull is very easy to find, and easy to access by car. If you arrive by train or coach, you may find it a little more tricky to reach. The terminal feels modern and is very well laid out.

Read more in this series

  1. Getting to the Port of Hull (you are here)
  2. Pride of Rotterdam Review
  3. Pride of Rotterdam Cabins
  4. Food & Drink on Pride of Rotterdam
  5. Entertainment on Pride of Rotterdam
  6. Guide to Europoort, Rotterdam
  7. Can You Really Explore Amsterdam in a Day?
  8. Amsterdam Mini Cruise Review on P&O Ferries' Pride of Rotterdam
(Photo credit(s) to David Fiske)
Disclosure: P&O Ferries kindly supplied a half board mini cruise to Amsterdam. I paid for travel to and from the Port of Hull, car parking, incidentals onboard, and tours in Amsterdam. The opinions in this article are my own.

Written by David Fiske

David first found his sea legs on a cruise around the Caribbean in 2009. Since then he's looked for any excuse to get back on the water which led him onto creating Mini Cruise Reviews as a way to showcase short min breaks that sail from the UK (on ferries or cruise ships).

12 comments on “Getting to the Port of Hull

  1. Just done the Mini cruise Hull to Bruge I agree with you on most things we went by coach from North Wales and ended up in Ghent can't really fault too much appart from the late revelers who were a bit noisy on there way to the cabins

  2. I've done several mini cruises from Hull. I live in Leeds so it is a nice easy trip by train and a very civilised way to travel to the Continent. I can drive but can afford to be car free. I enjoy the WALK from Hull train station to the terminal. It's free, it takes you along the banks of the Humber via Hull Marina and The Deep and is quite attractive plus it's hard to get lost. Just keep the water on your right! There is also something about turning up at the terminal on your own two feet. It is about 3 miles, level going - an hour. The route has changed and depending on what waterfront work is going on you may have to divert inland but it's not hard. I always upgrade to outside cabin and take my travel kettle. I'm off to Amsterdam next week - £71 a bargain!

    • When you get to Rotterdam port, you must disembark when told to do so. The shuttle bus is located just outside the terminal building. The biggest hold up can be Customs checks, but they are usually swift. The coach to Rotterdam leaves as soon as everyone is aboard - usually less than half an hour after people are allowed to leave the ship.

  3. Hi David, Sounds great. Would you know if you can leave your bags on board if you take the three day break option? I've booked the three day mini cruise to Amsterdam and I will be spending a night in Amsterdam and returning a day later.

    • In this case, you'll need to take your bags with you when you disembark the ship, as you'll return to Hull on a different vessel. Leaving them onboard will likely result in them being destroyed under security measures.

      If you can book an early check-in and late check-out at the hotel, that would save lugging your bags around for the day. Alternatively, there is locker storage available at Amsterdam Central train station (a short distance from the P&O Ferries bus drop-off/pick-up point) and at independent businesses nearby. The going rate seems to be around €10 per item per day, depending on size. This might be more cost effective than the hotel idea.

  4. Hi,

    Your review of the Amsterdam mini cruise is invaluable - thanks. Can you tell me if the car park at Hull accepts cards? If not, does the machine take notes, or only coins?

    Thanks in advance for your help.

    • I was there again last month but didn't pay too much attention. I know it accepts credit/debit cards as that's how I paid. I believe it also accepts cash and I think it also accepts mobile payments, but it's definitely geared more towards taking card payments.

        • It's pay and display at the ferry terminals, so you can't pre-book. It's also the closest to the terminals and is my preferred choice purely for ease. Yes, it's pricey, but I'm not sure it's any more cost effective parking outside the port and travelling in (unless you've got friends or family nearby willing to lend you a parking space on their driveway and are also willing to ferry you to and from the terminal).

Leave a Reply

🔒 Privacy
Once approved, your name and comment will be displayed publicly on this website. Your email address is used to contact you regarding your comment. Full details of how your data is processed can be found in my privacy policy.