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Ferry, Eurotunnel, or flying: where your pet spends the crossing.

The paperwork is the same on all three routes to the EU. What the choice actually decides is where your pet spends the crossing: next to you in the car, in a kennel or pet cabin on a ship, or in the cargo hold of a plane. For most pets, that is the whole decision.

READ6 min readREVIEWEDJuly 2026SOURCEgov.uk

The requirements don't change with the route

A microchip, a rabies vaccination given after the chip, a 21-day wait, and an Animal Health Certificate signed within 10 days of EU arrival: every route from Great Britain to the EU asks for the same four things. On the way home, dogs add a tapeworm treatment recorded 24 hours to 5 days before UK arrival.

So the comparison isn’t about requirements. It’s about your pet’s comfort, your own logistics, and which routes physically exist for your trip.

Eurotunnel (Le Shuttle): the pet never leaves your car

The crossing takes 35 minutes and your pet spends all of it in your car, with you in the seat next to it. That single fact makes Le Shuttle the most common choice for UK to France pet travel.

The pet is booked as an add-on to the vehicle, and every pet booking passes through the dedicated pet reception building at Folkestone, where staff scan the chip and check the AHC before you join the queue. Allow 30 minutes for the check on a quiet day, longer in summer. On the way home the serious check happens at the Calais-Coquelles pet reception before boarding.

The limits are geographic. Le Shuttle runs Folkestone to Calais and nowhere else, so it suits trips you’d drive anyway and rules itself out for everything you wouldn’t.

Ferry: in the car on short routes, kennels or pet cabins on long ones

On the short Dover crossings to Calais and Dunkirk (around 90 minutes with P&O or DFDS), your pet stays in your car on the vehicle deck while you go up to the passenger lounges. You can’t stay with the car during the crossing, which is the trade against Le Shuttle: the crossing is cheap and frequent, but the pet spends it alone.

Longer routes handle pets differently. Brittany Ferries sailings from Portsmouth and Plymouth to France and Spain offer pet-friendly cabins and on-board kennels, which turn an overnight crossing into something closer to travelling together. For a journey to western France or Spain, one long sailing can replace two days of driving.

One rule worth knowing before booking: foot passengers can’t bring pets on the short Dover routes. A pet on a ferry means a vehicle booking, with registered assistance dogs the exception.

Flying: the cargo hold, booked through the cargo desk

Flying out of the UK puts most pets in the cargo hold of the plane, booked through the airline’s cargo division rather than with your ticket. Drop-off is at a separate cargo terminal three to four hours before departure, and you collect from the cargo terminal at the other end. A small number of carriers allow small pets in the cabin on some routes out of the UK; the cabin question has its own article.

Flying is the only realistic option when driving isn’t: the Canary Islands, Cyprus, or a trip where the Channel ports add a thousand kilometres of detour. It is also the most involved option, with crate standards checked strictly at the cargo desk and the highest costs of the three.

Coming home, the picture is fixed for everyone: pets arrive in Great Britain as cargo on approved routes and clear the check at the airport’s animal reception centre, which typically adds two to four hours after landing.

Choosing by pet, not by price

The fares matter less than how your particular animal handles each setting, so start the decision with the pet.

  • Snub-nosed breeds: many airlines restrict or refuse flat-faced dogs and cats in the hold because of breathing risk. For a bulldog or a Persian cat, Le Shuttle or a ferry is usually the answer, not a different airline.
  • Anxious pets: the tunnel keeps you next to the pet for the whole crossing. A short ferry leaves the pet alone in the car for around 90 minutes; a flight means several hours of separation either side of the crossing itself.
  • Cats: a cat that settles in a carrier travels well in a car, which favours the tunnel and short ferries. Long sailings and flights add handling a cat rarely thanks you for.
  • Hot weather: some airlines pause pet cargo in high summer temperatures, so a July or August flight needs an early conversation with the cargo desk.

Whichever mode you pick, the day itself runs to a pattern, and the travel-day article walks through what happens at each terminal in both directions.

A note for commercial movers

Commercial consignments follow the commercial certification track with pre-notification at the border, whichever mode they travel by, and the choice of route narrows to crossings with a border control post that accepts animals. Switch the search on this site to commercial mode to see the requirements for your corridor.

The short version

  • The paperwork (microchip, rabies, 21-day wait, AHC) is identical on all three routes. The choice is about the pet and the geography.
  • Le Shuttle: 35 minutes, pet stays in your car with you. Folkestone to Calais only.
  • Short ferries: pet stays in the car alone for around 90 minutes. Long Brittany Ferries sailings offer pet cabins and kennels. Foot passengers can’t bring pets on the short Dover routes.
  • Flying: cargo hold for most pets, booked through the cargo desk, strict crate checks, highest cost. The only realistic option where driving isn’t.
  • Snub-nosed breeds and anxious pets do best where they stay near you, which usually means the tunnel.

Pick the crossing your pet will handle best, then book the vet dates around it.

Sources

If you want to read the official guidance and operator pages: