Norfolk VA Mini-Trip Report
- Aboard The Elizabeth River Ferry: Portsmouth To Norfolk
- Review: Hilton Norfolk The Main
- Review: Grain Rooftop Beer Garden
- On The Hunt For Norfolk Mermaids
- An Ode To The Hummingbird Macaron
- Review: Sheraton Norfolk VA
- Review: Grace O’Malley’s Irish Pub & Restaurant, Norfolk
- Straight Off The Vin: Our Visit To Vin Wine Bar, Norfolk
Shae and I decided to have a staycation over in Norfolk VA. It’s the city across the Elizabeth River from where we currently live in Portsmouth before we head off on our 50 state road trip.
Rather than paying the toll to take the downtown tunnel and then paying for parking at the hotels, we decided to take the paddlewheel Elizabeth River Ferry from Portsmouth to Norfolk.
Ferry Stops
There are two ferry stops in Portsmouth. The first is on High Street – to get there, walk all the way down High Street until you get to the river, with the ferry stop being on the left. If you’re into naval stuff, you’ll enjoy seeing the navy ships in dry dock across the water.
The second stop is at North Landing Dock. To get there, head towards Harbor Tower Apartments – the 25 story building on Harbor Court. You can’t miss it as it’s the tallest building downtown.
We parked our car in the parking lot there and headed down to the ferry dock.
Tickets
If you’re getting on at High Street, there’s a ticket machine on the corner of High Street and Water Street where you can pay by credit card.
If you’re boarding at the North Landing Dock, there’s a visitor center where you can buy tickets during the day.
You can also purchase tickets on board the ferry, but it’s cash only and you have to have exact change.
Tickets cost $1.75 each way for adults, while children are free if traveling with an adult (limit of two children per adult). If traveling without an adult, young people age 17 and under cost $0.75.
Update: Tickets are now $2 for adults, with the half fare being $1.
You can also check the prices on their website in case the fares increase after we publish this.
Another ticket option is to get a farecard. This gives you an unlimited number of trips that day on Hampton Roads Transit which includes the ferry, light rail (The Tide) and the bus.
Elizabeth River Ferry Schedule
The ferry has two schedules. The winter schedule runs from Labor Day to Memorial Day, with the ferry running every 30 minutes.
In the summer (Memorial Day to Labor Day), it runs every 15 minutes Friday to Sunday during peak hours.
You can also find a link to the schedule here in case it changes in the future (and because the photo cut off some of the times – oops!).
Ferry Route
The ferry starts at the High Street stop in Portsmouth, then heads to the North Landing stop – also in Portsmouth. From there, it crosses the river to the Waterside stop in Norfolk, before heading back to the High Street stop.
So if you board at High Street, make sure you don’t accidentally get off at North Landing!
Boarding
If the ferry hasn’t arrived when you get there, you have to wait at the top of the dock as they let passengers disembark before allowing you to board.
Soon enough, you’ll see the Elizabeth River Ferry arriving round the corner to the right. As the ferry gets closer, it’ll rotate 180° just before it docks.
If you already have a ticket when you board, insert it in a ticket machine. Otherwise, feed your notes and coins into one of the machines to buy your ticket.
If you head to the right, you can sit inside downstairs. This is a good choice if you have a bike, if it’s cold / wet outside or if you want to read about the history of the Elizabeth River Ferry.
Otherwise, you can turn left and head upstairs. That’s where we prefer to sit when taking the ferry, although it does get chilly up there during the winter months.
It’s also fun as you can sit close to the paddlewheel.
It’s a short 6-7 minute trip from North Landing in Portsmouth to Waterside in Norfolk. The journey provides great views on the Elizabeth River.
After the short trip, the ferry docks over at the Waterside stop, straight outside the newly revitalized Waterside District.
Harbor Park Ferry
If you’re planning on taking the ferry in the evening during the summer months, be aware that there’s a different ferry that runs from Portsmouth to Norfolk.
That’s because there’s a ferry that transports passengers to Harbor Park (and back) whenever the Norfolk Tides minor league baseball team are playing at home. The Harbor Park dock is only a 15 minute walk from Waterside, so it’s not terrible if you did end up there by accident.
Summary
If you live in Norfolk or Portsmouth or are visiting, we can highly recommend taking the Elizabeth River Ferry to travel between these two cities in Virginia.
It’s a fun and cheap experience, especially as it means you can avoid both the downtown tunnel traffic and tolls. You can enjoy a night out at one of the many bars or restaurants either side of the water, then sit back and relax on the ferry journey home.
Kids also love taking the ferry, which is great seeing as they’re free when traveling with an adult.
Question
If you’ve traveled on the Elizabeth River Ferry, what was your favorite part? Let us know in the comments below.
Good afternoon. We have enjoyed the “Ferry” for years! Our question, after a little background: Husband Dave Ormes, after USCG active duty retirement in Hampton Roads in 1990 and eleven years w/ the state of Virginia in the environmental field in Richmond, began his work in Portsmouth for USCG in the civilian field at the Federal Building in 2001. He is still employed there and recently found two Elizabeth River Ferry tokens in his desk drawer. He can’t recall how he got them or how long they were in use. Research gave us no information. When were these “1983” tokens discontinued and why? Do they have any value beyond the sentimental feelings we have for the Ferry? Also, is there a site that can give us the complete history of these ferries since the mid sixteen hundreds? Thank you for your time!
Best wishes, Karen Ormes
I’m afraid I don’t know much about the history of the ferry. It looks like the ferry service restarted in 1983, so I’m guessing those tokens might have been created to celebrate its reopening.
The tokens were originally used for passage on the ferries when they were still operating under Tidewater Regional Transport (TRT), which was later merged with PENTRAN, which then became Hampton Roads Transit in 1999. They started using cash fares only since then.
I’ve been working on the Elizabeth River Ferries and the Carrie-B for close to 7 years now and I’ve actually been trying to acquire some of those old tokens since.
Much of the old history you may have to look for in old Portsmouth/Norfolk history books. I recall there being a small bit of information and some old photographs of the old car ferries in the 1975 book “Portsmouth, A Pictoral History” by Robert W. Wentz, Jr.
Can u take your pet on the boats
Yes – we’ve taken our dog on there and it was fine. She didn’t really enjoy the experience, but they are allowed on.
Do you still do river tours like they did in the past? I’d like to take my grand kids
I don’t think they do river tours, but you’d need to contact HRT directly as I’m not sure.
I believe you may have been thinking about the red-and-white colored Carrie-B showboat cruises, operated by the brother of the person that started up the modern Elizabeth River Ferry service. They mostly just do private charters now.