Jamestown-Scotland Ferry

The Jamestown-​Scotland Ferry is a free ferry that runs 24 hours and connects you to both sides of the James River. It’s about 15 minutes, and while there isn’t much to do when you get off, it’s a nice little trip where you can drive on with your car, park, and then roam around the ferry to gaze out onto the waters. They’re even opened on holidays, too, and this is just a nice little excursion that you can add onto your trip. I highly suggest going on a weekday, late afternoon, so that you can snap some pictures right before the sunset, and then have a relaxing ride back in the evening. It does get breezy, so a light jacket is recommended.
+free ferry for autos!
+about 15 minutes each way
+runs 24 hours, plus holidays

If you have the opportunity to ride on the ferry while you visit Williamsburg, hop on! This is a wonderful FREE amenity that connects Jamestown with Surry County (thanks VDOT!). The views are great. And there is actually some stuff to do on the south side of the river. Bacon’s Castle, just a few miles off the ferry, is the oldest brick building in the country. Chippokes Plantation State Park, also within miles of the ferry, is home of one of the oldest continually running plantation farms in the country. And just another 15 minutes or so is the quaint and beautiful town of Smithfield, home to a few nice restaurants, a wonderful farmers market and many stately Victorian homes.

Awesome experience… worth it…
Take the car with you to the ferry for a 20 min amazing travel experience

I was a deckhand during the bi-​centennial celebration. Exciting times, met a lot of folks including, but not limited to, the Prime Minister of Canada.
I don’t know when they dropped the fee for crossing, but happy to hear it. We had a lot of people that would just ride back and forth, but did not realize that the ferry stopped at midnight, and docked on the Scotland wharf side. Fortunately for them there was a pleasure boat available to bail them out occasionally.
1 mile across, the channel is 300 feet deep, trip takes 20 minutes, the boat doesn’t turn around, and it leaves on time.
Enjoy your ride!

When you get on the Ferry, it is a great view and definitely a bit of a spectacle for being on a boat. At night time, when there is no one else, it is so much more amazing.
The only bad time is at night, the Ferry visits each side hourly. So if you miss it by a few minutes you are waiting at least an hour before you get on and get moving.

I saw on a lot of blogs to check this out on our vacation, so we did. It was a waste if time, although it is free… When you get to the other side there is nothing to do for miles and the views weren’t that great… If your on vacation I would just skip this. It’s essentially just for people to get to and from work… It us not a tourist attraction at all. Staff was very friendly though! :)

Absolutely the best route to Colonial Williamsburg! Can’t beat the price — a free boat ride & seeing the Jamestown Settlement from the water on a spectacular clear 72 degree morning is priceless!

Operated by VDoT and is free. The staff is amazingly competent at directing cars in/​out. Bathrooms and deck were super clean. You can find the updated ferry schedules on VDoT’s website
Thanks VDoT and Virginia taxpayers.

The ferry is awesome. First off it’s FREE!!! The views you get on the ferry are amazing. Good thing to do with friends and family.

Such a nice ride. 20 minute trip but well worth getting out of your vehicle and going to the second level.

I always enjoy the ferry ride from Surry to Jamestown. They are fast and efficient. There’s not many things that you can do for free but, the ferry is one of them!

It’s FREEEEEEE!!! WHOOPEEEEEE!!! Gotta love it!
What a great way to travel across the James River! I usually find myself here during the Summer months when I am dropping off or picking up my children from summer camp. I like to travel across on the Ferry and then head over to Water Country or Busch Gardens. I’ve always enjoyed using the Ferry service. It’s picturesque and we all enjoy feeding the seagulls during our ride. I don’t think we’ve ever remained in our vehicles while riding the ferry! We always get out and enjoy the view. It’s relaxing and beautiful. Definitely well worth the experience!

This is such a great free thing to do with your friends, family, or loved ones or just alone by yourself! So much fun, and such beautiful sights to behold as you ferry across with your car on your way to or from Jamestown.
The workers are on point, and work very efficiently in getting cars on and off the ferry in a very timely manner. I know you can check their website for schedules for what times they run, but when I came it was every 30 minutes… which really didn’t seem like that much of a wait in line which was nice! It does seem to get a bit congested during high times for people going to work or returning home from work… so you may want to account for that when planning the time of your journey.
The kids loved having the freedom to get out of the car and just enjoy the amazing view of the water, the birds, and the coastline… it was all very enjoyable and relaxing as well! Somehow it brings out your sense of adventure, and makes you yearn for more of it upon arrival to the other side! Life is so full of great adventures, and I loved how this ferry takes you out of the norms of everyday life… so much to see and enjoy in life… savoring the moment still :)

Prepare to get sick… Better to stand in front… Cold but don’t get as much seasickness as in car

We had a scenic drive day recently and journeyed across the ferry. We lived in Williamsburg for 2 years and never had a chance to explore the Scotland ferry but I am kinda glad we waited because the kids weren’t old enough to enjoy it then. But they totally enjoyed it a couple of weeks ago (they’re 4 & 2) and the experience as a whole was really pleasant and easy. I guess I always thought it cost money but nope, it’s free. Score! There were these two ladies feeding bread to the gulls and it was a little like an Alfred Hitchcock film for a bit there… we were completely anticipating an attack, and even though there was a close call or two, no pecking or human attacks took place that cloudy day on the ferry. I don’t recommend the bread though. it was chaos. and I swear I heard the gulls saying, «mine mine» but perhaps I have seen Nemo too many times and it’s just embedded in my psyche. Enough about the birds, the ferry is a great experience for the whole family. You drive on, get out, and enjoy the beautiful water views and hopefully equally beautiful weather. They have 4 ferry boats and different schedules dependant upon the season. It also runs 24 hours a day and takes about 15 – 20 minutes total. Good times!

This is nice way to relax for a few minutes after working all day on the South Side. It beats JRB or MMBT traffic.

I suppose during the summer the ferry must see huge crowds and it really serves a purpose in terms of helping to avoid highway traffic. But during the offseason as we found out it seems more like a boat to nowhere and a big drain on VA taxpayers wallets.
We had watched the ferry go back and forth while at Jamestowne the day prior so we knew where to go and what to look for. With schedule in hand we showed up about two minutes before the 9:30am Jamestown departure and got on no problem to a boat with maybe 12 other cars.
One safety thing that was odd was that we were obviously the last car in our row and normally (at least on other boats I’ve been on) some sort of wooden block is put behind your rear wheels. Not here. I mean there were blocks behind my tires but when I say behind I mean like three or four feet behind. It was as if they were thrown from a distance like a horseshoe and where they landed was where they landed.
We were the only people to get out and walk around as everybody else stayed in their cars and played with their phones which was sad as it was beautiful day. We got over to Surry and noticed that they were security screening all of the vehicles on that side preparing to board the Pocahontas. Although when I say all of the vehicles, there were only nine.
I suppose if in the area in the future I would come back for another pleasure ride as the schedule is frequent, the ride is scenic enough and the price is certainly right.

It does not take long to move across this short stretch of water. So hurry and unbuckle, get top deck and secure your hat if you have one. Then enjoy a view for around 10 minutes.
Today was a beautiful Fall day to jump on at Surry and drive off at Jamestown. I was aboard the Pocahontas, one of two ferry’s that trade off back and forth transporting passengers and their cars.
This was a ride for pure pleasure, nothing really to do with avoiding traffic. However, it can be good for that as other reviewers have noted. The ferry has a schedule and for the most part it’s every 30 minutes.
Our tax dollars in Virginia completely pay for the ferry service, so relax and pay not a penny. This is something everyone should do at least once.

My favorite way to get from me to Williamsburg. ANYTHING to avoid Hampton traffic. So beautiful and peaceful. Best of all. FREE!!!
Not many people in the area know of this; It is such an under-​utilized service.

The ferries of the East Coast are much different than those of say Seattle. But they share one significant similarity — they allow you to cross a body of water where otherwise you would have to drive around, saving a serious amount of time. They also differ in one huge way: They are many times free, especially on shorter routes.
On the Jamestown-​Scotland route, the ride is short (unlike the horrible ride from Cedar Island to Ocracoke), relatively scenic and the ferry is in good shape. No complaints — they get you to the other side and there were no giant invaders from outer space to capsize our ferry while we crossed. It was a good trip.