10 Best Ferry & Boat Rides (Costs & Tips, 2026)

Crossing Victoria Harbour has cost next to nothing since 1888, and National Geographic has named it one of the great boat journeys on Earth despite the ride lasting barely ten minutes. Under $1 each way — the skyline view is doing all the work here, not the boat itself.

Completely free, always has been, and it passes directly by the Statue of Liberty and Ellis Island without the queues or ticket price of the official tourist boats. Stand on the right side heading toward Staten Island for the best angle; the round trip takes about an hour if you just stay on board.

One of the only ferry rides in the world where you cross between two continents — Europe on one side, Asia on the other — for around $2 on a public commuter ferry. Sit outside if the weather allows; the palaces and mosques along both banks are the entire point.

A single ticket costs around €9.50, which sounds steep until you realise it's genuinely public transport down the Grand Canal past palaces most cities would charge a museum entry fee to see. Line 1 is the slow, scenic route — take that one rather than the faster express lines if you're doing it for the view rather than to get somewhere.

Rudyard Kipling called Milford Sound the eighth wonder of the world, and cruises here are one of the few times that kind of claim doesn't feel like marketing. About NZ$80 for a standard cruise past waterfalls, seals, and cliffs rising straight out of the water — go on a rainy day if you get the choice, the waterfalls multiply.

A regular public ferry, part of Sydney's actual transport network, that happens to sail directly past the Opera House and under the Harbour Bridge for around AUD $8. Sit on the right-hand side heading out for the best skyline view, and the open top deck is worth braving the wind for.

Nearly 2,000 limestone karst islands rising out of emerald water, UNESCO-listed and genuinely as dramatic in person as the photos suggest. Day cruises from Hanoi run around $30 including lunch; the overnight boats cost considerably more but let you see the bay at sunrise, which is the version most photos are actually taken during.

A genuine public ferry system, not a cruise, running through fjords, past glaciers, with whales and eagles a routine sighting rather than a special excursion. Multi-day legs run from around $150 in deck-only fare — bring a tent, some passengers pitch one on the solarium deck for the overnight legs.

The full 12-day round trip costs thousands, but this is genuinely a working coastal ferry that locals use for actual transport — book a single short leg between two towns instead of the full package and pay a fraction of the price for fjord scenery that doesn't noticeably differ from the expensive version.

The islands themselves are built entirely from woven totora reeds, replaced from the top as the bottom rots — an entire community living on structures that are, technically, boats that don't move. A boat trip from Puno costs around $15, at over 3,800m altitude, so pace yourself getting on and off.