Dalian Travel Forum

Has anyone ever rode a ferry from Dalian to Yantai? How can you buy the ticket, how long is the journey, how much does it cost, and overall is it better to fly directly to qingdao instead of making a transit point in Yantai?

I did that trip from Yantai to Dalian two years ago. There are two kinds of boats, fast and slow. The slow one takes like 8 hours and the fast one some 4 hours. You can get the tickets at the train station here in Dalian.
IMO if you can afford to fly directly to Qingdao, do it cuz there's nothing to see in Yantai.

You can buy the ferry ticket yourself at the Dalian ferry terminal or ask your hotel's travel desk to help you make arrangements.
I took the overnight ferry from Dalian to Yantai in 2002. Upon arrival in Yantai there are immediate bus departures to Qingdao that are coordinated with the ferry schedule. I think the ship arrived between 5-6 a.m. and it was still morning when I got to Qingdao.

I made the trip on 27 Oct 2006. Liked: very low cost -- and it saved a hotel cost (the boat arrived at 3 am but we could sleep to 6 am), very smooth ride, clean bunks (3 sets of upper & lower in a cabin -- fellow members of our group were the other 4 so that was fine), good bus connection in Yantai to Qingdao. Didn't like: 4-1/2 hour bus ride to Qingdao, although it did provide glimpses of a rural area of China. On balance, would do that again to realize the same advantages.