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Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim Special Edition Guide Training Training Part 3: Adventuring Across Skyrim

Carriages and Ferries

Carriages and Ferries

Carriages: Hold Capital Travel

Travel between Hold capitals in some style and comfort.

If you can’t afford a horse, carriages are another good way to quickly travel around Skyrim. Outside each of the five major Hold capitals (generally near the stables), you can find a horse cart hitched up and ready to go. Speak to the driver to learn that he offers a carriage service and will gladly ferry you to any of Skyrim’s capitals for a nominal fee:

  • 20 gold for a ride to the major Hold capitals: Solitude, Markarth, Whiterun, Windhelm, or Riften.
  • 50 gold for a ride to the minor Hold capitals: Morthal, Dawnstar, Winterhold, or Falkreath.

If you’ve constructed Windstad Manor, Heljarchen Hall, or Lakeview Manor, and hired a carriage driver, you can travel between your properties and the Hold capitals free of charge. These carriage drivers can also take you to the smaller settlements (any village, town, or Hold capital).

Pay the fee, then head around back and activate the carriage to climb aboard. The driver will mention a piece of lore as you set off. A moment later, you’ll find yourself at your destination.

Ferries: Setting Sail

Gort waits patiently on the icy docks of Windhelm for a paying customer.

Are the carriage drivers of Skyrim giving you a bit of backchat? Fed up of buying a horse and having it die in the wilderness? Then why not travel through Skyrim by sea (and specifically, the Sea of Ghosts), courtesy of Skyrim’s fledgling Ferry system? Recently launched, there are now ferry boats moored at the docks in Solitude, Dawnstar, and Windhelm:

  • Jolf is tending to his boat on the edge of the docks at the East Empire Company Warehouse, just south of Solitude.
  • Harlaug has moored his vessel on the shallow beach close to Silus Vesuius’s House in Dawnstar.
  • Gort is waiting for a paying customer outside Windhelm’s gates, down in the dock area, just outside the Clan Shatter-Shield Office.

Speak to the ferryman by each boat, and you’re offered a ride to either of the other two cities. The cost is 50 gold. Agree, climb into the boat and sit down, and you appear at the docks (described above) at the city you chose.

In addition, once you complete Dawnguard Main Quest: Awakening, you can ask any ferryman to bring you to Castle Volkihar (Serana’s home), although it’s described as “an island near the border of High Rock.” This startles the ferryman, as they believe the place is cursed and won’t take you all the way there; they take you only to Icewater Jetty. The fee for this dangerous journey is 500 gold!

If you haven’t already visited Northwatch Keep (for Side Quest: Missing in Action) and can’t Fast-Travel anywhere close to Icewater Jetty, the cost may be worth it. Otherwise, you can trek there on foot (although this takes time). From Icewater Jetty, you can take the rowboat out to Castle Volkihar.

The Northern Maiden

Launching from Windhelm Docks, the Northern Maiden makes Raven Rock on the isle of Solstheim its port, transporting people and cargo to and from the mainland. This is the only method of entering the island, and safe passage must be obtained by speaking with the ship’s captain, Gjalund Salt-Sage.