Greek Island Synopsis
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Greek Island Synopsis
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You can e-mail me if you have questions about the Greek Islands, itineraries, ferry connections, hotels or anything actually- Matt Barrett Main Ports in Greece
Pireaus Rafina There is may also be a once a week ferry to Lesvos, another to Volos and Thessaloniki but most of these off-beat ferries now leave from Lavrion which is being groomed to be a major port for the Cyclades. There's a high-speed catamaran and Flying Dolphins to Andros, Evia and the rest of the Cylades too. If you don't think you have time to visit an island, a visit to Rafina will do. You can sit in the harbor restaurants, eating fried Kalamaria, watching the fishing boats and ferries sail in and out. It's only 45 minutes from downtown Athens. You can take a bus or go with George the Famous Taxi Driver. The Avra Rafina Smartotel has just opened. This is a beautiful Three-star hotel convenient to the ferries to the islands. If you want to avoid Athens and go straight to the islands and spend the first night in Greece in a Greek-island-setting see www.hotelsofgreece.com/athens/avra-rafina Lavrion You can read about Lavrion at www.athensguide.com/lavrion .
Patras in Western Peloponessos Services and other InfoFerries to the Cyclades, Dodecanese, North Aegean, Saronic islands and Crete leave from Pireaus . For more information see my Athens Guide . In many cases you can buy your tickets at the port but if you are traveling in the months of July and August or you want a cabin it is best to book at least a day or so in advance. Ferry schedules for the whole week can be found in the Athens News. It comes out every Friday and you can find it anywhere newspapers are sold. If you just go to Pireaus before 7 you will probably find a boat going where you want if you are trying to get to the most popular islands. But with the lack of reliable ferry schedules even if you are a budget traveler or a backpacker use a travel agency in Athens to book hotel, ferries and to let you know when you have to be at the port. With the deals they can give you on hotels you will save money and probably stay in a nicer place than you could find on your own. Until it drives me crazy I will buy the NAFTEMBORIKI and you can e-mail me for ferry times for that week. If you need the times for boats weeks or months from now you can still e-mail me and I can give you some idea of the times and frequency of the boats to wherever it is you want to go. There are also the weekly schedules for Pireaus, Rafina and Lavrion at www.athensguide.com/greek-island-ferry-schedules For ferry tickets and airline ticket information go to www.greecetravel.com/tickets Dolphin
Hellas Travel Agency See their informative website at www.greecetravel.com/dolphinhellas
Taxi Transfers with George the Famous TaxiDriver Many
people on cruises use George for day trips in
Athens as well as excursions to Delphi,
Nafplio, Meteora, Sounion and the
Peloponessos. If you are a group of four you
will find that sharing the cost of his cab is
cheaper than the tours the cruise ships offer
and you will see a lot more without 40 other
people to slow you down.
Island-Hopping Domestic and International Flights Yacht and Sailboat Charters in Greece What if I told you that you could sail the Greek islands for 350 euros a week per person! Would you believe me? It's true. See www.greecetravel.com/sailing/budget-charter for more information. David Econopouly has a company based in the USA called GM Charters that works with several sailboat companies and individual skipper-owners in Greece to find the customer the best and most suitable boats at the best price. Whether you want to charter a large sailboat with some friends with a skipper or on your own, or join a group of boats called a flotilla * , he does the research and gives you the choices. A great service and very helpful whether you know little about sailing or are an experienced skipper bringing a group and looking for the right boat. He also does power yachts and sail cruises. See www.greecetravel.com/sailing/gm-charters For Cruises to the Greek Islands on big (and small) beautiful cruiseships which often include stops in Istanbul, Turkey, Ephesus, Italy and Egypt see www.greecetravel.com/cruise or visit the website of Fantasy travel at www.fantasytravelofgreece.com Remember!The Athens News now has the weekly ferry schedules from Pireaus, Rafina and Lavrion so get a copy at the newstand in the airport when you arrive or at most kiosks and newstands in Athens. Greece Guidebooks and TipsFor more information on the Greek islands there are many excellent books and guides. Buy the local guidebooks that will be available to you on each of the islands and in the English-language bookstores in Athens. If you want to buy one Guide book for all your needs in Greece and the Greek islands I suggest the Lonely Planet Guide to Greece, Fodors, Frommers, RoughGuide, Let's Go or National Geographic. You can order these books from my Greek Books page. Keep in mind that the people who write the books are not supermen and updating them at the rate that things change is an impossible task. (Two guidebooks had a hotel in Kea that closed over ten years ago). They can also be opinionated (like I'm not) and they have to be all things to everybody (where I only have to write about what I like). So you can do what many people do which is print out the pages from my website you need and put them together in a big looseleaf and toss them when you are finished. Or you can give them to other travelers. And if you see something I have written that is wrong, please let me know because unlike a guidebook I don't have to wait for the next printing to make changes. I can add and subtract stuff every day (and I do). If you are traveling in the summer months, it's a good idea to book a room in advance. Also keep in mind that you can go through the hassle of booking tours and accomodations yourself but if you do it through a Reliable Greek Travel Agency you will save at least 15% because of the special arrangements between the hotels, cruise companies and the Greek Travel agents who give them most of their business. Plus they will save you the enormous hassle of trying to figure out the ferry schedules. Island-hopping is great when you are young and flexible and don't want to be tied down to a particular program. But it becomes more difficult in the summer when travel agents are scrambling to secure rooms from anywhere they can. If you are young you will be happy to know that there are campsites on almost every island. They cost about 10 euros a night or so. Youth Hostels seem to have disappeared on the islands but 3 or 4 people in a room at a c-catagory hotel can be pretty cheap per person. I also have info on Youth Hostels at www.greecetravel.com/youth-hostels. People used to sleep on the beach but those days are over. If you get caught you probably won't go to jail but being awakened at 6am by the cops and told to pack your stuff is not fun, and if they catch you again they do get annoyed. If you think you are too poor to go through a travel agent think again and read this: www.greecetravel.com/budget-travel In my opinion there is no need to see five islands in the week you have to spend in Greece. Pick one or two islands that you can book in advance and get to know them. A rolling stone gathers no moss, but it does not make many friends either. You will have a richer experience by experiencing all that one island has to offer, in people, traditions, beaches, scenary and even nightlife, then trying to see every island and feeling like a stranger every day. Greece is a beautiful place for sure. But what makes any holiday special is the people you meet and the new friends you make. For itinerary suggestions see www.greektravel.com/suggestions What is the best way to book your holiday to Greece? Can you really save by using auto-booking systems or by booking directly with the hotels? Are Travel Agencies a thing of the past? Read my article Endangered Species about the internet and the disappearance of the small personalized-service travel agency. E-mail me for a free copy of my Greece Travel Newsletter
Remember if you have any questions about services, itineraries, problems or anything having to do with Greece you can e-mail me at matt@greecetravel.com and I will respond quickly. There is no fee. All info is Free. You can also visit my other Greece websites . |
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Pireaus is
the primary port. The ferries and now the
Flying Dolphins leave from the main harbor
which people simply refer to as Pireaus. You
can take the metro and get off at the last
stop, cross the ever-busy street on the new pedestrian bridge and the boats
are there. You can also get there by taking
the Pireaus bus from Syntagma or Omonia do what I do,
take a taxi. It's cheap and easy and he will
take you right to your boat. There is a direct bus from the airport and by the time you read this the suburban train may go there directly and you won't have to change in Monastiraki (See 
If
you hate flying and don't fancy a ferry trip
then you will be happy to know that by leaving
from the port of Rafina rather then Pireaus,
you can shave off two hours from your time on the ship on trips to the Cyclades. However this only applies if you are going directly from the airport to the islands since it will take you as long to get from downton Athens to rafina and then to your island then it will to get from downtown Athens to Pireaus and to your island. In other words Rafina is closer to the airport and Athens is closer to Pireaus.
For getting to the island of Kea as well as some of the Cyclades and even Lesvos, Thassos and northern Greece, Lavrion has become a ferry hub for Attica with the idea that in the future those who want to skip Athens altogether will be able to do it, taking a taxi or bus from the airport and being on your ferry in about half an hour.
I know because I do it all the time and even though I love the city there is nothing like going straight to an island and pulling oneself together before coming to Athens after recovering from jetlag. There are some nice ouzeries, fish taverns and psistarias and if you have enoigh time before your ferry sails you can take a swim or see the 
Boats to
Cephalonia, Ithaki, Lefkada, Corfu and on to
the ports of Brindisi, Bari and Ancona in
Italy leave from the port city of Patras on
the northwestern coast of the Peleponisos.
Tickets can be bought from your travel agent
in Athens and usually includes bus
service from Athens. The bus trip is about 3
hours.You can also take the train which is
more scenic but takes an hour longer. The boat
trip to Brindisi is about 15 hours. Ancona is
arond 24. If you can afford a cabin then go
for it but if you are young and adventurous a
sleeping bag and a spot on the deck is fine.
Especially with a few bottles of wine and a
couple guitars and some new friends. If you
are arriving here from Italy you can take a
train or bus to Athens. The train is slower
but leaves you close to the center. Your ferry
company may have buses to Syntagma near the
Plaka, so ask on board and if they do take it.
The regional buses leave you off in the middle
of nowhere.
This
website began as a hobby about ten years ago
and since then it has grown in popularity and
size. 99.9% of the
material on my websites was written by myself.
I don't have a staff. I took all the photos
with the possible exception of this one, and
some of the historical ones. I update the site
continuously so unlike a guidebook I don't
have to wait for the next printing to fix a
mistake. People have been asking me how they
can contribute. First of all you can
contribute by using the agencies I recommend.
Without their support this site could not
exist.