Athens Guide Index

Greek Island Ferry Schedules

Thanks to the Athens News and the amazing Giannis Smyrnis who has been sending me the weekly ferry schedules like clockwork every Wednesday. Below are the weekly schedules from Pireaus, Lavrion and Rafina to the Greek Islands. They come out every Friday and are subject to change so if you are trying to plan a trip a few weeks or months away don't use this for more than getting an idea of the frequency or whether there is usually a ferry on the day of the week you want to go. As for returning from the islands you are on your own. It is best to book hotels with a reliable Greek travel agency and let them work out the ferry schedules. They can call the ferry companies and get more accurate information and won't book you into a hotel that you can't reach on a particular day. They will also be informed of cancellations and be able to reschedule you, where if you book on your own you may not find out until you are standing on the dock waiting for a ferry that never comes.

For information on purchasing tickets see www.greecetravel.com/tickets For more information on getting to the port of Pireaus, where the ferries are and everything you need to know about booking ferries in Greece including some things you may not want to know see Greek Ferry Information

For information on the Greek Islands see my Greek Island Synopsis
You can always e-mail me for more information too.

For those going to the Saronic Islands, especially Hydra and Poros don't look at this schedule and freak out that there are no boats. There are lots of boats. From May there are at least 10 boats a day to Hydra. The Hellenic Ferries Flying Dolphins are not listed. If you want me to check e-mail me

For those looking for the elusive 'overnight ferries' to Santorini it is a misnomer. They leave at 8 or 10pm (not every night) and they arrive at 4 or 5 am. Not really convenient when you realize you are stuck in a little port or at the bus station with all your luggage till things open up or you can check into your hotel at noon. To me an overnight ferry is one you get on at 7pm and you arrive at 7am refreshed after a nice sleep in a comfortable cabin. Overnight ferries go to Lesvos, Crete, Kalymnos, Leros, Kos and Rhodes which are all at least 12 hour trips. The Crete ferries in particular are the newest and the best with beautiful cabins, large lounges with non-smoking areas and some even have pools, like the Superfast which only takes 6 hours from Pireaus to Heraklion.

Crete-Santorini-Mykonos

If you are looking for the Connection between Crete and the Cyclades, Hellenic Seaways Flying Cat 4 leaves Heraklion, Crete at 9:45 and stops in Santorini(11:30), Ios(12:25), Paros(13:35), Mykonos(14:25), Paros(15:35), Ios(16:40), Santorini(17:25) and returns to Heraklion (19:25). Obviously this is useful if you are trying to get between Mykonos and Santorini as many people are. This schedule runs from April 9th to October 28th 2009, daily except: 4/19, 4/22, 5/6, 5/20, 6/3, 6/17, 7/1, 7/15, 7/29, 8/19, 9/2, 9/16, 9/30, 10/7, 10/21, 10/28.

Then from June 19th to September 6th they add Flying Cat 3 which leaves Mykonos at 10am and stops in Naxos(10:45), Ios(11:45), Santorini(12:30), Heraklion (14:30), Santorini(16:45), Ios(17:30), Naxos(18:30), and returns to Mykonos (19:25). This is daily except 6/24, 7/8, 7/22, 8/5, 8/26.

(the above is for 2009. Whether they do it again in 2010 depends on how successful it was so don't book your hotels on Crete, Mykonos and Santorini based on this.)

If you have a car you are out of luck because both of these boats are for passengers. Rather than list the price from and to each island let me just write that from Heraklion to Santorini costs 42 euros for economy and Santorini to Mykonos costs 38 euros. Mykonos to Heraklion is 66 euros and Ios to Santorini is 20 euros. For now it does not go to Naxos but that may change. If you are using these schedules so you can book individual hotels on your own remember that if they are wrong or change and you can't get to that hotel you will still br responsible for the booking and that is why I encourage you to coordinate ferries and hotels with a reliable Greek travel agency like Fantasy Travel or Dolphin Hellas. If there are any schedule changes they will know and make the necessary changes to your itinerary at no charge. Having said that if you are still intent on booking the hotels yourself try my Hotel Booking Site, made for me by Booking.com which has low rates and hotel descriptions and photos. Plus if you really like my site and want to show your appreciation this site gives me a small commission and enables me to keep doing what I do.

If you are looking for other ferries from one island to another you can e-mail me and I can see what I can find. But I need specific dates and the island you want to leave from and the one you want to go to. Don't send me e-mails asking for all the boats leaving a certain island because I have to look them up by island and date. e-mail me

I noticed that the boats from Lavrion are incomplete because they don't include the Marmari Express which goes to Kea almost every day. If you e-mail me I may have a copy of the Lavrion-Kea-Lavrion schedule I can send you as an attachment. There is also a ferry from Lavrion that goes to Sigri-Lesvos on Mondays which is not listed. I also noticed that the Highspeeds and the Speedrunners that leave almost daily for Sifnos are not shown. I am sure there are others.

Ferry Booking Sites

There are now a number of ferry booking sites, some of which advertise on my site through google. Though I don't know which are the best you should choose the one you use by finding out whether there is a sir-charge, if they deliver your tickets, use e-tickets or you have to go pick them up and where. Some you can get your tickets right at the boat. As for the accuracy of these sites, generally they won't list a ferry they are not sure of since refunds are more paperwork for them. But be warned that not all ferry booking sites are what they seem. Here is an e-mail I received on Sept 22 2009:

"Recently, however, my son was in Athens and encountered a problem with the ferry tickets he had purchased on line with the greekferries.com website. I actually made the booking ahead of time as we were nervous that there were only 2 ferrries a week to Ios from Piraeus.  I paid with my son's visa card  and when the email confirmation came through they gave him an address of a travel agent to pick up the actual paper tickets.  The only other option was to mail them but only if you lived in Greece.  When he arrived in Athens he went to the location and was told it had been closed for a year and a half.  He was forced to buy new tickets.  The original cost of the 2 tickets he purchased was around 80 euros I believe. "

By the way the above mentioned website is not a ferry booking company. It is just a portal with a bunch of links so who knows where the woman's money went to? I will say it one more time. If you want to be certain that you can reach your island destination book hotels and ferries with a reliable travel agency. There is no better way to bust your budget than paying for two hotels for the same night and a ferry that does not exist. Try www.greecetravel.com/create-an-itinerary

From Piraeus

More Ferry Information

Remember to get a copy of the Athens News when you get to Greece for an updated version of this schedule and other important information. It is sold at most newspaper stands, in the airport and around Athens.

For recommended Greek Travel Agencies see www.athensguide.com/agency.html

For a step-by-step guide on how to go to a Greek island see www.greektravel.com/lesson1

For information on the Greek Islands see my Greek Island Synopsis

You can get to the port of Pireaus from the airport on the X96 bus. For Airport information see www.athensguide.com/airport.html

From Athens take the Green-line metro to Pireaus. You can also take the train from the airport to Monastiraki and change there for the Green-line to Pireaus but not until they repair the line from Ethniki Amyna. Until then you should take the 94 bus to Ethniki Amyna and change there for the metro to Monastiraki and change there for the Green-line to Pireaus. You can also take the Proastaos (Suburban Rail) from the airport to Pireaus but you have to change for the Pireaus line or you may end up in Corinth. You can also connect to the Green line at Neraziotissa: See the Metro Map

The easiest way to get to Pireaus is by taxi. Either a pre-arranged transfer with George the Famous Taxi Driver or from your hotel concierge calling a radio-taxi.

Budget travelers should stay in hotels within walking distance of the metro in Athens. For Hotels in Pireaus that are convenient to the ferries see the lower section of www.hotelsofgreece.com/athens

If you plan to book hotels without a travel agency you can find them by price, location, popularity etc by using Matt's Hotel Booking Search and if you are looking for cheap rooms, apartments and inexpensive hotels go to www.hotelsofgreece.com and for each island they are in the white section.

For Bus Schedules, train schedules and other practical information see Athens Practical Information

See also Matt's Itinerary Suggestions and Fantasy Travel's Create-an-itinerary page which are both very useful for planning your trip to the islands.

Any questions you can e-mail me at matt@greecetravel.com

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