Skopelos to Athens ferry connection

The Question:

Hello Stavros,
5JUN Need to get from Istanbul to Skopelos.
12JUN need to leave Skopelos for Athens can fly Skiathos to Athens but cant find a ferry service. Could spend nights of 12/13JUN on JSI if this helps..
Would like ferry times / prices -for 2 ladies..many thks Dawn


The Answer:

Hello hello!
The reason why you can't find ferry service from Skopelos to Athens is because seaplane airlines have not announced yet their schedules. During summer that kind of routes are frequent and last about 2 hours depending on the type of ferry you will take (katamaran, flying dolphin).
I suggest you don't worry about availability and check http://www.fantasticgreece.com/ in 20 days from now that schedule is estimated to be online.

-Stavros

Ways to reach Lefkas from Athens

The Question:

HI Stavros,
Could you please tell me how we might get from Athens to Lefkas.
Also we would like to pend overnight in Santorini - is there any high speed ferries available?


The Answer:

Hi!

Well there are 3 different ways to reach Lefkas from Athens. The first one is by a car. The distance is 385 km and you should drive towards, Corinth, Patras (Rion), Antirion, Amfilochia, Vonitsa and finally to Lefkas. It will take you about 4 hours and the cost of tolls as a sum is 20 E as the bridge Rion-Antirion you cross is quiet expensive (11 E).

If a car is not the case, you can go to Lefkas by KTEL bus from Athens suburban coach station at 100 Kifissou Av. There are 3-4 daily routes and the trip lasts 5 hours. You can find out more at the tel. number 2105250108 about timetable and ticket cost.

Alternatevelly, there is also flight connection from Athens towards Aktion and from there there are busses going to Lefkas (25 km). The flight lasts one hour more or less.

Regarding Santorini, from Lefkas there is not available ferry connection, as they are located in difference sea-comlexes (Ionion and Aegean). There are connections with other islands in the same sea complex (Lefkas-Kefalonia-Ithaki-Paksoi-Zakynthos and Santrorini-Mykonos-Ios-Folegandros-Anafi).

Hope I helped you!

-Stavros

Winter Destinations in Greece

The Question:

i will be in Greece begining November 9. Besides Athens, were is the best place to visit this time of year? What are the must sees? Is Santorini or Crete good to visit this time of year?


The Answer:

Hello!
Greece has many beautiful destinations to offer during this period. Some suggestions are Kalampaka and Meteora, Ioannina, Zagorochoria and Xanthi. All these destinations are located in central and northern Greece and better reached by car, although you can also reach them by bus or train.
As far as Santorini and Crete are concerned, depending on the weather these two islands can be very picturesque. Santorini's only disadvantage is that in case there are strong winds, ferries won't be able to reach the island. Crete on the other hand, has far more options to offer and due to its southern location, the weather is also warmer and with less rainfalls.
Hope I have helped!

-Stavros

Travelling from Italy to Lefkada, Zante and Santorini

The Question:

hello I will be travelling from italy to greece and would like to visit santorini as well as lefkada and possibly zante and am having troubles connecting the pathways,
can you please assist me,
thanks Stavros!!


The Answer:

Hello!
This sounds like a nice trip!
So, if you start from Italy then you will probably stop at either Igoumenitsa or Patras. From Patras you need to either rent a car or catch a bus to reach Zante or Lefkada. There is no direct ferry connection from Lefkada to Zante. To reach Zante you can take the bus from Patras which will take you to Killini and from there you will take the ferry to Zante. To reach Lefkada, you can take the bus from Patras and it will take you straight there, without having to take a ferry since the island is connected to the mainland by a bridge. Another interesting way to travel from Lefkada to Zante is to take the ferry from Vassiliki in Lefkada and go to Kefallonia and from the Kefallonia (southern part) take the ferry to Zante.
Santorini is on the other side of Greece and belongs to the Aegean Sea islands. To reach Santorini you need to take the ferry from the port of Athens (Piraeus) or take a plane from the Athens International Airport.
Hope I have helped!

-Stavros

Planning a trip to Crete and the Dodecanese

The Question:

Good day!

My wife and I are planning a trip to Crete and the Dodecanese.

We will likely be booking our flight from Montreal Canada to Athens ourselves but are looking for a bit of help in planning and booking our transportation beyond that.
Our preferred itinerary would take us from Athens to Crete, then to the islands of Rhodes, Patmos and Kos (and maybe another one) in no particular order and back to Athens. We could also the the opposite (start with Rhodes, etc, then go to Crete). We would like to spend an average of 3-5 days on each island.
Can you help us with ferries and/or flights between the islands and the mainland?
Thank you!

The Answer:

Thank you for sending your question! I hope you find my answer below informative and useful.

All scheduled flights and ferry itineraries between the greek islands can be found from the website fantasticgreece.com which I use often and recommend to my friends!

In order to reach the islands of Crete you should keep in mind that you can go either by ferry or airplane. If you choose to fly to Crete, then there are two main airports, Chania and Heraklion. Flights are quite cheap and are scheduled daily with more than 2 flights per day. The airline companies that fly to Crete, Rhodes and Kos from Athens are Aegean airlines and Olympic airlines.

If you choose to reach the islands by ferry, then from the main port of Athens, which is called Piraeus, you can take either the highspeed ferry or the conventional one. The main difference is the price of the ticket and the duration of the trip. Conventional ferries take significantly more time to reach the islands and usually stop at other islands too on their way. The price of the tickets is lower though. There are daily scheduled ferry itineraries to all of the above mentioned islands from the port of Piraeus. To reach Crete from Rhodes or vice versa, you need to depart from the port of Heraklion of Crete and not Chania.

It is possible that when you search for specific ferry itineraries through fantasticgreece.com that no results will be presented to you. I apologize for that and would like to inform you that this happens due to the fact that several ferry companies have not yet announced their schedules for the summer period, which means that it will be announced later in the month.

Feel free to e-mail or contact me in case you need any further information!

-Stavros