Greek Islands

Dottyray

We are planning to fly to Athens and then out by ferry to Naxo, Santorini and Stifnos in August, with our 9 year old daughter. I have read that the ferries schedules are very unreliable and that booking rooms direct over the internet can mean paying for a room and not managing to get to the islands. I read that using a greek travel agent was the best move. I did contact some and they gave me a great plan but I worked out that the cost was quite a bit higher than booking direct. Has anyone done this? Are the ferries unreliable?

davidlizard

Hi,

We have done what you plan to do for the last 10 or so years, the last 2 summers with a baby. We usually do Naxos, and 2 or 3 other islands. We rarely bother booking accommodation, but find it on arrival (but this is middle season, high season we may book a night or two ahead). Many ports (Naxos and Sifnos do or did, not sure about Santorini) have a tourist office on the quayside where they will help you find a room, but theres also a crowd with boards offering accomodation. All part of the fun.

Firstly, I fully recommend looking at https://www.greekislandhopping.com, and buying the book (about a tenner from amazon), which tells you all you need to know about the boats, has an indicative timetable and contact numbers for accommodation.

The Greek ferries are generally reliable these days, depending on your definition of reliable. They are nowhere near as prone to strikes as they used to be, but one thing that can affect them is the wind, however, it has to be fairly blowy for the standard ferries to stop (usually because the port is closed). The small catermerans are usually the first casualties of wind (and it can blow a bit in the Cyclades) and these are prone to cancellation. The larger standard ferries are a lot less susceptible, but some of the older, slower boats will often turn up 2-3 hours later than advertised (so do allow slack to get back for the flight home).

A for mechanical breakdowns, these are uncommon and there are often several boats operating each route anyway, so there are alternatives. There are about 8-10 boats per day that do Athens to Naxos (but they do all tend to leave around 8am or 4pm, but fewer on a Wednesday last year). The Blue Star boat (about 7:45 from Pireaus) is usually our boat of choice, but there are several other alternatives - the high speed catermeran takes half the time but is double the cost, and an older tub is usually available (cheaper, slower and less crowded). There are also a few boats that go to Naxos from Rafina (via Andros/Tinos/Mikonos) worth considering to avoid Athens - both Pireaus and Rafina are easily accessible from the airport via bus.

Theres a fair few daily boats that do the Naxos to Santorini run (some not at the most sociable times), but Santorini to Sifnos may be a bit more limited - suggest buy that ticket as soon as you get to Santorini.

Please post if we can be of further assistance.

Dave