Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
Local ferries
to Corfu (with connections to Paxí) operate
from the domestic ferry quay just north of the new terminal;
tickets for these services are purchased at waterside booths.
Destinations
Corfu (5 daily; 1hr 15min-1hr 45min); Patra,
11 weekly (5hr 45min); Zakynthos, 1 weekly (6hr 15min).
BY FERRY
International ferries
Almost all international ferries
(see p.27)
depart from the New Port Egnatía at the far
south end of town, with its own exit from the Vía Egnatía
- so most drivers bound for Italy can skip the town
altogether, although a few ferries do still use the old port.
You must check in with the appropriate official agent's
embarkation booth in the Egnatía Port at least 2hr before
departure. There's a good spread of departure times across
the day for Italy-bound ferries, which leave between
7.30am and 10am, with a larger cluster of evening
departures between 8pm and 1am (especially 11pm-
midnight). During high season, make advance reservations
for cabins or vehicles.
Destinations
Ancona (1-2 daily; 15hr-15hr 30min); Bari
(1-2 daily; 9hr-10hr 30min); Brindisi (1-3 daily; 6hr
30min-8hr); Venice (every day except Wed) 22-25hr.
BY CAR
Orientation and parking
With the completion of the
new expressway, accessing the town and the port areas by
car couldn't be easier, all of the routes and ramps being
very well signed in English. Drivers can use the free car park
at the waterfront's north end.
INFORMATION
Services
Numerous ATMs line the south end of the front.
The post office is at the north end.
3
ACCOMMODATION AND EATING
Egnatia
Eleftherías 2
T
26650 23648.
Inland, at the
southeast corner of the main platía, stands this
comfortable, air-conditioned hotel. Ask for a rear room
facing the pine grove, a
nd t
ake advantage of unrestricted
street parking out back.
€50
Emily Akti
Roudou 13 cnr Agion Apostolon
T
26650
23763.
This simple taverna is much more authentic than
the usual choices along the strip. The menu has all the
Greek standards, plus fresh catch of the day, of course.
Expect just €10/meal.
Daily lunch & dinner.
Stavrodhromi
Soulíou 16
T
26650 22343,
W
stavrodromihotel.gr.
The best budget choice - it's on
the street leading diagonally uphill and northeast from the
square. En-suite, ai
r-co
nditioned rooms, as well as an
in-house restaurant.
€45
Párga and around
PÁRGA
,
53km south of Igoumenítsa, has prospered thanks to its alluring setting on a
lush coastline with a string of rocky islets offshore. Though concrete development
has spread to the outskirts, the old centre, an arc of tiered houses set below a
Norman-Venetian
kástro
, retains plenty of charm. Greeks love Párga for their own
holidays and the little alleyways of the centre can become impossibly crowded with
cars and people in midsummer and at Easter. That said, normal life just about
continues, exemplified by older ladies in the traditional garb of black veil, braids
and dark blue kerchiefs. Visit in spring or autumn and you'll be able truly to
appreciate the atmosphere.
Brief history
Párga has an idiosyncratic history, being linked with the Ionian islands as much as with
the mainland. From the 1300s to the 1700s, the port was a lone
Venetian
toehold in
Epirus - the Venetian Lion of St Mark still adorns the kástro keep - and during this
time a small Jewish community flourished here producing citrons (a lemon-like fruit
used in Jewish ceremonies).
Later, the Napoleonic
French
briefly
took Párga, leaving additional fortifications on
the largest islet guarding the harbour. At the start of the nineteenth century, the town
enjoyed autonomy under
Russian
protection, and lived from olive export, before being
acquired by the
British
, who sold it on to
Ali Pasha
. Ali Pasha rebuilt all the local
castles, while the townspeople, knowing his reputation, decamped to the Ionian
islands on Good Friday 1819. The area was subsequently resettled by
Muslim Turks
who remained until the exchange of populations in 1923, when they were replaced in
part by
Orthodox Greek
refugees.
