Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
reductions in services, it's better to check online or
at station schedule boards or information counters.
If you're starting a journey at a station with compu-
terized facilities you can (at no extra cost)
reserve a
seat
; a carriage and seat number will be printed on
your ticket.
There are two basic
classes
: first and second, the
latter about 25 percent cheaper. An express
category of train,
Intercity
(IC on timetables), exists
for departures between Alexandhroúpoli, Thessal-
oníki, Vólos, Kalambáka and Athens; also, when the
line upgrade is completed, Pátra and Kalamáta,
although at the time of writing all trains on that
Peloponnesian route were terminating at Kiáto,
from where bus transfers complete the journey.
A second-class ticket on the IC service between
Athens and Thessaloníki costs €45 in person, €35
online, with occasional super deals as low as €9. The
slower overnight train costs €25 (€19 online) for a
seat, €49 (€39 online) for a sleeper.
Tickets issued on board carry a fifty-percent
penalty charge; by contrast, under-26s and over-60s
get 25 percent
discounts
at off-peak seasons for
non-express trains.
InterRail
and
Eurail pass
holders
must secure reservations, and pay express
supplements, like everyone else.
(
T
22940 28888) and Lávrio (
T
22920 25249). Busier
port police have automated phone-answering
services with an English option for schedule infor-
mation. Many companies produce annual
schedule
booklets, which may not be adhered to
as the season wears on - check their
websites
(if
any) for current information, or refer to
W
gtp.gr or,
even better,
W
openseas.gr.
Ferries
Except for some subsidized peripheral routes where
older rust-buckets are still used, the Greek
ferry
fleet
is fairly contemporary.
Routes and speed
can
vary enormously, however; a journey from Pireás to
Santoríni, for instance, can take anything from five
to ten hours.
Tickets
are best bought a day before departure,
unless you need to reserve a cabin berth or space
for a car. During holiday periods - Christmas/New
Year, the week before and after Easter, late July to
early September - and around the dates of
elections, ferries need to be booked at least ten
days in advance. Ticketing for most major routes is
computerized and you cannot
buy
your ticket on
board. Many companies allow you to reserve places
and pay online, but tickets must still be picked up at
the port at least fifteen minutes before departure.
The cheapest
fare class
, which you'll automati-
cally be sold unless you specify otherwise, is
ikonomikí thési
, which gives you the run of most
boats except for the upper-class restaurant and bar.
Most newer boats seem expressly designed to
frustrate summertime travellers attempting to sleep
on deck. For long overnight journeys, it's worth
considering the few extra euros for a
cabin bunk
;
second-class cabins are typically quadruple, while
first-class
double cabins with en-suite bathrooms
can cost as much as a flight.
Motorbikes and cars
get issued separate tickets;
the latter have risen in price dramatically of late to as
much as five times the passenger fare, depending
on size. For example, Sámos-Ikaría costs around €12
per person/€40 per car, while Sámos-Pireás is about
€28/€100. It's really only worth taking a car to the
larger islands like Crete, Rhodes, Híos, Lésvos, Sámos,
Corfu or Kefaloniá, and only if staying a week or
more. Otherwise, it is cheaper to leave your car on
the mainland and rent another on arrival.
By sea
There are several varieties of sea-going vessels:
ordinary ferries
, which never exceed 17 knots in
velocity; the new generation of “
high-speed
”
boats
(
tahyplóö
) and catamarans, which usually carry cars,
and are capable of attaining 27 knots;
roll-on-roll-
of
short-haul barges, nicknamed
pandófles
(“slippers”),
hydrofoils
, similarly quick but
which
carry only passengers; and local
kaïkia
, small boats
which do short hops and excursions in season.
Ferry connections
are indicated both on the
route
map
(see p.30) and in the “Arrival and
Departure” sections throughout the topic.
Schedules are notoriously erratic, however, and
must be verified seasonally; details given are for
departures between late June and early September.
When sailing in season from
Pireás
to the Cyclades
or Dodecanese, you should have a choice of at least
two, sometimes three, daily departures.
Out-of-
season
departure frequencies drop sharply, with
less populated islands connected only two or three
times weekly.
Reliable departure information is available from
the local
port police
(
limenarhío
) at all island and
mainland harbours of any size; around Athens there
are o
ces at Pireás (
T
210 45 50 000), Rafína
Hydrofoils, catamarans and high-speed
boats
Hydrofoils
- commonly known as
dhelfínia
or
“Flying Dolphins” - are at least twice as expensive as
ordinary ferries, but their network neatly fills gaps in
