AFerry.co.uk’s Guide to Greece and the Greek Islands 3
1.0 Introduction 3
2.0 Map 3
3.0 Buying Ferry tickets online 3
3.1 Greek ferry news: E-ticketing coming soon 5
4.0 Getting to Piraeus port from the airport and finding your way around 5
4.1 Printing your ticket and finding your ferry in Piraeus port 7
5.0 Taking your car on the ferry 8
6.0 Taking your dog on the ferry 9
7.0 Fast ferries v conventional ferries 11
7.1 Summary: 12
8.0 Other advice 13
9.0 Popular island hopping itineraries 15
9.1 Island hopping in the Cyclades 15
9.2 Island hopping in the Dodecanese 17
9.3 Island hopping in the Sporades 19
9.4 A note on taking a taxi to or from the port 21
10.0 Greek islands in the movies 21
AFerry.co.uk’s Guide to Greece and the Greek Islands
Greece is one of the world’s largest passenger ferry markets. In 2008, 18.3 million people travelled on ferries in Greece. For a comparison, 15.3 million people travelled between England and France in 2014.
The Greek ferry market is so large due to the huge number of islands. There are approximately 6,000 islands of which 227 are inhabited.
The high period for tourism in Greece is June to August and ferries can and do become full in this period. Therefore it is well worth booking in advance on sites like AFerry.co.uk.
2.0 Map
Map showing popular ferry routes in Greece. Book at www.aferry.co.uk/greece
As tourist numbers pick-up in the summer it becomes increasingly risky to not reserve tickets in advance. If you plan to travel anywhere in June, July or August or during Greek public holidays, there is every chance that you may not find a sailing when you want to travel. And there is every chance that you won’t find reserved seating or a cabin.
It’s also worth noting that while you may be going to a less popular spot, most ferries do end up at the popular ports like Santorini or Piraeus. So even if your final destination is a less popular island, this is no guarantee of finding a ticket without booking in advance.
However, even if you reserve a ticket online, you’ll still need to swap the confirmation for an actual ferry ticket. There are no exceptions. The system could be changing soon, but this may not be for a few years.
But booking online and collecting your ticket is quite straight-forward. The major ports: Piraeus, Santorini, Mykonos, and others will have a booth or office at the port that will certainly be opened in time for your departure – even if at night. For the other islands where the port is in the town or village, you have two choices. One, use any agency that sells ferry tickets for the ferry company you’ll sail with – you’ll find most agencies sell tickets for all the ferry companies. All you have to do is present your ID and booking confirmation to get your ticket printed. There might be a small charge of two or three Euros to print your ticket.
Or the second option is to go to the ‘central agency’. By using the central agency you won’t have to pay any fee. The central agency is normally located close to the port. You can find the name of the agency by going to the website of your ferry company.
 All photos for illustration only. Photos may not be copied under any circumstance.
3.1 Greek ferry news: E-ticketing coming soon
In January 2015, the then Greek minister of shipping, Miltiadis Varvitsiotis, signed a draft Presidential Decree to establish complete electronic ticketing in the Greek ferry market. This would mean that passengers could to board ferries with just a confirmation and their identity document. Specification for a new electronic booking system have been put forward, however, it is not known when complete e-ticketing will be available.
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