Ferries from Bari to Greece?

There are loads of flights to Corfu from pretty much every major UK airport on the low cost carriers (easyJet, RyanAir, Jet2, TUI). If it makes sense for you, you could fly to London, spend the night (or a few days), and then continue on to Corfu. If you book now the fares from London to Corfu should be pretty reasonable. It's very easy to get from Corfu to Sarande, the ferry is less than an hour (which is interesting because Greece and Albania are in different time zones, so when you travel towards Albania you actually arrive "earlier" than the time you departed).

I've not done the ferry from Bari but I do know it takes quite a long time. For me, I would fly from London. Good luck with your planning!

Thanks Cat, we had considered getting as far as London and sorting it out from there. I'll give it some more time, to dig in to the options. It's been a long time since I flew Ryan Air, and it suffered by comparison then, but mainline carriers keep getting stingy-er. Can't complain though, as my first trip to Europe in 1986 was...about $700 rtn (a small fortune for me in my first job, with student loans, etc.), and my last one was...$640. Yup, there was less leg room in 2025, and the food wasn't as good, but I lived through it! ;)

You are welcome! Of the low cost carriers, I personally prefer easyJet- they tend to be a bit less stingy than RyanAir and are also more likely to bring you to where you actually want to go (e.g. for a while the RyanAir airport for "Vienna" was Bratislava, for "Barcelona" was Girona, etc- nothing wrong with Bratislava or Girona but a lot less convenient if they're not your final destination!). You do need to pay attention to the baggage requirements but once you've got that sorted, it's only a three hour flight so not having all the amenities like screens/free food/etc is less of a big deal.

I agree with you, it is pretty amazing how airfare seems to be one of the few things that has gotten less expensive over the past few decades. And I do know there are direct flights from Halifax to London, if that is where you are coming from!

JoAnne, my advice is suspect as I did something similar way back in 1997, but your question brought back some memories.

In any case, I loved taking the overnight ferry! I started in Patras where I boarded the ferry, and we made stops in Igoumenitsa and Corfu before sailing on to Brindisi.

It was during a time of displacement in many countries, including Albania, and you could see a lot of refugee camps in places. We saw one camp in Patras near the ferry. And when we stopped in Igoumenitsa, they started searching some of the large trucks that had come on in Patras, and when they opened the doors, we saw slews of people jumping off and running in all directions.

But other than seeing that, which made me sad, I had a wonderful time on the ferry. I met a lot of other travelers, including a couple from Australia that I communicated with for years after that. The berth was great, with a nice bed and shower, and I really loved the adventure of it all. But it was definitely very slow travel! 😊

Oh Mardee, that must have been heartbreaking.

Thanks for the ideas. I come from an island (Newfoundland) so am no stranger to overnight ferries. Personally I would go for that, though my dh is less romantic that way! I was the one who talked him into a night train from Budapest to Munich even though we could have flown cheaper.

We've just booked our flights over, found a good route into Thessaloniki and out of Athens, so will probably need a European carrier or two to save us time. Still very interested in Corfu, but just a slight different configuration of the travel. Let the research begin!

Great to hear you found a route that works for you! If you are flying into Thessaloniki and thinking of visiting the Balkans, I would definitely consider North Macedonia- Lake Ohrid especially is beautiful (and part of the lake is actually in Albania).

You should be able to find general schedule information, and while nothing in life is certain, there will be ferries running the same schedules (with maybe minor variation) next year. No need to time things to the minute for planning purposes, buying tickets at most a few weeks ahead is sufficient. I would be in Bari at least the day before any planned ferry crossing.

It does look like there is a Corfu-Albania ferry, going to Sarande. Look for Finikas Line, and Albania Luxury Ferry.

Maybe ferries have changed, but they are basic transport, not much luxury. If you plan on sleep, book a private cabin. Years ago, we went cheap (we were young and poor) booked an "airline seat", one that reclined, but it was still a long night (We were doing Patras Greece to Bari, the ferry stopped in Corfu and another port.)

Years ago, we went cheap (we were young and poor) booked an "airline seat", one that reclined, but it was still a long night (We were doing Patras Greece to Bari, the ferry stopped in Corfu and another port.)

Paul, I went even cheaper on the overnight ferry going from Piraeus to Chania on Crete. I did not book a cabin and they had no reserved seats. It was just deck seats so you sat (and slept) anywhere you could. And it was even worse because the weather was bad outside so everyone was inside and at least half the people were smoking (this was 1997).

I swore I would never do that again; hence the reason for booking the cabin when I left Greece, lol!

Oof. I remember the bad old days when indoor spaces were filled with smoke. As a student I slept under the tables in the cafeteria every semester as I took the 6 hr trip from Newfoundland to Nova Scotia. Took the same ferry this summer in then-unimaginable luxury of a cabin. Still probably had a better sleep as a 20 year old on carpet. ;)

As for the trip, I do like the idea of getting to Sarande by ferry via Corfu. We won't be getting to the southern islands this time, so maybe a couple of nights on Corfu will be in order.

Thank you for all the feedback! Super excited, I have my weekend activities planned (planning activities)!