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Athens to Rome - not flying

It may be here someplace, but I can’t find it……what is the best way from Athens to Rome besides flying?? Friends heading to Athens from Turkey arriving Oct 20 or so need a little help ASAP. I am thinking ferry to Bari and train to Rome…but beyond that, any hints? Thanks.

Posted by
5678 posts

Well Thom, back many many years ago, you took a bus to Patras, where you caught the ferry to Brindisi, where you then caught the train to Rome. I'm thinking that it would take at least 24 hours, but there may be faster ferries. I searched on Greek Ferries and found that you can do this.

Posted by
3115 posts

If they aren't flying then the ferry is the only other way. Some of the ferry companies have their own bus from Athens/Piraeus to Patras.

Posted by
990 posts

Ah, Pamela, that brings back long ago memories of trying to sleep with deck passage on the Brindisi ferry (which was a re-purposed Japanese ferry still featuring Japanese language maps of the Japanese islands the ferry used to frequent.) In Brindisi there were mildly menacing groups of young, swivel-hipped youths sizing up the ferry passengers. I suppose it's a different experience these days...

Posted by
18 posts

Hi everyone and thanks for the tips so far...especially the one from Lee on bus/ferry connectors from Athens. Will check with the folks at Superfast to see if they have one. Any particular tricks once getting off in Bari to get to the train to Roma?

Posted by
39 posts

My husband and I just did this trek back in June. We originally flew from Rome to Athens and it took two hours. On the way back we decided to take the ferry and I would recommend flying if you have the money.

We took the train from Athens to Patras which had a connection in the middle in a little town I can't remember. From Patras we took an overnight ferry to Bari. In Bari when you get off the ferry there is a bus that takes you directly to the train station. The bus stops right at the entrance to the terminal. Then from the Bari train station we took a train to Florene. Going to Rome would cut off an couple hours but the whole thing took us about 36 hours. It was a bit of a nightmare!