Is pre-booking Ferries in Greece necessary

NO

If at any time you need to book Ferries and Hotels, it would be August, when all of Europe seems to decend on the islands. If your plan is a well structured trip hitting several islands staying in higher quality hotels, then book ahead. If you are much more flexible on both where/when you are going and your sleeping arrangements, then wing it. What you may find is certain boats booked, meaning you may not get where you want to go at the time, or even the day you want. Rooms, or at least camping should still be available from the hawkers at the docks. However, if you are booking hotels ahead of time, book your ferry, maybe even consider going through an agency.

If you do decide to pre-book, we had great service from Paleologos Travel, www.ferries.gr

The first responder is replying with outdated information. This year due to oil crisis, many fast-ferries are cancelling routes -- this puts more pressure on the regular ferries. Travel around Aug. 15 the year's biggest holiday is ALWAYS difficult. Traveling from Piraeus on THurs or Friday, and back to Piraeus on Sunday is always crowded ind in August -- eeek! I would recommend - set your itinerary, pre-book ferries on heavy days. You can book thru Amphitrion agency which has an airport branch open 24/7, so you can pick up tix upon landing and not have to fight the ZOO at a Pireaus ticket agency just before sailing.

That business of people meeting you at the ferry works through July, but August -- ??? you may only get the MOST inconvenient, out=of=the=way places. And in many smaller islands, such as the lovely ones of western cyclades - Sifnos, SErifos, Milos, and Folegandros -- there is not enough housing & they won't let u camp. Depends on how much risk u want.

Thank you guys for your feedback. I was curious if these on-line time schedules are accurate? I'm traveling from Athens to Mykonos to Ios to Santorini.

Not at all!

This post caught my eye because we are planning to go from Athens to Aegina on July 14 just for a few quick hours and I was also wondering if we need to prebook. Any ideas??

Doreen; Aegina is one of the Saronic Gulf islands very close into Athens/Piraeus. You will need no reservations, schedules may not even be posted since it is almost a commuter ferry with very frequent runs, compare it maybe to the Staten Island ferry in New York, buy a ticket and go, even if you have to hang onto the boat.

Thanks, Paul. That brings up quite an image.

This is an interesting topic to me as we are going to Greece in 2 weeks and will be there all of July. I have been trying to prebook ferries between the islands and so far there is only 1 listed between Santorini and Crete and it is already full. No one at the ferry companies or the travel agents I have contacted has been able to tell me if more ferries will be added although 1 local told me that the new schedule (for July at least) comes out on June 15 which is today...but who knows when the websites will actually be updated! I am finding the whole thing very frustrating!

I have already prepaid all of our hotels for the 4 weeks on all the islands. We are flying to Santorini but then plan to ferry to the others and everyone tells us to wait until we arrive and then book all the ferries in Santorini. I have also heard that the ferry schedules aren't approved until 2 weeks before so you could be buying tickets for a ferry that won't exist and if you buy them on the internet, who do you go to for help?

We are going from Crete to Naxos and there are no direct ferries so far. The ferry companies and travel agents have just said, sorry no ferry that day. No one has ever suggested that we can go from Crete to Santorini and then Santorini to Naxos so I know we will eventually be able to do it but may have to get creative.

Hopefully you will be able to find more acurate information for Aug. than I have been able to find so far for July! I was in the islands 16 years ago and took ferries in Aug. with no problems but that was 16 years ago! I figure if we get stuck in Santorini, there are a lot worse places to be stranded:)

Joey, the online timetables are accurate but it's always good to check before departure for any last-minute changes. As for Mykonos>Ios you have a couple of options. The Hellenic Seaways FlyingCat 4 stops at Ios on the way to Santorini. I recommend advance online purchase for this ticket in July and August. You can also take a morning ferry from Mykonos to either Paros or Naxos and catch a ride on the Blue Star 'Paros' as it stops on the way to Santorini. It's very unlikely that this huge ship wouldn't have room for you since passengers would be disembarking on these islands, making room for more. But to be safe I'd try to buy your tickets in advance if you know your travel dates. July and August are extremely busy.

Once you're on Ios you will be able to get current information on what your options are to Santorini. There will be several.