When do summer ferry schedules begin in Greece?

Karen. the period when you are going -- same time as when I love to go -- is also the most "iffy" for ferry schedules. It's not the winter bare-bones, but not high season. Also some ferry lines, annoyingly, will pull off a ferry for a few weeks of maintenance, screwing everything up. Here is a useful ferry ROute map - http://www.greeceathensaegeaninfo.com/ferry-info-greece/greek-islands-ferry-chart.htm - the frequency given is for high season but show what connects with what. Your BEST bet is to learn to use the OPEN SEAS ferry website. It has a useful "calendar rollback" feature that lets you see the ferry service for LAST May, then you can "guesstimate" typical service for 2011. Just put in your departure port and destination port, click the calendar to enlarge, then clilck the LEFT arrow to reverse it to May 2010. Highlight not the DATE you want for 2011, but the WEEKDAY. i.e., second tuesday of month. If you don't find a ferry, try clicking "next day" or "previous day." It is also helpful to know the port cities of your target isles. For example Lesbos will not be listed instead Mytilene.

Hi Janet. I am very happy you posted that link to Open Seas because I will be traveling during that exact same time too. But what I found troubling is that I searched the ferry schedule for this past June on the exact day I am supposed to be going from Mykonos to Santorini and found only one ferry operating that day. Could the results on Open Seas be a mistake? I was under the impression that by June there would be two ferry's operating that day (leaving to Santorini). I guess I'm more concered about the departure time of that ferry. Here I thought I could get a morning ferry out of Mykonos to Santorini. Do you think there will be a morning ferry come next June? In case you're wondering, I am specifically traveling between the two islands June 4, 2011. This is fixed and cannot be chaged because I already reserved my hotels on both islands.

Thanks for the "openseas" information - the best option I've seen yet. I'm thinking to re-organize my plans or "wing-it" for the in-between island. I'd like to go to Sifnos from Santorini, then on to Piraeus to Lesvos (or Lesbos), but the Sifnos link seems pretty iffy in May - may go to Paros instead since it's better placed for an intermediate island stop. We'll see. What kinds of options for lodging are there in Piraeus area - if we come in on one ferry, but can't get the next until a.m. - don't really want to go back into the center - any recommendations? Making reservations for hotels does seem to be a bit difficult when you don't know if you can get there or not-not that there aren't a lot of rooms available in May, but if you want something specific, needing to reserve in advance is problematic. I think I'll reserve Santorini and Lesvos, but leave the days in between and see what comes as we get closer. Thanks

Do not, repeat, DO NOT make plans based on what you see on the Openseas website for last season. Although it's a useful tool to get a sense of what you will find for the upcoming year it is NOT the same schedule that you will be dealing with come next May and June, or any other date in 2011 for that matter. Gabriel, there are usually two options for getting from Mykonos to Santorini. One is a direct highspeed ferry, the Hellenic Seaways FlyingCat4, which leaves Mykonos around 3pm and stops at Santorini around 5:30pm on the way to Crete. Here is last season's schedule for this ferry. Take note of the "No-sailing" Wednesdays: http://www.ferries.gr/hfd The other option is the 10am SeaJets highspeed ferry from Mykonos to Paros (40 minutes), and then a connecting Blue Star ferry at Noon from Paros to Santorini, arriving around 3:30pm. There may even be a 3rd morning ferry from Mykonos to Santorini, a different Hellenic Seaways Highspeed ferry, but there's no way to know if it will be added to the schedule for next year until the HS schedules are released sometime next April.

Lee, thank you! Such a relief that there at least two options for travel between Mykonos and Santorini. I had booked my hotels with that assumption too. I'm really hoping there will be a morning ferry out of Mykonos because my time in Santorini will be rather short. I want to arrive there as soon as possible. Thank you!

Lee, I agree, you cannot COUNT on what you see from last year's schedules, it will just give you "typical" service. For instance, for years there was a regular 2-3x per week run between Naxos & Samos. Then Whoops! it was gone. Lee u will note I also gave the link to the high-season ferry network to give an "idea" of which islands connect frequently or occasionally and which, never-never. Karen (or whoever) Sifnos is one of THE most vexing connections in May, and even in High season. It took me till my 5th trip to get there. It barely connects with anything. In that "row" of isles, Milos has the best connections to another "row". BTW, is everyone as frustrated as me, about the set-up of this forum, in that when you click to add a reply, ALL the other posts in the thread disappear!?!? Rick-Master, this needs fixing! :={

Janet: Yep, it needs fixing. But me thinks you might be spoiled by the software of that state-of-the-art travel forum you've been known to hang out at (she's a Destination Expert there). The word on the street is those corporate owners have a bigger IT budget than Rick. Until the fuzzy time in the future when this site gets a long-needed makeover, the only workaround we've found is to open a 2nd tab in your browser. Yeah, I know.... (for those who are wondering, Janet is a valued and esteemed Guest Poster here at To The East, on loan to us from that other big-time travel forum, whose name is never to be mentioned here.)

Ok, now the question is: when the ferry schedules come out in April, do I book the ferry online? Or can I wait till I get to Mykonos and buy the ferry ticket while I'm there (a few days before departing for Santorini)? In other words, is it necessary to reserve well in advance for an early June departure on the ferry?

For collecting your tickets at ferry port ticket offices you can book online using the booking functions of the various ferry company websites or you can go to www.danae.gr and book with them, or you can book online using the website for Amphitrion Holidays and pick up your ferry tickets at the airport when you first arrive from their travel desk in the Arrivals Hall between Doors 2&3. They're open 24/7. (FYI-"Multi-Leg" booking with Amphitrion is only possible if you don't change ferry companies along the route you're taking. Otherwise you have to book each "hop" separately.) http://www.amphitrionholidays.com/online Ferries in Early June won't be booked solid so you can wait until you get to your first destination island to book passage to the next one. This includes booking with Amphitrion Holidays at the airport.

Here are a couple of other Greek ferry sites that I have found useful: http://www.bluestarferries.com/site/content.asp?loc=2 http://www.gtp.gr/ ...This one is nice because it aggregates many different ferry lines. I can't get to the Open Seas site (I get an internal server error message). Do I have the right url?? http://www.openseas.gr/OPENSEAS/index_en.vm By the way, both Aegean and Olympic airlines have opened bookings through at least October 2011.

I was on open seas just a few days ago - used a google search, but nothing seems to be working right now. Maybe they are just having temporary website issues.

It would be much easier if there was a short and inexpensive flight from Mykonos to Santorini. According to the Loney Planet Greek Islans Travel Guide, there is such a flight (30 mins). However, when I go on to the local airlines websites (Olympic and Aegean), they only offer flights that connect in Athens, which makes it a 2-3 hour flight. Are there any direct flights from Mykonos to Santorini?

Gabe, Easy cheap air transport between 2 small isles? Not off-season, and not much even on season. Between late June & early Sept there MAY be a Sky Express flight (18 pass/only 22 lb luggage allowed). This website shows the 2010 schedule http://www.mykonos-accommodation.com/flights-summer.htm Nothing at all from Aegean or Olympic. You may find this frustrating. But in the US West, would you expect daily off-season flights by Delta or American from a minor California airport to Catalina island? Or here in the East, expect flights in May (or any other time) by US Air from Block Island to Martha's Vineyard? Just to put it into perspective. Greek islands are not a fly-by experience. Sit on the back deck of a nice big ferry, read a book, get some sun, watch the wake. Maybe you'll see a dolphin! I did once, in June.

Any direct flights available will be with Sky Express. http://www.skyexpress.gr They aren't cheap and schedules for next May/June won't be available for several months.

Janet, although I appreciate your reply, your sarcasm was a bit much. I didn't really need all that extra info. If a well known AND popular guidebook says there are direct flights I figured why not ask? And I never said anything about off season. I am traveling during high season. Those two islands are not in the slightest bit remote (like Catalina is to Los Angeles), therefore, I don't think my question was silly at all.

Gabriel, you did not say you were going during high season you answered Karen's post by saying you were going at the exact time that she was, then you said June 4. That is off-season. High season in Greece - for transport & lodgings begins July 1 and lasts thru early September. I did not make reference to remote destinations ... I referenced SMALL destinations. Both are small islands, even if they attract large populations during High Season. They do not have large permanent populations. Different from Crete. Also, Catalina is no more remote from LA than Mykonos is from Athens.

I had the same question myself since I will be there in May. I emailed the source directly and was emailed back "SUMMER SCHEDULES ARE NOT AVAILABLE YET
are available around the beginning of February 2011 . " along with how to book when schedules are up from Mrs. Natasa Nikiforaki email: [email protected] .

I seriously doubt that you will find full ferry schedules available as soon as February, whether you look at the Forthnet website or any other. Typically Hellenic Seaways doesn't release them until April or later, even, depending on what summer month is in question. Blue Star Ferries does release theirs earlier, but there are several other carriers as well who don't. This makes travel planning by ferry in Greece difficult, I know, but that's one of the challenges visitors have had to deal with for decades. That and the fact that there are sometimes last-minute changes and cancellations that can't be predicted at all, and which you won't discover until you're on the island in question a day or two before your scheduled departure. So ask once you're there in a ticket office for the latest schedule information so you are sure to be as informed as possible.