Ferry Italy to Greece... can someone help me?

[cherrytomato]

Hi!

I have a few questions regarding the ferry crossing from Bari or Brindisi to Patras.

We will be in Sorrento. I understand it is a 4 hr train from Naples to Bari. Then the ferry is 15-16 hrs to Patras. Then the train from Patras to Athens is another 3.5 hrs. We ultimatly want to get to Santorini, and the ferry from Pireaus to Santorini can range from 5-7 hrs. Is this approximatly correct?

So basically if we leave Sorrento on July 29, we arrive in Patras around 12:00 on July 30, and we will not likely arrive in Santorini until July 31. So, 2.5 days of travel... whew.

A few Qs:
1. Bus or train from Patras to Athens... which is easier, faster? Any links for buses?

2. Main train station to Pireaus port... how do you get there, how long does it take?

3. Are reservations required for these trips? I would like to avoid making them if possible because I want my trip to be flexible if we change plans as we go... any experience with this?

4. Lastly... I found a flight Rome to Athens for 211 euros each (plus taxes and stuff). We are really on a budget... and would like to avoid the additional cost.. but is it worth it?? On top of that, once we arrive in Athens, we still have the ferry to Santorini... although that would be shorter, and likely pleasant I hope. I love the ocean, but after 16+7 = 23 hrs on it?? That might be a bit much!

Any insight into these plans? Thank you for your help!!!

[me]

how wedded are you to this schedule?

Agean offers weekday Rome - Athens flights for €30 less per person, €181. add €73 for a flight from Athens to Santorini.

how would you feel about flying to another location from Naples, then strait to Santorini from that location? Amsterdam, Brussels, Berlin, Frankfurt, London & Munich would all be options for this. would any of these interest you?

these flights aren't cheap, but rail & ferry costs aren't cheap either. and, you're also paying for food along the way. you're also shelling out some bucks for your time IN europe (transatlantic airfare).

[cherrytomato]

Hi David!

Thanks for your reply. Yes, I would defintly be interested in some other options! Thank you for your suggestions. We are fairly flexible, the only thing that is really fixed is that we are flying out of Athens on Aug 6. We were planning on spending several days on Santorini, then 2 finals days in Athens.

How do I search for the other flights out of the other destinations you suggested? Sorry... I am new at this! My first trip to Europe!

I went to Aegean Air again... and found the flight 181 euro flight you suggested on Thursday, July 27. I think this is a very good option.

Now I must convince my husband about another flight! He is concerned about all our flights within Europe. So far, we flight from home to Frankfurt... Frankfurt to Venice... travel via train south, then East to Greece (perhaps a flight!). Then we fly Athens-Milan, Milan-Frankfurt, then Frankfurt-Home. All these flights (except the home ones) were booked either with Easyjet or RyanAir, and were all very inexpensive, around 50$ each Canadian. He is apprehensive of flying... and worried about connections, lost baggage, etc. And he is very against having our trip completely "scheduled"... he wants to have some flex room to adjust things as we go if need be. But I think that is partially due to the fact he has been working insane hours to meet our budget goals, so it is a reaction to the last several months at home being very over scheduled! Lol! Sorry for the aside... just a little background!

As you can see from our dates... we are leaving very soon. We are actually going on a "pre-trip" as I like to call it on June 30-July11 (a drive). Then we leave for Europe on July 13.

Thanks for your help!

[me]

Hi, ChT!

to find these flights, go to www.whichbudget.com, scroll down to "I want to fly to ...," click on Greece, then click on "Santorini (JTR)." this gives a list of places from which you can get budget flights to Santorini. [Naples (the closest airport to Sorrento, no?) isn't on that list]

now, in another window, open www.whichbudget.com, click on Italy under "I want to fly from ...," from that list click on "Naples (NAP)." this gives a list of places from which you can get budget flights from Naples.

now, compare these lists. try to find a place on both that you want to visit anyway. if there is, plan to fly there from Naples, visit the place for however long you want to be there, then fly to Santorini.