Everything You Need to Know About Travelling from Athens to Rome by Bus and Ferry
- Han Han
- Apr 7, 2020
- 15 min read
Howdy, howdy globe trotters, it's been a hot minute! You can blame that on a hectic summer, (ignore the fact that winter is almost over for me now) or me...whatever. The point is I'm back!
💸💸 Are you broke as hell? Wait, let me rephrase that...are you travelling from Greece to Italy on a tight budget? Are commercial airlines discriminating against your bank account and exploiting your basic human need to explore? Trying to save a few dollar dollar bills where you can? Are the chains of your own personal austerity measures beginning to chafe your soul? Well, before you commit to that 10-bed dorm in Rome just to save 2 euros that you'd rather spend on some gelato, HEED MY WORDS! 💸💸
I'm here to not just tell you but show you how you can save a decent amount of money and experience, what I found to be, a really enjoyable adventure by taking a ferry from Greece to Italy. Now, if you're still reading then that's a good sign, the normies have clicked away and it's just us, the struggling students, artists, the underpaid or just shitty at saving (or both). The minority of people, of questionable sanity, who would genuinely consider this as a viable option. Welcome, you are among friends, read on.
For this crossing my friends and I only had 2 ferry companies to choose between. If you're also deliberating over who you'd rather entrust to carry you across the sea or if you don't even know where to start and especially if you just get a kick out of reading some of the worlds worst reviews, then I highly recommend staying tuned for my upcoming post: Taking a Ferry from Greece to Italy - Grimaldi V.S. Anek Lines. Watch this space!
*SPOILER ALERT* In case you're wondering and to cut a long, so scary it's hilarious, story short we went with Anek Lines.
So maybe you too are scraping for cash and trying to find a cheaper option than the extortionately priced 2-hour flight from Athens to Rome. I see you, I feel you but more importantly; I got you. Let's get started.
🗺 Choosing the Right Port 🗺
Basically, for any chance of catching a ferry from Greece to Italy, you have limited departure ports to choose from. Now, I'm well acquainted with Piraeus port because for my summer job I leave and return from there over 20 times every season. Sadly, this wasn't an option or, actually, maybe it's for the better because leaving from there would make the journey even longer than 16 and a half hours!
That's right fam, 16 and a half...hours. YA. From Patras to Bari -- which are the ports my friends and I chose to depart from in Greece and arrive in, in Italy.
There are 2 ports on the western coast of mainland Greece where you can catch a ferry to Italy, Patras and Igoumenitsa.
I've taken the liberty of preparing a visual guide for you of the distance from Athens to each port 🤓🤓🤓 The red pin is Igoumenitsa which is around a 7-hour journey from Athens, depending on the bus you catch, traffic etc. I've also marked out Patras for you which is around 3 hours from Athens also depending on the bus you catch, traffic etc. -- PLEASE ALWAYS CONFIRM YOUR BUS TRIP'S DURATION WITH THE COMPANY YOU CHOOSE AND ALLOW ENOUGH TIME FOR DELAYS -- Delays are VERY common in the Mediterranean and I don't want you to miss your ferry!
FUN FACT: Igoumenitsa is right next to Corfu, which, in case you're curious or happen to be there/going there already, is another destination you can catch a ferry to Italy from!
FUN FACT NO. 2: Skiathos and Skopelos (the 2 islands on the upper right-hand side) are 2 destinations where the first Mamma Mia movie was filmed!
You're welcome.
Now while it is important to know which port you are leaving from you also need to decide which port you want to dock in when you reach Italy. This may come as a surprise to you, it did to me - having spent so much time in Athens where you can get a ferry to and from almost anywhere in aquatic Greece - but you can't get a ferry straight to Rome 😱😱😱😭😭😭 You can, however, get a ferry to a number of different coastal cities on the east of Italy, including Venice!
I've prepared another visual guide for you, to help you decide where you'd like to drop anchor in Italy ⚓️ 🇮🇹
Please ignore my saved places on google maps 😂😂🙏🙏
It's important to bear in mind that the longer your journey is, the more it will cost, however not by very much, we're talking €10 or so.
Sadly, I can only give you rough estimates for how long the crossings are because I don't know your potential dates, travel times, port traffic or even if the ferry will be on time ⌚️🤷♀️🤷♀️ this is the Mediterranean after all! 😜😜 Also, in addition to all of these reasons, sometimes they will have an option that does the crossing a little bit faster or slower. For the most part, these are the common time estimates I've been able to take from Direct Ferries.com.
Rough Ferry Duration Estimates
Patras to Venice = 32 hours
Patras to Ancona =22 hours
Patras to Bari = 17 hours
Patras to Brindisi = 17 hours
Igoumenitsa to Venice = 25 hours 30 mins
Igoumenitsa to Ancona = 16 hours
Igoumenitsa to Bari = 10 hours
Igoumenitsa to Brindisi = 10 hours
It's easy to look at these and choose Igoumenitsa because its a shorter ferry crossing but you have to remember that getting to Igoumenitsa by bus is a much longer journey (around 7 hours v.s roughly a 3-hour journey from Patras), so it's 6 of one and half a dozen of the other really. You'll decide for yourself which you'd prefer, a longer bus ride or a longer ferry 🤔⌚️⌚️🚌⌚️⌚️🛳🤔💡💡
🚗 Travelling with a Car 🚗
Unfortunately, I don't recommend making this journey with a car, although it is possible, for 2 reasons:
1. It's REALLY pricey, for example, a single one-way ticket from Patras to Bari goes from €60 to €125 when you add a car.
2. Based on reviews I've read (and I've read a lot), I personally wouldn't take a rental car, or my own for that matter, on one of these journeys as a large portion of negative reviews have come from disgruntled car owners with scratches and damages that they had to pay for themselves 🙈🙈. Also, I think things move very slowly in the garages so prepare for delays.
🚌 Organising the Bus to your chosen Port 🚌
So you've decided on your ferry and you've chosen your departure port in Greece as well as your arrival port in Italy, PHEW! 🤪🤪😊😊 WELL DONE!!
🥳🥳🥳👏👏👏
All that's left to do is figure out how you're gonna get to this ferry you spent so much time and energy deliberating over and researching!
😮😮😓😓😭😭
There, there. Don't be too disheartened! I've compiled all the info you need right here!
😜😜😜
There are a few options to get from central Athens (presumably where you'll be staying) to your ferry.
Athens to Patras
BACKSTORY *cue dreamy piano music and a ripply screen change effect*
When my friends and I tried to figure out this route, on a beach on Despotiko-
-No. If there is an island called Despacito in Greece, I haven't found it yet...and I'm not so sure I want to....
Aaannyway, we had so much trouble just deciphering the timetable and even though we were on the English section of the website, it was still really difficult to read and make sense of 🕵️♂️🕵️♀️🕵️♂️
Luckily for us, I had a Greek Sim Card so we were able to call the bus company. Sim Cards are easy enough to get if you aren't already travelling with an EU Sim but if you decide not to get one or don't have calls in the EU it's not a worry as your hotel should allow you to use their phone to contact the number of the bus company.
FUN/IMPORTANT FACT: "Patras" is sometimes spelt "Patra" because of a Greek Grammar rule that I won't explain rn because I don't really understand it myself. BUT YEAH, Patras/Patra = same same, remember that.
The company that runs the Athens to Patras bus transfer is KTEL Achaias, there are SOOOO MANY different KTELS (public bus operators) but this is the one that will take you Patras. This is how its spelt in Greek: ΚΤΕΛ ΑΧΑΪΑΣ.............
If you can't be translating the Greek alphabet and don't have the time or inclination it's nay bother ma wee lads and lassies (apologies to every Scottish person ever) coz this website has had an ENORMOUS makeover and not only is it newly fandangled and sexy, (as sexy as a family-friendly, public bus website can be) its timetables are flawlessly, complexity-less.
Exhibit A:
Ahh the sexy simplicity 😍😍😍🙏🙏🥰🥰🥰
You can click on the interactive window above or here to go to their Athens - Patras timetable page.
Athens to Igoumenitsa
If you decide to book a ferry that leaves from Igoumenitsa the bad news is it's even further from Athens but happily, it does make for a shorter ferry journey.
The Athens to Igoumenitsa bus route will take you about 6 hours, you should be able to get one from Kifissou station but this route is run through the KTEL Thesprotias and their website has less info on it. I would call them just to make sure which station you hop on the bus at when you're in Athens because their timetable doesn't specify an exact starting location. I'd also check with them the exact time of the bus ride and make sure you allow for longer because delayed transport in Greece is really common.
Click on the interactive window above or here to see their Athens - Igoumenitsa timetable page.
Athens to Patras to Igoumenitsa
That's right, there is a third option it's an insane one but if you want more flexible bus times there is a small possibility that this could work for you. The buses from Athens to Patras leave regularly however the buses from Patras to Igoumenitsa are rare. There's 2, both are in the evening, one on Friday and one on Sunday. If you're the lucky human who this works out for then yay for you! But then also, this sucks for you coz you have so much bussing ahead of you but hey! At least I didn't write this for nothing! So yay for me too, I guess 😜 Anyway, here's to you and one hell of a long journey. Get the bus from Athens to Patras through KTEL Achaias (see above) and then from Patras to Igoumenitsa.
You can click on the interactive window above or click here to see more of the page.
Our Route
Bus to Patras 🚌
We chose to travel from Athens to Patras because the bus was quicker and it meant we could take a ferry at 6 pm rather than at midnight from Igoumenitsa.
To get to Patras from central Athens we took a Beat (a Greek taxi app similar to Uber) to the KTEL bus station Kifisou (where the bus to Patras was leaving from), this cost us about €7 in total and because there was 3 of us it was only around €2.50 each. We then paid around €20 euros for the 1:15 pm bus to Patras, which was prompt 😲😲😲 (a new experience for me in Greece 😂) we expected it to take us around 4/5 hours but amazingly it only took 3!
When we arrived in Patras at the KTEL station, where the bus drops you off, we asked at the ticket booth how to get to the port after using google maps to find out we were a 30-minute walk (with baggage 😫😫😫) away. We found out that, happily, there was a public bus that was going to the port in the next 5 minutes and it only cost €1.80 each. The bus ride was around 10/15 minutes and the bus doors were open the entire time 🤣🤣 #GreekSafety. The bus stops right in front of the main building where all the ticket booths, food and duty-free shopping options are which is fab! Also, we wouldn't have known any of this without our very helpful driver who explained where we had to go to pick up our tickets.
Arrival at Patras Port
We went straight to the "Anek Lines Superfast Ferries" counter and lined up to collect our tickets. We had our booking confirmations on our phones via email from Direct Ferries.com. We had to show our passports as well and then we were off, tickets in hand to the embarkation section. Everything is really well signposted in Greek as well as English so you don't need to worry, just ALWAYS, I cannot stress enough, allow A LOT of time because things don't always run "on time" in Greece we call it GMT, Greek Maybe Time. We had to put all of our luggage through your standard airport X-Ray machine, except it was really old and the experience was remarkably laid back coz #Greece.
I'm talking shoes, rings, belts, whatever, all still very much being worn, no line, just walk straight through and pick up your bag on the other side. We told the ladies working the security checkpoint that we were on the SuperFast II and asked where our ship would be docking, and one of them kindly pointed out our ship, already docked (an hour early! YES GREECE! Go you!)
Anyway, she pointed it out and it was VEEEEERY far away. We asked if there was a bus we could take and she went back inside for a moment and came out with keys, she then hopped in a nearby bus and drove us to our boat - Free of charge - Freaking. Wonderful. We walked straight on the ferry and were the first to drop our bags and claim our seats. DE-LIGHT-FUL.
Superfast II to Bari, Italy 🛳
Because I've yet to post the saga: Taking a Ferry from Greece to Italy - Grimaldi V.S. Anek Lines, let me just tell you, though we were apprehensive due to some seriously bad reviews, we found a spotless ferry with kind and accommodating staff, clean bathrooms and it was mostly empty. We had paid extra to reserve comfy seats inside and there were rows of seats still free after we departed at 6 pm. This meant that you could lie down and stretch out across multiple seats making your sleep even better. The seats reclined a little bit too so this was an added bonus and the lights were dimmed around 10 pm for sleepy times which was mega thoughtful. There were only 4 plug sockets in the room though, one in each corner, but happily we were sat right next to one of them! I actually found I only used the plug socket once, for my Macbook, the whole 16 and a half hour journey because I had my big 7 charge power bank for my phone (highly recommend this investment!). Wifi was available, though I never recommend ferry wifi for streaming or anything other than messenger and emails. Regardless, we didn't end up needing it because for the majority of the journey we had access to our phone data with EU Vodafone Sim Cards. Mine was Greek and my friends' were from the UK.
Our ferry left on time and arrived on time.
Maybe it was the time of year, early September, but we had no issues what-so-ever with this Ferry. I cannot champion it enough as a completely pleasant and truly underrated travel option. Yes, there were horribly inconsiderate, snoring passengers that sounded like 9 trees at once going through a wood chipper and a few lights were on (for exiting safely) and there were 2 TVs playing in the room as well, but earphones and an eye mask and your good to go buds!
Accurate visual representation of how comfy I was:
Yes, that's a pink unicorn I'm using as extra padding on my handbag pillow 🦄🦄
It was so, so pleasant and I would happily do that crossing 100 times over, honestly might never consider a flight again for this journey but we were actually so nervous going into it because of all the bad reviews we had read (mostly of Grimaldi in fairness) of doing this journey by ferry.
I'd also like to say that it wasn't purely a case of having low expectations, I have a lot of experience with Greek Ferries some of the journeys being 6/8 hours long but this was definitely the longest. The girls I was with had just finished a trip through the Cyclades with me and so also had some experience in this department, so we were prepared for blunt, borderline rude staff members, heavy delays and expensive food/drink/wifi but genuinely, this was one of the best ferries any of us had been on. There was even a room full of pokies/slot machines if you're into that sort of thing.
Arrival in Bari
When we docked in Bari, we were unsure of where to go when we got off, followed a trickle of people towards a small demountable sort of building in the far left corner of the port. They didn't even ask to see our passports 😂😂 We asked the staff where we could catch a bus, they spoke excellent Engish 🙏🙏 and pointed us towards a massive gazebo sort of building, yes, gazebo! It's the best description I can give of it. You'll know it when you see it! The bus stops are right in front of it.
Bus to Bari Centrale 🚌 (Train Station and Flixbus stop)
When we got to the bus stops there was already a bus there and the driver didn't speak a whole lot of English and I speak even less Italian 😂😂 I showed him the train station we needed to go to (Bari Centrale) on my phone using google maps, he was very helpful and told me the bus number "Cinquanta" (50) he also pointed at the stop it would leave from (right in front of us) the cost of a ticket was €1.50 however one of my friends, didn't even buy one and at the end when she went up to pay our diver told her not to worry about it. When we reached Bari Centrale it took some time investigating google maps directions, we had to walk through the station, using the lift to go down and under it and then on the other side wouldn't you know it? Bam! STAIRS. There was no lift on the other side. We deadweight lifted our baggage up too many stairs turned left and then rolled along to our FlixBus stop on the main road. The girls were off to Naples and I was off to Rome and so we assumed we were on different buses.
There were FlixBuses leaving from both sides of the road so it was a bit difficult to work out where the right bus would be but there were ladies wearing green FlixBus vests that you could ask. If you stand around long enough eventually one will surface, they are normally lost in the crowd answering questions and directing people to the right stop. It turns out we were on the same bus, it went to Naples before Rome and then terminated in Florence. In case you're wondering it left from the side of the road closest to Bari Centrale.
The journey to Naples was a few hours but it was nice finally being in Italy after 20 hours of travel! We celebrated by eating food in front of this sign:
Exhibit A:
Exhibit B:
Don't I look great eating a 25-hour old potato pie from Athens?
It took about 5 hours to get to Rome and the Flixbus stop there was only a 10-minute drive from my hostel near Termini Station. I jumped off, stretched my legs and ordered an Uber.
💶 The Overall Cost 💶
Before we booked the ferry we had to decide whether or not we were actually saving money. Even though we weren't gonna spend €200 on a flight from Athens to Rome were we really saving that much cash when you tally up all the expenses of taxis and buses on either side of the €70 ferry journey?
The overall cost of this trip by buses and ferry will be compared to the €200 flight and the assumed cost of roughly €10 each side of the flight to get to/from airports and hotels so that's approximately €220.
(This is, of course, assuming we would have used public transport and not Taxis/Ubers which is more likely with heavy baggage -- so the savings would have been even higher if we had chosen the latter option).
COST OF TRIP
Beat (Greek Uber) to Bus Station--€2.50 each (approx. €7 total)
Bus to Patras ------------------ €20
Patras to Port ------------------€1.80
Ferry to Bari ------------------- €70 (€60 for ticket and €10 for a reserved seat)
Bus to Flix Bus stop------------- €2.80
Flix bus ----------------------- €40
Uber from Flix bus stop to hotel -- €10
TOTAL ------------------------€147.10
TOTAL SAVING --------------- €72.90
We did pretty damn well in my opinion and this is definitely a much cheaper option!
🕰 Overall Travel Time 🕰
The overall travel time of our trip will be compared to the accumulated length of a 2-hour flight and roughly 45 mins each side of the flight to get to/from airports and hotels on public transport, so that's approximately 3h 30 mins in total.
LENGTH OF TRAVEL TIME
Bus from Athens to Patras ------- 3h
Bus from Patras to the Port ------ 10 mins
Ferry -------------------------- 17h
Bus to Flixbus station ------------ 10 mins
Flixbus to Rome ----------------- 5h
Uber from Flixbus stop to hotel ---- 10 mins
TOTAL TIME -------------------- 25h 30 mins
TOTAL SAVINGS ------------ = -22 hours
SUMMARY
This works out at a delightfully even number, it took me 22 hours longer than it would have to fly and then catch trains/buses between airports and hotels, but it did save me over €70 and I had a really pleasant and memorable, if a little crazy, experience.
It's a long journey, but if you're easy-going, have plenty of time, snacks and enjoy taking in the scenery, it's actually quite a lovely trip! You can look at the stars and then see the sunrise on the deck of the ferry if that tickles your fancy and see some of the fields and towns of Italy while you're bussing around. LOADS of time to read a book (or two!), binge watch a series, catch up on work *cough, cough* write a blog post...or 50 (lol we travelled in September and I'm writing this in April 🤣🤣 HEY! Don't hate me coz I'm slow, thank me coz I take notes!) If you like to meet new people and see more new places -- for instance, we sailed right by Albania, I thought that was pretty cool -- then this is the better option in my opinion. I spent a lot of time looking at the map like, "OMG ITHICA OFF THE STARBOARD BOW!!"
(CRUCIAL INFORMATION: Ithica is the island Odysseus was the king of.) Yeah, I'm both a mythology and a pirate nerd. Don't attack me.
In closing, I think this is a great option for someone who would like to save money, has the time to do it, is easy going enough to spend that much time doing it and enjoys doing crazy things for the fun of the experience as well as, of course, the €70 in savings.
Thanks for bearing with me through all of that. I really hope someone out there on the great wide web finds it useful, I sure would have when I was planning this! I'm sorry, I know that was a long one, trust me I wrote it. GYYYAHAHHHH, it feels good to be done! 😂😂
🏃♀️🏃♀️🏃♀️ This is me running away from my computer 🏃♀️🏃♀️🏃♀️ byyyeeeee!
-Han Han
Comments