Cycles on high speed passenger ferries in Greece

r0msey

Off to Greece in a couple of weeks to cycle around. It seems the fastest way out of Athens would be by boat - cleary car ferries will take cycles but what about hydrofoils/high speed cats? Specifically the Flying Cat/Flying Dolphin variety that Hellenic seaways run.

Their website gives no useful information on cycle carridge. Googling around doesn't really answer the question either - so I'm after practical advice - have you ever done it? Know someone who has?

Cheers,
-r0

crankycrank

I travelled through the Cyclades about 15 years ago and back then I could not find any reliable info about the fast ferries taking bikes either. Greece seems to have a very vague set of ferry rules that most Greeks don't seem to know either. I ended up just taking the regular ferries and getting a sleeper for a couple long rides to and from Crete, saving myself some money and not losing much daylight time to travel. I would guess that since you're not going in high season you may have a good chance of getting on the Cat/Dolphins with a bike since most boat operators want to get as many passengers as possible. One detail you might also want to ask about is that if a ferry was not pre-booked with enough passengers, they just canceled the trip with no more than a few hour's notice and did not refund the cost of the ticket. Hopefully this policy has changed in the last few years but worth looking into. What parts of Greece are you planning to visit?

jc4lab

The way out I took was to Santorini on the night boat.,arriving at 8 am .Under a full moon the stops at various islands was Ghostly and pretty.Best take your time in Greece and be flexible in your islands and ferry choices.than do a rush strict must do fast intinery simply cos you find new islands to visit on route you didnt know about.Best plan you trip using the slower ferries.to be sure.Heading back a to Athens from Santorini mine were about 2 - 3 hours max between islands

1footedninja

Did a little bit of cycling whilst I was out in Corfu last year and it was lovely, Greece is a gem of a place where I would like to do a little bit more cycling around on my own bike rather than the cheap rented ones I had which 'had to do'.

r0msey

crankycrank wrote:

What parts of Greece are you planning to visit?

Mostly the Peloponese, further research seems to reveal this is OK:

http://www.gfonline.org/bikeaccess/Arti ... eloponnese #2

Concerning bikes on trains in Greece, the issue seems even further confused!

-r0

crankycrank

I wish I had planned a longer vacation to visit the Peloponese area as well. Several innkeepers that I stayed with in the Cyclades islands all mentioned that they went to the Peloponese to vacation. Probably to get away from the tourist circus that they live in most of the year . Anyways, probably no need to worry about transportation there. I found that wherever you wanted to go there was always some type of service available that was not found through the popular tourist info services. The locals can always help you out with info about transportation.

psmiffy

r0msey wrote:

crankycrank wrote:

What parts of Greece are you planning to visit?

Mostly the Peloponese, further research seems to reveal this is OK:

http://www.gfonline.org/bikeaccess/Arti ... eloponnese #2

Concerning bikes on trains in Greece, the issue seems even further confused!

-r0

The only decent way out of Athens Airport is to take the train to Athens (although I did once put my bike on a random bus to get away from the airport - rode back to the airport on the motorway on the Sunday going home - nobody stopped me)

Athens to Corinth both ways I just bought a ticket and got on the train with the bike fully loaded

melina11

The Greece travel guide covers all famous hotels, restaurants and bars depicting their locations and features. In Greece many kinds of classy hotels made for your stay like Apollo, Liberty & Myrmidon hotel in Aegina, Crowns Plaza Athens city center, Life gallery, and Royal Olympic in Athens. All these hotelsgood in facilities and prices both. Restaurants like Hard Rock Café, Spondini Restaurants etc. serve delicious multicuisine food like fried fishes, cheese dishes etc. for tourists and guests.

Olympia Greece

lakia13

The way out I took was to Santorini by boat at night., Arrive at 8 During the full moon it stops at different islands were ghostly pretty.Best and take your time in Greece and demonstrate flexibility in your islands and ferry choices.than is a race should be very strict intinery quick cos you simply find new islands to visit on the road you do not know about.Best plan you travel through the slowdown be ferries.to sure.Heading return to Athens to Santorini mine was about 2-3 hours between the islands

Greek ferries

megilleland

Concerning bikes on trains in Greece, the issue seems even further confused!

Listening to a report on the radio the other day about Greece suspending various rail routes in the country. For up to date information The Man in Seat 61 has this to say:


Greece cuts itself off from the rest of Europe: Greece suspends all its international trains from 1 Jan 2011...