Flights & Ferries

Ferries Greece

The small yacht charter bases on Paros and Myconos islands are connected with mainland Greece via the ports of Piraeus, Rafina and Lavrion in Athens, Attica with frequent daily ferries, hydrofoils or catamarans.

• Polos Tours
• Blue Star Ferries
• Hellenic Sea Ways
• Sea Jets
• Gold star ferries
• Fast ferries

If you are going to sail bareboat: see chapter 10 of my navigation course: “A hydrofoil ferry or high speed catamaran ferry can exhibit an all-round flashing yellow light…”

Domestic flights Greece

Domestic flights within Greece:

• Aegean Air
• Olympic Air
• Sky Express

Flights Turkey

Bodrum is served by Bodrum-Milas (BJV) airport.
Marmaris and Göcek / Fethiye are served by Dalaman (DLM) airport

If you can get a cheap flight into Kos, there is a daily hydrofoil to Turkey; likewise from Rhodes to Marmaris.

The airlines offering domestic flights in Turkey out of Istanbul Ataturk airport are: thy.com, atlasjet.com, onurair.com.tr and Pegasus. Also peruse flights Dalaman & Bodrum.

Flights to Greece

You can start booking flights roughly 330 days ahead, but it is best to book the charter yacht first. Flights can get more affordable several months later, since the optimum time to book international journeys is 5 – 6 months in advance.
In general, the cheapest month to book those plane tickets is January, followed by February and August, according to Skyscanner.

Lefkas island

• Look for a direct flight to the nearby Preveza airport or a domestic flight to Preveza via Athens.
• Via Corfu airport it takes about 3½ hours by taxi and ferry. Costs: 1 taxi / 4 persons € 80 and ferry per person € 3.
• Via Italy: ferries from the east coast of Italy – such as Bari or Brindisi – to Igoumenitsa on mainland Greece, followed by a taxi ride to Lefkas (1.5 hours, € 100).

Kos island

Direct flights to Kos via the following Airlines and Destinations

Corfu island

Direct flights to Corfu via the following Airlines and Destinations

Santorini island

Direct flights to Santorini via the following Airlines and Destinations

Santorini is stunning yet the Meltemi storms can make it difficult to get there. Moreover, the distances between the islands are larger farther south. Also the marina is completely silted up… Therefore most sailors visit santorini per domestic flight or ferry before or after their cruise. The nearest charter bases Athens and Paros both have excellent connections to Thira / Santorini.

Skiathos island

It is notoriously difficult to fly directly on Skiathos for a reasonable price. Yet, the port seems part of the approach of this tiny airstrip, so once landed you could actually walk to the charter yachts.
Direct flights on Skiathos via the following Airlines and Destinations
Alternatively you can fly via Athens.

The third option is either Volos airport or Thessaloniki further to the north. Unfortunately, this involves several hours by bus and a subsequent ferry ride from Volos port to Skiathos port.
Note that the Volos gulf is not a recommended sailing area.

Other islands via ferries

The hydrofoils and ferries will allow you to travel between Athens' Pireaus port and the major yacht charter bases of Paros, Rhodes, Kos and the touristy islands of Mykonos and Santorini.
See map of ferries lines above…

Kalamaki (Alimos) and Lavrion in Athens

• Both the Alimos marina - Kalamaki marina as well as Lavrion can be reached with taxis from Athens International Airport (AIA) "Eleftherios Venizelos".
• There is a convenient bus (X96 Piraeus - Athens Airport Express) that connects Pireaus port and the Airport; Kalamaki/Alimos is about half-way.
  Bus (KTEL Express Service Regional Buses 10 and 11) connects the Airport with Lavrion.
  Map of all bus services
  In Greece, on the mainland, it is wiser to travel by bus rather than train when domestic flights are not available.

Read more articles in my yachting guide.