Approaching Athens by sea
The main port of Greece, Piraeus, located a few kilometers away from Athens, is not connected by sea with Italy, also because the route should double the entire Peloponnese (the passage through the Corinth canal is only allowed to boats of medium or small tonnage). However, there is a convenient expedient to go to Athens by ship from the Belpaese: in fact, you can take a ferry to Patras even with a vehicle in tow, and continue to the Greek capital by road (car or bus). The distance between these two cities as the crow flies is 175 kilometers. The road route runs along the Gulf of Corinth.
Located in the north-western Peloponnese, the municipal area of Patras is the third largest in Greece by population and it has an important port for passengers and goods. The port of Patras is the second largest in Greece after that of Piraeus. The homonymous gulf extends from Capo Papas to Capo Drepano with flat coasts.
Ferries to Patras
The ferries to Patras depart only from the Italian peninsula, in this case from the ports of Ancona, Venice, Bari and Brindisi. The shipping companies that travel on the Ancona – Patras route are Grimaldi Minoan Lines, which carries out direct trips lasting twenty-two and a half hours, and Anek Lines and Superfast Ferries which, in joint service, can take twenty-one and a half hours or even twenty-five hours if there is an intermediate stopover in Igoumenitsa. The ticket price is around € 100 but by visiting the page to which the previous link refers you can consult the updated price, as well as the dates and times of departure and arrival.
On the Venice – Patras section, the Anek Superfast joint service takes from thirty-two to thirty-three hours with a stopover in Igoumenitsa; the ticket price is around € 120 but updated rates and timetables can be checked on the page connected to the link of the route.
The intermediate stop in the port of Igoumenitsa is also scheduled on the Bari – Patras ferry route, which takes sixteen and a half hours to complete (something more when, in medium and high season, one trip a week also includes a stopover in Corfu). The ticket price is around € 70: at the previous link you can find updated prices and timetables.
The Brindisi – Patras route is operated by Grimaldi Lines ferries in eighteen hours with a stopover in Igoumenitsa; the ticket price is around € 45. The precise and updated amount can be verified, together with the timetables, at the link of the route.
Book a ferry
Reaching Athens from Patras
Once disembarked in the port of Patras, you can reach the capital of Greece with your own vehicle, or by taking a bus.
From Patras to Athens by car
To go from Patras to Athina (name of the city in Greek transliterated) by car (about 210 kilometers by road) takes approximately two and a half hours. You have to leave the port city and take the European road E55, continue on the Olympia Odos E65 and then on the A8 highway, passing through Corinth, until the exit for Athens (Leoforos Athinon). The cost of the toll is around €13 and the estimated cost of fuel is around €25.
From Patras to Athens by bus
From the port of Patras, to get to the heart of ancient Greece by bus you have to head towards the KTEL bus terminus by taxi or even on foot (in the latter case it takes about half an hour). Bus tickets, which leave every hour from 2:30 in the morning to 22:00, can be booked by paying about twenty euros per person at the web address ktelachaias.gr/en (departure times and prices must be checked). The Athenian KTEL terminus, which can be reached after three and a half hours, is located about two kilometers from the center of the capital, which can be reached by subway: the Eleonas stop of line 3, one and a half kilometers away from the bus terminus, can be reached on foot or by bus number 52. The metro goes all the way to the center (Megaro Moussikis stop) also stopping at Syntagma Square and Monastiraki.
