Drive from Istanbul to Greece (Athens) and ferry into Italy, possible?
 

Hi,
Looking to drive down from Istanbul to Athens (Greece) and then ferry into Italy. Is this doable?
If so, any suggestion on best port / route from Greece and port / route in Italy? Would like to visit Rome and travel further to Venice and then France.

Any suggestions will be a great help.
Thanks,

It is doable..You may check Anek Lines for ferry between Greece and Italy. There may be not ferry in winter so please check schedules.

Hi,
You can take the ferry from Igoumenitsa(greece) to Bari or Brindisi.
Check ferry schedule.

Djin

Thanks guys. This helps.

Should have mentioned earlier,
planning on doing this in May 2015.
Cheers,

I've used the ferry to Brindisi in winter .. end of December .. no problem ... went from some place well west of Athens .. say a half day ride. No booking. Just showed up. Might be different in peak season with every body wanting to go.

Thanks Warin.
Must have been from Patras?

andymaxman - if you are doing it in May, have you considered going up the coast further to Dubrovnik?
It is a great journey very scenic would only add a few days to your trip depending how long you stop in places. You can then get a ferry across from Dubrovnik to Bari - just turn up no need to book, its a 7hrs ish crossing. Be well worth it if you have the time.

Thanks g6snl for the suggestion. Checked it out on images and does look very beautiful city.
The schedule is already tight but will surely consider this option as well.

Strangely, gMaps showd the route from Athens to Dubrovnik to 'include ferry', but does not show any ferry crossing. Wonder whats with that.

cheers,

Yes, it's doable in every season.
You must go from Athens to Patra or to Igoumenitsa and you could find a lot of company (and ship) that daily join Italy (Brindisi, Bari, Ancona, Venice) toi Greece.
If you have not enough time, you can quikly go from Athens to Patra with higway.
If you have enough time, my suggestion is to go to Igoumenitsa and visit the amazing and wild north of Greece.

Hello there
There are a lot of options on the route that you request.
Option 1 Drive from Istanbul To Igoumenitsa and from there take the boat to Italy either Ancona or Bari.
Option 2 Drive all the way to Athens stoping in different sites along the way and from Athens head to Patra where you can take boats to Ancona or Bari Or Brindezi or even Venice.
Check the web site www.direct ferries.co.uk for bookings and prices

There is a small ferry crossing from Lepetane-Kamenari‎ in Montenegro which again is a lovely area to go through. Only a few euros and a 10mins or so crossing.

Turkey - Greece - Italy
 

Hi, I travelled back from Turkey last year through Greece and took a ferry from Igoumenitsa back to Italy (Venice). Some details here:- Candover Valley UK to Euphrates Valley Turkey - Updated with pictures.

I've taken the ferry from both Patras and Igou up to Venice or Ancona. It's a fairly long ferry trip - close to 24 hours if I remember correctly - but it will save several days of riding up through former Yugoslavia.

I don't think there is much point in taking the ferry from Greece to Bari or Brindisi unless you want to explore Italy. In other words, you aren't going to save that much time going over to Bari / Brindisi vs. riding north through former Yugoslavia, and it is a heck of a lot cheaper (gas, food, hotels) to ride through former Yugoslavia than it is to ride through Italy.

Michael

Hi andymaxman,

Ferries from Greece to Italy run all year round and every day.
The most widely used companies are :
Minoan
Anek

their websites are in english, so you won't have problem checking their info, timetables, and prices.

If you are in a hurry, the fastest route will be to ride from Turkey to Igoumenitsa (the port that is in northwest Greece), via highway - it can be done in 1 day, ofcourse you won't see much en route.

If you have time, then ride in regions of mainland Greece. Look for info about the Zagori region in northwest, very close to Igoumenitsa (also known as Zagoria or Zagorohoria). The places there are amazing, routes are scenic, lush landscapes, gorges, etc. You might need 4-5 days to explore the area.

Also look for the Tzoumerka region, this is one of the most wild regions of Greece and it is mostly unknown. But it is a paradise. Though, in May it can be tough. Snow cover, lots of rain and cold. If weather allows, you can spend 2-3 days riding in Tzoumerka in really remote and rugged landscapes of amazing beauty.

Accommodation is abound in these regions. Lots of nice traditional guesthouses, stone built and with a strong taste of old times. There are also mountain resorts with all comforts.

If you choose to ride to Athens, the more you follow inland routes, instead of the highway that runs through the east front, the better the ride, naturally. It might take you anything, from 2 iron-butt days (from turkish border to Athens) to as long as you wish, exploring around.

John.

Hey John,
(Sorry for the delayed response here. Inspite of subscribing to my own thread, i still do not receive email notifications about posts.)

This is super useful info. Thanks a lot for taking time to share this out.
Yes, we have about 6 days for Greece starting from the Turkey border.
We will be driving. What would be your routing suggestion in Greece?
We have nothing particular in mind other than visiting scenic beauty in Greece and lovely townside places. We were thinking Athens but are also open to skipping so we can actually spend quality time in a place or two rather than just drive the 6 days before exiting Greece.

We want to be able to ferry into Bari in Italy to tour around Italy.


Thanks Michael for sharing your views. Will keep this in mind.

Hi,
ok driving, I missed that on your first post. So no problems with possible bad weather.

Here are some suggestions on a map I made:

First layer "transit": I drew it deliberately following all the way the national road E90 so that you spend more time on the places that follow next. Depending on how much you have travelled that day in Turkey, you might want to spend the night in Xanthi (mark B on "transit" layer). It is a nice city, with historic old downtown.

If not, if you have plenty of time ahead that day, you may continue on E90.
Arrive at "Metsovo" (mark C on "transit" layer).

Now, from that point on, you have a lot of options:

• map layer "Zagoria1": you drive through a very scenic region of Greece. If you google search for images with the terms Zagori, Zagoria, Zagorohoria, Vikos gorge, Papingo, to name a few, you will get an idea.
  Note that most of this route is narrow, small roads. Your average speed will not be more than 30-40 km/h. You will need to have a night stopover in the area. All those villages: Kipoi (also "Kipi"), Vitsa, Monodendri, Kapesovo and all others nearby have lots of options with traditional guesthouses.
• map layer "Zagori2": this is another loop ride, the east part of this region. Also, very slow riding/driving but amazing views and scenery.
• map layer "Metsovo-Kalabaka-Tzoumerka" : this will take you to the famous rocks and monasteries of Meteora (UNESCO heritage). In Kalambaka there are nice options for accomodation. From there you head into the Tzoumerka. IMHO, the wildest and most beautiful region of mainland Greece.
  On this layer, you will notice that I stopped the line at mark D (village "Anthousa"). From there you have options to follow the road north back to Metsovo or ...
• ...or do go to map layer "Tzoumerka". Google maps doesnt allow me to draw line along roads here, don't know why, but I placed a black line doing the highest paved mountain pass in Greece (it might be blocked with snow, seek info from locals before heading over the pass), and red markers with villages, that are all connected with paved roads, which like in Zagoria are also narrow and very twisty, slow going. In village Pramanta and nearby there are nice options for accommodation.

After Tzoumerka you can connect with national road E90 to go to Igoumenitsa to take the ferry, or you may want to go to city of Ioannina, or if you choose to ride north through balkans.

Keep in mind, all of the above include mountainous regions, some are remote, some are going to be cold even in May. These suggestions will take 4-6 days to do them all, depending on how much you want to drive per day and/or have rest days.
If you want I can suggest specific hotels/guesthouses in some of those places.

Andy:

If you do plan to take the ferry from Greece over to Brindisi, I suggest that you get out of Brindisi (at least a short distance out, for example, 20 km or so) before you settle down for your first night in Italy.

Brindisi is one of those 'the road ends here' towns, so far as people wandering down from northern parts of Europe and/or Italy are concerned, and the few times that I have been in Brindisi I have been less than impressed with the place. The downtown area appeared to me to have more drifters and indigents hanging around than one would normally find in a town that size.

For what it's worth...

Michael

Thanks Road Spirit for the detailed outline.
Will go through this a I move ahead.


Hey Michael,
Thanks for the tip. Very useful to know.

I am also contemplating driving up to Dubrovnik and ferrying in Bari.