I wondered if any one can help. I am planing a trip to greece and turkey next year I am riding down through eastern europe but want to come back from greece to italy. the question is, do they tie down the bikes or shall i bring my own ratchet strap and which is the best ferry company to use. I am planing to come back from igoumenitsa. thanks a lot. john

Hi John,
I just crossed from Bari to Patras with Blue Star and they will just give you a bit of rope to tie down your moto, I used me own straps to do the job.
regards
joe

Hi,

check this site out:
Greek Ferries, tickets on ferry routes Italy-Greece-Italy and Greek ISlands
I have traveled from venice to igumenitsa without any problem.

They did not tied my bike up. they have ropes so you dont need to carry.

have fun

__________________
ozhan u.
website under construction

Hi mate,

I've done the Igoumenitsa route loads of times, and even though it is worrying to leave your bike unsecured I have never had problem. Most of the time they tie it down after you have left it. They do know what they are doing and I wouldnt ever bopther taking my own ratchet straps.

Also make sure you look through the mountainous region in the north of Greece. The road runs direct to Igoumenitsa through the mountains and the scenery is awesome.

Igou.-Bari ....Igou.-Ancona .... all ferries are almost the same (quality&cost wise) .... no strap needed (ship personall will handle that)...

For time table ...viamare.com ... very accurate.

Cheers,

2 weeks ago, ı took Mınoan Lınes MINOAN LINES ferries Venice Patras Venice schedules/prices Minoan lines Venice Patras Corfu Igoumenitsa
from Venıce to Igoumenıtsa. No strap was used, Euro 85.- deck passage.
Anek Lınes ANEK Lines - Venice - Fahrplan do the same trıp

Helmut
Ps: Northern Greece Igoumenıtsa - Meteora - Olympos ıs really beautyful

__________________
http://biketoindia.blogspot.com

Hi,

Greetings from Milan, I have been many times to Greece, Minoan, Superfast, Anek are the best companies. in my opinon Superfast is famous for the punctuality also if a little more expensive. I prefere to reach Ancona (Central Italy) 400 km far away from my city, whilst Bari or Brindisi is the double, the motorway toll from Ancona to Milan is 21 Euros, whilst from Bari or Brindisi is higher Venice is most preferred cfrom Norther people but it takes 6 hours more than from Ancona

Hope it helps

Hi Duncan,
Generally agree with the comments above. We travelled with Ventouris Ferries from Bari to Igoumenitsa in May '07. The same ferry then headed south to Patra (and possibly then on to Pireas?); anyway we chose to ride down the coast and to Athens (470 km). We thought we'd be okay to sleep in the lounge, but on this Ventouris ferry, they kicked us out at midnight and we were forced to sit up in the cheap seats (the only ferry ride of 15 sailings where this happened). Otherwise they were okay.

Pireas to Thira/Santorini we unfortunately took C & A Line. They were slow and it was an old tub! Others later confirmed we'd made a mistake with them. On the return trip we took the Blue Star Line (quite good) and from Pireas to Venice we used Anek Line (very good).

We were originally going to take ferries from Thira/Santorini across to the Turkish coast, then ride north to Cannakale and across to Gallipoli. We found this very difficult to arrange without taking multiple ferries and more time and expense than we'd budgeted for. We posted here on the HUBB for advice before our trip, but in the end we found that the best way to find out what was actually possible and book it was to use Greek agencies when in Greece. As far as we could ascertain, the only two vehicular ferries between Turkey and the Greek Islands were Bodrum to Kos, or Cesme to Chios. For us at that time to get to these from Thira/Santorini ended up requiring us to travel back through Pireas.

I took some very light tie-down straps I was given (free) from my local BMW dealer (I purchased helmets and riding gear from them; not a bike). These were easy to carry and were piece of mind; but I only used them on half of our 15 ferry rides across western Europe (many required no tie-down) and others like DFDS Ferries (Newcastle to Bergen, and Fishguard to Rosslare) supplied their own and did a very good job.

Hope this helps
John

always a good idea IMHO to carry a pair of ratchet straps.
1- you can re-seat a tyre with them
2- you can tie down on ferries (yes Greek one have very oily ropes- -memories of Igoumenitsa...) or any ferry for that matter for peace of mind
3- you can get a tow or give one
4- you'll need them if your bike breaks and you need a lift on a truck
and so many other uses-
They don't take up much room and forget using ropes for tie-downs!
My 2 pence!

Thanks for all your replys i think i will take a strap.