Category: Greek ferry travel (page 3 of 3)

Greece holiday pic of the day

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Greek ferry in the Gulf of Milos

The Seajets Superjet highspeed ferry passes the mountainous northwest coast of the Gulf of Milos as it travels to the port town of Adamas on Milos

 

Arriving and departing Amorgos at sunrise

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Sunrise at Amorgos Greece

The mountainous Amorgos coastline was in silhouette from a brilliant sunrise when we approached by ferry for our first-ever visit to the island …

 

Sunrise at Amorgos Greece

… and it was once again in silhouette when we departed the island, also at sunrise, several days later. Both photos show views of Cape Koutsogiani, the hulking dark mountain at right. Tiny Monopetra island pokes out of the sea a few hundred meters from the sheer cliff coastline of the Amorgos north coast.

 

Scenery silhouettes: During our island-hopping holiday in 2009, we arrived at Amorgos in very much the same circumstances as we departed several days later — watching the sunrise from the open deck of a ferry.

Our arrival on May 21 2009 is literally burned into my memory, probably because I was nearly blinded by the fiery, searing sun while I tried to take photos as we approached Amorgos on the Blue Star ferry ship, the Naxos.  I’ll never forget arriving at Amorgos for another reason: the horribly early start to our day.

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The famous Greek cat that flies and loves water

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Flyingcat 4 Greek highspeed ferry

The Flyingcat 4 highspeed ferry powers its way through wavy rough seas as it approaches the Old Port of Mykonos on a very windy May day

 

Fast ferry favourite: It’s a familiar sight in the Cyclades, and a favourite mode of transport for tourists travelling the popular corridor between Mykonos, Naxos, Paros, Ios, Santorini and Crete. It’s the Flyingcat 4, a highspeed passenger ferry operated by Hellenic Seaways. Built in England in 1999, the catamaran ferry carries up to 440 passengers in airline-style seats, and can travel at a top speed of 40 knots. It plies the Aegean Sea between Crete and Mykonos between April and late October each year, offering daily trips from May through September (except for two Wednesdays per month when the ship stays at its home base at the port of Heraklion, Crete for maintenance.) It leaves  Heraklion in the morning, reaches Mykonos around 2.30 in the afternoon, and then heads back home.

We’ve had a grand total of four one-way trips on Flyingcat 4 so far, though it feels like we’ve been on it more times than that (perhaps because we took its smaller sister, Flyingcat 3, from Paros to Pireaus one holiday).

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On my bookshelf: Greek Island Hopping

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Greek Island Hopping 2007 by Thomas Cook Publishing

The cover of my 2007 Greek Island Hopping guide by Thomas Cook Publishing

 

Great guidebook: It’s already five years old, but much of the information in my well-worn copy of Greek Island Hopping 2007 is still so relevant and useful, this is the first book I pick up whenever I need to plan a trip or find an answer for questions that friends or I might have about travelling in Greece.

Known as the Bible of Greece travel guidebooks, the Greek Island Hopping series is written and researched by Frewin Poffley, who packs an incredible amount of detailed and helpful information — along with maps, illustrations and photos – between the covers of each year’s thick paperback edition. (There are 720 fact-filled pages in my 2007 version.)

The book’s primary focus is on ferry travel, explaining how to go from one destination to another using Greece’s complicated and often confusing interisland ferry network.  But it also offers a wealth of information about things to see and do on each island, as well as in Athens and all of the ports on the Greek mainland. The book also provides advice about accommodations, but that content seems to be aimed chiefly at backpackers and budget travellers seeking wallet-friendly hotel options, as well as hostels and campsites. (It won’t give much guidance if you’re trying to decide between two 5-star caldera view hotels in Oia, on Santorini, but if you’re going to be paying €500+ per night for somewhere to sleep, you’ve probably got a travel agent making those arrangements for you anyways.)

I find the guidebook particularly useful for its maps of port towns, key island villages, and important tourist attractions, such as the archaeological ruins on Delos island and The Asklepieion on Kos, to name just two.  And while there’s a staggering amount of dry — but important — factual data in the guidebook, Poffley’s candid, personal descriptions of each destination make for an amusing and fun read. (I don’t always share the same impressions about some of the islands, but I can see where Poffley’s coming from with many of his sharp-witted observations.)

Greek Island Hopping 2012 hits bookstores later this month, and can be ordered online. Don’t go island hopping without one!

 

Greek Island Hopping by Thomas Cook Publishing

The Greek Island Hopping books provide incredibly detailed information about the Greek ferry network, including routes, ferry lines, and individual boats.

 

Greek Island Hopping by Thomas Cook Publishing

The book features information about each island and its ports, with maps, photos and illustrations showing how to get around and where to find key attractions

 

Greek Island Hopping by Thomas Cook Publishing

Not only does the book tell you how to ferry from one island to another, it even shows how to get from one village to another once you’re there. This 2-page map, for instance, shows hiking paths that run the length of Amorgos.

 

Greek Island Hopping by Thomas Cook Publishing

The book’s colour map and detailed descriptions of Delos Island will help you enjoy the historic archaeological ruins completely at your own pace, instead of in a huge tour group or with an expensive private guide

 

 

Greece holiday pics of the day

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Blue Star Superferry II

Passengers on the Blue Star Ferries Superferry II take in views of Mykonos Town as the ship prepares to set sail from the island’s Old Port in September 2007. Built in 1974, the ship can carry 1,530 passengers and up to 260 vehicles.

 

Blue Star Superferry II

The Superferry II observed from Agia Anna beach at Mykonos Town harbour in 2007. Earlier this year, Blue Star Ferries sold the ship for €4.65 million to Golden Star Ferries Shipping Co. of Greece. Two new ferries will join the Blue Star fleet in its place: delivery of the Blue Star Delos is expected this summer, while the Blue Star Patmos will arrive in 2012. The Superferry II continues to operate between Mykonos and the mainland port of Rafina.


Greece holiday pic of the day

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Express Skopelitis departs from Amorgos

A passenger has the entire upper deck to herself as the Express Skopelitis ferry leaves Amorgos in its wake as it sails toward Naxos

 

 

Greece holiday 2010: Kos to Patmos ferry trip teases us with peeks at Kalymnos, Leros & Lipsi

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Kalymnos island viewed from a Greek ferry

Ferry transport offers a teasing peek at places we might want to visit in future

 

Dodekanisos Seaways highspeed catamaran ferry

We took the Dodekanisos Pride, a highspeed catamaran ferry operated by Dodekanisos Seaways, to travel from Kos to Patmos

 

Pothia on Kalymnos

The port village of Pothia on Kalymnos

 

Pothia harbour at Kalymnos

Houses on the hillside above Pothia harbour at Kalymnos

 

Agia Marina port on Leros

Arriving at Agia Marina port on Leros

 

Taverna Milos at Agia Marina port on Leros

Taverna Milos and a windmill on the water at Agia Marina harbour on Leros

 

the port village on Lipsi

Arriving at the port village on Lipsi

 

Lipsi harbour

A fishing boat passes our ferry in Lipsi harbour

 

the harbour at Lipsi

Calm deep waters in the sheltered harbour at Lipsi

 

Skala port at Patmos

Entering the bay where the port village of Skala is situated on Patmos

 

Holy Monastery of Patmos

From the ferry dock, you can see the island’s biggest attraction, the famous Holy Monastery of Patmos, on the mountaintop in the distance

 

Dozens more photos can be viewed in the From Kos to Patmos album on the mygreecetravelblog.com Facebook page.

 

 

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