fossil41

Did the trip in opposite direction May 1977 and now
Want to repeat it but from Italy to Greece this time
Have looked at several ferry sites and find a 17hr
crossing
Has any one done it as my memory bout it scratchy
Leaves night and arrives Para early morning
Have I got that right ???????

brotherleelove2004

You will find all the departure and arrival times for the ferries between Italy and Greece on this website: http://www.greekferries.gr

fossil41

Not the best. Pump in info and search button disappears
I'll keep searching

brotherleelove2004

It works fine for me. Check your popup blocker and be sure to enter a travel date.

fossil41

OK I found one that suits my dates with Grimaldi
Depart Brindisi April 22 at 7pm
Arrive Patra April 23 at 12.30pm
They also have one a week 11.59pm /3.30pm next day
Thanks for your assistance

clausar

Why Brindisi and not Bari?

fossil41

I,m flexible so is Bari better as I,ll be getting train
from Termini so I can go to either
Does Bari have more ferry options??????

kybourbon

Last time I took the overnight ferry to Patras it was on Superfast. They depart from Bari (a bit north of Brindisi). We had a cabin and departed Bari about 10 pm.

http://www.superfast.com/site/content.asp?sel=291&loc=2

clausar

Superfast Ferries are connecting Bari with Patra

fossil41

Great thanks for that I will now check Superfast

fossil41

Direct Ferries has an 11.30(23.30) ferry Bari to Dubrovnik
€ 56. I,ve scothed the Greek thing and going direct to
Croatia.
Will after Croatia spend a few days in Austria before
making my way back to Rome via northern Italy
I did,nt work for me but thanks all for advise

kybourbon

Direct Ferries is not a ferry line, they are a reseller. What are you getting for 56€? The ferry company lists departure at 10 pm.

http://www.jadrolinija.hr/default.aspx?dpid=1227

PalenQ

That used to be the main route but there are several other routes from ports a bit easier to get to from Rome or Venice than Brindisi - like you can take an overnight boat right from Venice to Patras though it is a much longer trip - boats usually dock in Corfu early in the morning before Patras. Many enjoy getting off at Corfu for a few days before moving on.

At Patras buses are the best bet to get to Athens and are timed with boats I believe - trains may not be.

for info on these boats check out www.seat61.com; www.ricksteves.com and www.budgeteuropetravel.com. if you have a railpass valid in both Italy and Greece you get free deck passage on some boats but no longer on ones from Brindisi I believe but from Ancona or Bari or Venice I believe.

michelleaston

We have just done the Brindisi to Igoumenitsa ferry journey with Grimaldi and personally I would not want to repeat the experience again, Having traveled on many boats/ferries Grimaldi in my opinion has to be the worst operator and on our return journey we plan to use a different operator into Bari or Venice. We originally booked to go Brindisi to Patra as we intended to drive to Pireus and then take another ferry to Crete as the original sailing was departing 19:00 and arriving at 14:30 this gave us plenty of time to make the drive down to pireus with plenty of time to spare, however our ferry was delayed and we did not sail until 03:30am don't expect any explaination because they don't offer any and on reading forums after the event we believe that this is a regular occurrence with this company so its best to contact your booking agent before hand to see if there are any delays, unfortunately when we made our booking there were no cabins left so we decided to book the pullman seats which are a little bit more expensive than the deck seats but as they recline and were separate from the main deck area we thought more quieter better sleep how wrong were we, first of all you may as well not bother paying the extra as there are no checks on who sits in the seats and who does not. the ship seems to be used mainly by Eastern Europeans who sit up & drink & chat loudly until the small hours so not a great nights sleep at all in addition the ship is a pit with toilets backing up and no one really bothering to clean them so in the end we decided to get off at Igoumenitsa as we couldn't stand another minute on the ship when we did get off the ship we realized that at some point in the journey my husband had been pick pocketed and relieved of his mobile phone & wallet. I now realize having read other peoples experiences that the Brindisi crossing is more suited to freight so if your expecting a cruise like experience forget it.

PalenQ

if you have a railpass valid in both Italy and Greece you get free deck passage on some boats but no longer on ones from Brindisi I believe but from Ancona or Bari or Venice I believe.>

seems in 2013 Eurail brochure you only get a minor discount with a pass IF going both ways and no longer a free ride. I'll re-check and get back!