Hi all,
I have decided on my intinerary and have one last question. We will be flying in to Greece the second week of September and I am wondering what is the best way for me to go about getting our ferry tickets. We will be staying in Athens 1 night before heading out to the islands. Should we wait until we get to Greece to buy our ferry tickets? Or is it better to book them online before we leave?
We will have set hotels, so can't risk not getting tickets. However, I've read that there is no worry of tickets being sold out this time of year. However, I also hear that the ferries are cut back as well.
We will need a ferry from Athens to Mykonos and a ferry from Mykonos to Santorini(preferably both in the morning hours). Will this be possible without advance reservations? Is it too risky trying to get the tickets in Athens and Mykonos with set reservations everywhere?
Can anyone help rest my mind on this decision and offer some insight?
Thanks in advance!

You can wait until you get there. Don't worry, the ferries are still running strong in September. From Athens you have two different options for ferries to Mykonos, either from Piraeus or from Rafina. The Rafina ferry is a highspeed catamaran run by Blue Star Ferries. From Piraeus you'll at least have a car ferry if not a highspeed cat.

From Mykonos to Santorini you'll also have two different options, the Hellenic Seaways highspeed cat or a car ferry to Paros where you will transfer to another car ferry to Santorini. Rest easy and wait until you're there. In Athens go into any travel agency and they can help you with getting to Mykonos. On Mykonos do the same for the trip to Santorini. You'll be fine.

http://www.greekislands.gr/hfd/

http://www.bluestarferries.com/ENGLISH/defaultmain.htm

http://www.gtp.gr/

The schedules for next September won't be posted until sometime in the summer, but these links will give you some idea of what to expect.

You could wait until you get to the port to buy your tickets, but buying them the night before will save you a little time the next day. Many of the ferries depart around 0730.

Daily sailing schedules can be found in the Kathimerini insert of International Herald Tribune, or look it up on http://www.ekathimerini.com/4dcgi/_w..._00/00/0000_43.

Thank you both! This rests my mind a great deal. I appreciate it greatly!

Need some help in this area too. Will be arriving in Athens on the 21st of Sept and traveling to Santorini on the 23rd a Sat. I want to take the fast catamaran. I see that I will have to leave from the Rafina area to do this. Is this all in the same area of Piraeus? How do I get there? Can I take the bus?
Also from Santorini to Naxos can I take the same ferry from Blue Star? Then on back from Naxos to Athens?
Thanks so much!

Islandgirltime-

Rafina is about the same distance from Athens as the airport only in a different direction, and it's not near to Piraeus. There's a bus to Rafina from Central Athens. To reach Rafina, take the bus from 29 Mavromateon Street in Athens at the Pedio tou Areos Park. For information call 210 821-0872. There's also an airport bus to Rafina.

There is a ferry from Santorini to Naxos. Blue Star and C-Link both service this route.

If you act now you might be able to get a cheap flight from Athens to Santorini on Aegean Airlines, they're offering great discounts now, actually cheaper than the ferry and it only takes about 1/2 hour to get there.

http://www.aegean-air.gr/aegeanen/home/

I am planning to go from Athens to Santornin by plane Aegean Air and from Santornini to Naxos by ferry, I tried to find Naxos to Athens on Aegean but no luck. What airlines flies from Naxos to Athens? Thanks

Only Olympic flies in and out of Naxos. Paros as well.

You can book flights with Olympic on http://www.olympicairlines.com/ but they are still showing their winter schedule. I got caught out last year by booking too early. When the summer schedule went online, an additional mid-day flight was added which would have been more convenient. Departure time on the flight I did book was changed to two hours earlier.

Brotherleelove is correct that only Olympic fly out of Naxos and Paros.

Looking at my 2005 Olympic timetable, there was one daily flight from Naxos to Athens, departing at 1335 during the summer.

Both airlines and ferry companies change their schedules around the middle of Sep to account for the lower off-season traffic. Since that is about the time you are traveling, confirm any reservations you have made a few days before you return to Athens.

If you can't get a flight from Naxos that suits you, there are highspeed ferries departing late morning - early afternoon taking about 3.5 hrs to reach Pireaus. Avoid the Seajet2 which goes to Rafina. This is a small catamaran that often gets cancelled in windy conditions when the bigger ferries are still running.