An old post briefly mentions that there might be ferry service between Venice and Corfu. Does anyone have an Internett site to recommend or have first-hand knowledge of this service?

Thank you for any assistance.

Minoan Lines, http://www.minoan.gr/en/main.asp, runs a service from Venice to Patras, with a stop at Corfu.

Both Minoan Lines (www.minoan.gr) and Blue Star (www.bluestarferries.com) run from Venezia to Kerkira ("Corfu&quot. In summer, Minoan have six sailings a week and Blue Star have four. Minoan's ships are newer, but both have pretty high standards, so your choice would depend on convenience of sailing times and cabin availability. At Venezia, the ships pass close to Piazza San Marco and give great views of the old city. It's almost certainly the best way of getting from Italy to Greece.

GeoffHammer: IMHO that's one of the worst ways to get from Italy to Greece. Taking the train (or driving if you prefer, I don't) from Venice to Brindisi and taking but a few hours on a ferry is cheaper, far more comfortable and FASTER.

This information is very helpful. Thank you for responding so quickly.

What about flying? Is it possible to fly from Venice to Corfu?

In summer there are a few charter flights. Neither Alitalia nor Olympic fly Venice (or Verona or Treviso)-Corfy, you would have to fly to Athens and than halfway back to Corfy. So it leaves you with two options: either ferry directly from Venice to Corfy or train from Venice to Brindisi and ferry to Corfy. I prefer the latter (chepaer, faster less sea travelling which scares me), Geoff prefers the first (suppose that his reasons are you don't have to change means of transportation, more sea travelling which he might like).

Alice Twain has obviously never been on a ship from Venezia to Greece. Both companies' ships are much bigger, newer and more luxurious than those running from Brindisi. Most Brindisi sailings are overnight, so you'll spend a day on the train getting down there, then a night on a relatively small, old ship; alternatively, if you take a daytime sailing from Brindisi to Greece, you'd need to take an overnight train from northern Italy or spend a night in Brindisi.

I LOVED my ship from Corfu to Venice in August 2002. It was Minoan, Passiphae Palace??? (or something like that). I felt like I was on a cruise ship, we laid out all day on the deck. The restaurants were actually quite good, there was shopping, bars.... everything! It was a great way to get some rest in the midst of the busy vacation. We were cheap and just got airplane-type seats, but if you can do it I am sure having a room would be great. Sailing into Venice while eating breakfast was amazing.

By the way, I think it was Parsiphae Palace, it was huge and very modern. I think Minoan's website has virtual tours that were really good so you can get an idea of the ship.

Proposed schedules for all shipping companies and routes can be found on Greek Travel Pages - gtpnet.com

Geoff: I have obviously been several times on several ships from both Brindisi to Greece (I refused to go to Corfy: Italians are already too abundant furhter south!). Please, believe me if I say that the country I know better after Italy is Grece, since I have been there A LOT of times. My favorite way to reach Greece is still the airplanes, but half the times I went by ferry, and whenever I happend to go there by ferry the first thing I do is look for suitable ferries from either Brindisi or Bari! I would not go from Venice not even if I travelled for free, not even if I was paid to do it (well, it depends on how much they are paying me!!!).

Reading both perspectives is very helpful: thank you for sharing your personal reasons why you do/do not like these options.

One last question on our plans is: What the best way to get back to the U.S. from Corfu (as far as carriers, options)? My flights usually are open-jaw, so I am not worried about returning to "point A" for a flight home.

I do not have first hand experience with this, but I believe you would have to fly from Corfu to Athens, and Athens to the US. Venice was the last few days of my trip, so we took the ferry from Corfu to Venice. Then we had a direct flight from Venice to JFK.

Quickest/easiest option is a domestic flight to Athens. Slower, but possibly more interesting, if you have the time, would be a ferry to Patras and bus to Athens.

You do not actually need to go all the way to Patras, you may go to Igoumenitza and take the bus from Igumenitza to Athens.