We are thinking about taking a ferry from Venice to Athens. How far is the port in Patras to Athens, by train or bus? And any suggestions would be appreciated. Thanks.

geia

3 hours with a car

some shipping compagnies have a connexion between Patras and Athens.

My advice, Ken is, however you get from Patras to Athens, DON'T do it the way I did when I was 11 years old:

1973. Summer. Hot. (And I grew up in San Antonio, where we knew hot.) Overnight ferry from Brindisi lands in Patras. Whole tour bus gets on a boat with a truckload of watermelons. (This was good.) Land at Delphi. Visit ruins. Back on bus to Athens. Bus breaks down. Sit on desolate roadside 4 hours. Yuk.

I did Patras to Athens route by train. The lonely planet guide books says there are 8 trains per day. It also says that most trains are slow and take 5 hours. The buses are faster, according to the book, but drop you off further from the city. You can take an intercity train, which is more pricey, but will get you there in 3 and a half hours.

We ended up spending the night in Patras and highly enjoyed the stop over. It was a very pleasant day when we arrived and enjoyed walking around and exploring. The one thing we missed that I wish we hadn't was the famous winery just outside the city. It's accesible by city bus. If you visit the tourist office, they will have plenty of information on the winery.

Hope this helps.

Some of the ferry companies run connecting buses which wait on the quayside in Patra and then go via Pireas to Athens, taking about three hours. By train, there are several intercity trains a day which go via Athens to Pireas; seats have to be reserved and, since the trains have only three carriages, they are often fully booked (www.ose.gr). There are also regular buses from Patra to Athens. In Patra, both the railway station and bus station are on the waterfront near the ferry berths.

Just did the Patras-Pireas thing two days ago. Train station is right near the waterfront, so I caught the train, which took a little over 4 hours to Pireas. Athens is the stop before it. It cost 10 euro for the ride. Hope that helps.

Thanks for the help!