anabelle

I have booked accomodation on Rhodes until Sun April 18th and need to move over to Paros where our next booked destination is. We could leave on Saturday 17th of April if need be.

I checked airline and ferry and am totally confused as to how we can make it there??? The ferry schedule is somewhat sporadic, or I just am not reading it correctly.

Any help is apppreciated, thanks very much

ThinGorjus

I have been to Rodos, but never to Paros. I have flown from Rodos from Thessaloniki and Rodos to Athens via Aegean Air.

I looked at Olympic's website and there are no flights going to Paros on your dates. I also plugged in Santorini to Paros and Thessaloniki to Paros and there is nothing flying.

What you could do is fly from Rodos to Santorini (via Athens)then take the Blue Star Ferry from Santorini to Paros.

If I am reading the ferry schedule correctly, you would leave Santorini at 3:30 PM and arrive in Paros around 7:30 PM. You could take an early flight from Rodos to Santorini to make it there by 3:30. Check Olympic's website for times. I think I saw a flight that got to Santorini at 10 AM.

You can't fly to Athens from Rodos and make it to Piraeus in time to get the ferry at 7:30 AM to Paros. If you did this you would have to leave Rodos the day before and stay near Piraeus overnight.

Thin, hope I helped a little

ThinGorjus

http://www.bluestarferries.com/site/...?sel=624&loc=2

Thin

ThinGorjus

I just checked Aegean and there is a flight from Rodos to Thira (Santorini) that leaves at 7 AM and arrives (stop over in Athens) at 11:45.

Thin

anabelle

Thank you so much. Can you tell me how far the airport is from the ports I would need to get to?

ThinGorjus

You only need to get to ONE port, the port at Thira (Santorini). Santorini is small, I can't imagine it taking more than 20 minutes to get from the airport to your ferry stop.

Where are you staying in Rodos?

If you are staying in Rhodes Town--Old Town or New Town--it shouldn't take you more than 15 minutes to get to the airport. The airport in Rodos is very small. They ship you out to the plane in a little bus and you walk onto the flight from the tarmac. Aegean is almost always on time.

Once you get to Athens from Rodos, you transfer to your flight to Santorini-Thira. Athens airport is also small, so you shouldn't have a problem.

I have never been to Santorini. Hopefully, someone like brotherleelove can tell you exactly where to go to get your ferry to Paros.

I would not wait and immediately book a flight on Aegean or Olympic from Rodos to Santorini. I would opt for Aegean.

Thin

ThinGorjus

Oi, so what is going on, guv?

Thin

anabelle

I've been going back and forth getting familiar with what it is I need to book. I am taking your advise and booking the flight to Santorini and then the ferry to Paros.

Thanks very much, I was finding it a little intimidating trying to find my way. That's why I love my fodor's folks!

btw...any thoughts on a hotel to stay in Santorini? We are going to come back to the island at the end of our Paros stay and spend a couple of nights.

ThinGorjus

Hotel Keti?

Thin

anabelle

OH OH!! I booked the Aegean flight and then went on to Blue Star...no ferries out on the 17th! Seems I will now have to overnight in Santorini as my plane fare is non-exchangable.

Any hotel suggestions that keep me fairly neutral to the port in Santorin?

and it looks like we will be spending an afternoon and evening..any suggestions as to what to do to maximize our time there.

I don't understand how the blue star www. showed there was a ferry leaving at 15:30 to Paros and when I began the booking procedure it didn't have that option at all??

brotherleelove2004

I don't understand it either. I'm thinking that it's because it's so early in the season. That, or it will be added later. Don't give up on it yet. The good news is that on the 17th you won't have any problem finding a room in Fira convenient to the ferry port bus if you wait until later on to book it in case they don't add the ferry on the 17th. If you want a caldera view check the Scirocco Apartments and Caldera Studios.

I just looked, and http://www.gtp.gr shows the Blue Star is in fact tentatively scheduled for the 17, but "This schedule is not officially approved yet" so there's hope. http://www.tinyurl.com/ye9tqex

anabelle

Great! thanks for the quick response. I'll wait a couple of weeks and see what happens. In the meantime I'll keep checking and watching these posts should you come across any other information.

ThinGorjus

I hope everything works out for you. Staying overnight in Santorini wouldn't be such a bad thing.

You take your chances when you travel in the off-season in Greece.

Thin

anabelle

Any thoughts on when the ferry schedule will "officially approved" I'm getting a little nervous regarding my trip over to Paros.(?)

brotherleelove2004

The Hellenic Seaways FlyingCat4 travels between Santorini and Paros, and the schedule here - http://www.ferries.gr/hfd - does not indicate a "no-sailing" day on April 17, so unless there's a change you will be able to get between these two islands on that day.

It seems as if HS is not yet allowing people to purchase tickets beyond April 11, but they've always been reliable and there's no reason to think that things will be different this year.

anabelle

I see that thanks. It's unfortunate that our plane lands in Santorini at 11:45 I don't think we can make the Flying Cats departure at noon ...ah live and learn!