Good-day,

we intend to use our Eurail selctpass to travel from Rome to Greece. Based on my research I take the train from Rome to Bari then a ferry from Bari to Patras and then a bus from Patras to Athens...Our depature is fast approaching can anyone give insights as to where I can find a timetable for the ferries and buses in Greece? or can you recommend an alternate route? Thanks for your help.

The best ferries are run by Superfast and Blue Star Ferries - it's a joint service and the same schedule is on both web sites (www.superfast.com and www.bluestarferries.com). It's an overnight journey, leaving in the evening and arriving at lunch time. There should be no problem booking a cabin at short notice outside the peak season. There is normally a connecting bus to Athens which you can book on board the ship. If this is not running, it's a short walk to the main bus station in Patra from where buses generally leave every half hour. The bus journey to Athens takes about three hours.

If you're talking about using your free passage on the ferry to Greece (using your railpass) I suggest you email RailEurope and ask them. As I recall there is only one ferry that honors that.

We were in Brindisi one afternoon and saw seemingly thousands of college aged backpackers heading to the docks for the ferry. I was thinking that's where you get the "railpass" free ferry.

Are you sure you want/need a rail pass? Tain travel within Italy is so, so bargain-priced that it is hard to beat the cost of simple ("point-to-point&quot tickets.

See www.railsaver.com - - and be sure to click on "only if it saves me money".

Best wishes,

Rex

Patrick is correct about the passes and their validity only on certain ferry services. Definitely check with RailEurope or another agency about that.

Used to be Brindisi only for Eurail-valid boats but now Bari and Ancona also have 'Eurail' boats - boats that get pass holders free deck passage (though you pay port tax and in summer a surcharge). In fact Brindisi no longer offers free Eurail trips - only 50% off. Free passage lines in 2005 are Superfast Ferries (www.superfast.com) and Blue Star Ferries (www.bluestarferries.com)
Ancone is much closer to Rome than Bari.
Passes must be valid in both Italy and Greece; first class passes get free berths on the boats.

www.gtp.gr

I am planning on doing the same thing very soon. I agree with the other postings using the superfast ferries website for timetables. Also, the ktel.org website is the bus system in Greece. The website is a bit confusing but if you email them you will get a response within a few days. Also, if you are using the eurail, I would take the rail system from patras to Athens and not a bus. It will save you alot of time since the rail system is about 4-5 hours for that trip and I am sure the bus will take longer. Look into it on raileurope.com.

No the bus Patras-Athens won't take longer - especially when you figure in that the bus in coordinated with the boat - no waiting time. Last time i got off the ferry at Patras the train had left a few minutes before the boat arrived - there was no coordination between boat and train, also a bit of a walk away from the dock - with sporadic schedules you may wait some hours for the next train, and these trains are mile trains stopping often whereas the bus goes straight through.