Little Cyclades Getting there & around

Getting there & away

There are daily connections to and from Naxos to the Little Cyclades but the service can be disrupted when sea conditions are poor; make sure you have plenty of time before committing yourself – these islands are not meant for last-minute visits or for one-night tick lists.

Until about mid-2009, four times a week in summer and twice weekly in winter, Blue Star car ferries run from Piraeus via Naxos to all of the Little Cyclades islands and on to Amorgos and Astypalea. There’s a standard price of €27.50 for one passenger to each of the Little Cyclades islands.

The sturdy little ferry Express Skopelitis (22850 71256/519; Katapola, Amorgos) provides a service (daily from mid-June to September, but on Monday, Wednesday, Thursday and Friday for the rest of the year, except January) between Naxos and Amorgos via all of the smaller islands. It’s a defining Cycladic experience. Bad weather can blow the schedule. Most seating is open deck, so when it’s windy, brace yourself for some real rocking and rolling. In rough weather you’ll know what’s coming when the crew starts dishing out the see-through sick bags. If you’re on deck, work out exactly which side of the boat is protected from wind and sea on each section between islands and stay there, or that bracing sea air may become a bracing Aegean Sea deluge. Regardless of sea conditions, locals, the crew and this writer head straight below for the comfy saloon and bar where they become engulfed in cigarette smoke and cheerful chatter. The choice is yours…

In high season the Skopelitis leaves Naxos at 3pm each day and calls at Iraklia (€8, 4½ hours), Schinousa (€7.50, four hours), Koufonisia (€7, 3½ hours), Donousa (€6.50, one hour and 20 minutes) and Amorgos (€10.50, six hours) where it docks overnight at Katapola.

There is also one weekly ferry from Donousa to Syros (€11, nine hours) and four weekly ferries to Paros (€12.50, two to four hours).

A useful weekly link from Donousa to Astypalea (€16, two hours 20 minutes) and the other Dodecanese islands is the rather lumbering MV Dimitroula you hear it before you see it. It calls at Donousa on its outward trip from Piraeus to Rhodes via Paros and Naxos on Tuesday, and calls in again on its return trip on Friday.

Four weekly ferries go from Schinousa to Paros (€10, 2½ hours).

Guaranteed until about mid-2009, the big Blue Star (21089 19800; www.bluestarferries.com) car ferry, Blue Star Naxos, will leave Piraeus for Paros, Naxos, all the Little Cyclades, and on to Amorgos, and Astypalea at 5.30pm on Monday and Wednesday all year and additionally on Saturdays from June 10 to September 20. The vessel will reverse the process on Tuesday and Thursday all year and additionally on Sunday from 10 June to 20 September.

A few other large, slow ferries stop at the islands during high season – ‘ghost ships’ – often in the dead of night.