Ionian Islands Getting there & around

Getting there & away

Water

Domestic

The Peloponnese has two departure ports for the Ionian Islands: Patra for ferries to Corfu, Kefallonia and Ithaki; and Kyllini for ferries to Kefallonia and Zakynthos. Epiros has one port, Igoumenitsa, for Corfu (island) and Paxi; and Sterea Ellada has one, Astakos, for Ithaki and Kefallonia (although this service is limited to high season). A useful website is www.ferries.gr.

The following table gives an overall view of the scheduled domestic ferries to the Ionians from mainland ports in high season. Note: prices change regularly.

It is not possible to island hop directly between the northern and southern islands. Corfu and Paxi are connected by ferry and hydrofoil, but unfortunately there are no services from either Corfu or Paxi to Lefkada.

Within the southern Ionians, Lefkada, Kefallonia and Ithaki are well connected by ferry, and there’s a twice-daily service between southern Kefallonia and northern Zakynthos (an alternative is to sail from Argostoli to Kyllini in the Peloponnese, and from there to Zakynthos Town).

Further details can be found under each island entry.

International

Corfu has regular connections with three ports in Italy (Brindisi, Bari and Venice), operated by a handful of ferry companies sailing between Italy and Igoumenitsa and/or Patra. (Travellers can also sail between Ancona and Igoumenitsa, then transfer to a local ferry.) Crossings are most frequent in July and August, but there are year-round services at least weekly between Corfu and Brindisi, Bari and Venice.

From Corfu it’s also possible to cross to Albania, or to visit on a day trip. Recommendations:

Agoudimos Lines (www.agoudimos-lines.com) From Brindisi to Corfu and Igoumenitsa, and Bari to Kefallonia, Igoumenitsa and Patra.

ANEK Lines (www.anek.gr) From Venice to Corfu.

Blue Star Ferries (www.bluestarferries.com) From Bari to Corfu, Igoumenitsa and Patra.

Hellenic Mediterranean Lines (www.hml.it) From Brindisi to Corfu, Igoumenitsa, Kefallonia and Patra.

Minoan Lines (www.minoan.gr) From Venice to Igoumenitsa, Corfu and Patra.

SNAV (www.snav.it) High-season, high-speed catamaran services between Brindisi, Corfu and Paxi.

Superfast Ferries (www.superfast.com) From Bari to Corfu, Igoumenitsa and Patra.

Ventouris (www.ventouris.gr) From Bari to Corfu and Igoumenitsa.

Note: the only ferry companies that accept Eurail and Inter-rail passes are Bluestar, Superfast and Agoudimos. All international ferry companies also have special offers and concessions for seniors, families and last-minute tickets.

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Land

Bus

KTEL (www.ktel.org) long-distance buses connect each major island with Athens and Thessaloniki, and usually also with Patra or Kyllini in the Peloponnese. Buses to Corfu, Lefkada, Kefallonia, Ithaki and Zakynthos depart from Athens’ Terminal A bus station.

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Air

Corfu, Kefallonia and Zakynthos have airports; Lefkada has no airport, but Aktion airport, near Preveza on the mainland, is about 20km away. These four airports have frequent flights to/from Athens. Olympic Airlines (www.olympicairlines.com) has introduced a useful service linking the Ionians: three times a week there are return flights from Corfu to Zakynthos, stopping en route at Kefallonia.

From May to September, many charter flights come from northern Europe and the UK to Corfu, Kefallonia, Zakynthos and Preveza.

AirSea Lines, a seaplane service, runs flights between changing destinations. At the time of research, these included Corfu, Paxi and Lefkada.

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