Ferry from Athens – Schedules & Ferry Tickets
Introduction
Athens has three ports that serve most islands of the Aegean Sea, the Peloponnese, and Crete. These three ports are Piraeus, Rafina, and Lavrion; however, Piraeus is the biggest and busiest. The most popular destinations by ferry are Santorini, Paros, Mykonos, Milos, Naxos, Hydra, Sifnos, Andros, Aegina, and more.
Below, you will find information about Athens Ferries and its three ports, Piraeus, Rafina, and Lavrion, their schedules, directions on how to get to them, and various photos and descriptions of the ports.
How To Get to the Islands by Ferry from Athens
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Athens is the capital of Greece and the prominent jumping-off place for trips to the Greek islands. The city has three main ports: Piraeus, Rafina, and Lavrion. Piraeus is the biggest and busiest of the three, while Rafina is closer to the airport. Every summer, there are many daily ferry connections between the ports of Athens and the Aegean islands. The peninsula of Attica has the country’s busiest ports, as most passengers leave from Athens to go to the islands of the Aegean. There are three ports in Attica. The busiest is the port of Piraeus, located close to Athens’ city center. It also serves ferries to most islands of the Aegean, Crete, and ports of Peloponnese. Piraeus’s port is enormous, with ten gates, and every gate serves different destinations.
The port of Rafina is less busy and is located on the northeastern side of Attica. This is the closest port to the airport in Athens, and frequent buses take you from the airport to Rafina. All year round, there are ferries from Rafina to Andros, Tinos, and Mykonos, while in summer, there are ferries from Rafina to Paros, Naxos, Santorini, and other Cyclades islands. There are also ferries to Marmari Evia from Rafina. Over the last few years, the port of Lavrion has also developed a lot. Lavrion is located on the southern side of Attica, close to Cape Sounion. All year round, there are ferries from Lavrion to Kea and Lemnos, while in summer, there are occasional ferries to various Cyclades and North Aegean islands.
Ferries from Piraeus
There are ferries from Piraeus to the Cyclades islands, the Dodecanese islands, the Saronic islands, the Northern Aegean islands, and Crete every day throughout the year. During peak season, there are more frequent ferry connections between Piraeus and the islands. Piraeus has ten gates in total. Ferries from Piraeus to the Cyclades depart from gates E6, E7, E9, and E10; ferries to the islands of the Dodecanese depart from gate E1; ferries to the Saronic islands depart from gate E8; ferries to the Northern Aegean islands depart from gates E2, E9, and E10, ferries to Heraklion and Chania depart from gates E2 and E3, and ferries to Rethymnon depart from gates E6 and E7. Some of the most popular ferry routes from Piraeus are from Piraeus to Santorini, from Piraeus to Mykonos, from Piraeus to Paros, from Piraeus to Naxos, and from Piraeus to Heraklion Crete.
Ferries from Rafina
Rafina is located in the northeastern part of Attica and serves ferry connections between Athens, the Cyclades islands, and Crete. More specifically, ferries from Rafina travel to Santorini, Paros, Naxos, Mykonos, Andros, Tinos, and Heraklion. Remember, though, that some ferries from Rafina operate seasonally, i.e., they run from May to October.
Ferries from Lavrion
Lavrion port is located in the southeastern part of Attica, 40 km from Athens and 7 km from Sounio. It mainly serves ferry routes to Kea, Kythnos, Paros, Naxos, Milos, and Syros. Ferry routes from Lavrion are more frequent during the summer.