Car Hire in Greece - Getting to Greece

With Island’s scattered all over the Aegean and tourists trying to get to them, it isn’t surprising that Greece has 16 international airports, with links to every major city in Europe. Athens has direct flights to and from the USA, Canada, Australia and various Asian cities with frequent flights to/from Istanbul and Sofia.

Getting to the islands is done cheapest by charter flight or package deals in the summer (April – Nov), particularly from London, Amsterdam, Frankfurt and Paris to Athens, Thessaloniki and some of the islands.

One of the busiest ferry routes is from Brindisi on Italy’s East coast, stopping off at Corfu and arriving at Patras, then bussing/driving to Athens (2 hours). Ferries also depart from Bari and Otranto. In season you’d be wise to book well in advance or get to the port early. There are also car ferries from various Aegean ports in Turkey to the Dodecanese islands and from Israel and Cyprus to Crete and the Cyclades.

By land, there are road connections from Turkey, Bulgaria, Albania and Macedonia, though the Balkans remain unsafe in parts and most prefer the ferry from Italy. It’s possible to get buses from many European cities to Athens but it’s an arduous journey.

There are also trains from Macedonia, Hungary, Bulgaria and Turkey, but the network isn’t well developed and the trains slow and uncomfortable.

Despite thawing relations, the historic hostilities between Greece and Turkey remain, making border crossings bureaucratic and expensive. If you arrive on a charter flight and decide to take a side trip to Turkey you may not be allowed to use the return portion of your charter-flight ticket.