Just to the east of the island of Corfu, you will find the town of Igoumenitsa, on the mainland of Greece. This port town is located inside a huge bay area known as Igoumenitsa Bay and you will find direct ferry services from here to one of Greece’s biggest ports, Patras.

Both Minoan Lines and Anek Lines provide ferries along this route. In fact, Minoan Lines ferries passengers from Igoumenitsa to destinations all over Greece as well as international destinations. The Patras-Igoumenitsa route is serviced by Minoan Lines about four times a week in the winter and more frequently during the summer months but please note that they do not operate the service on Mondays. The crossing can take up to eight hours to complete.

You can get some limited refreshment on board the ferries, including hot and cold drinks, and snack food. Seating is comfortable and the passenger areas are spacious and clean.

Anek Lines offers a similar service with departures every day Between June and August. Cars and motorcycles can be taken aboard, but cannot be accessed during the voyage. Both the companies which operate the ferries on this route have an excellent safety record. In the interests of safety, passengers are required to refrain from smoking whilst aboard the ferries.

The ferry port of Patras competes with Piraeus port as Grease’s most advanced and widely used ferry port. It is conveniently located not too far from Athens and a bus journey to the capital will only take about three hours from here. The port was recently rebuilt in order to accommodate an ever expanding cargo through put and the terminal building used by ferry passengers has good quality, up to date facilities such as baby changing areas, internet access and a host of food providers.

Tags: ANEK Lines, Corfu, Greece, Igoumenitsa, Minoan Lines, Patras