Santorini to Rome!
New Member
Posted on: Sun, 01/06/2008 - 00:06
I’m traveling from Venice to Athens and Santorini to Rome in 3 weeks and I was wondering if anybody knew how long those take by boat/train.
I’m also getting the Greece/Italy Rail pass btw 
Any feed back is greatly appreciated!
Thanks in advance!
Venice to Athens is an overnight ferry ride. It is actually Venice to Piraeus, then a short ride into Athens. I’ve done it, it was pleasant, but we had a cabin.
Santorini to Rome would be an overnight ferry ride to Bari or Brindisi (someone out there correct me if I am wrong) and then, depending on the type of train, at least three hours—maybe four or even five.
(There are also flights between Santorini and Rome. I would think there might be a bus, as well.)
Since you’re getting the Italy-Greece railpass, my guess is you won’t be flying, which would have been best option for traveling between Venice and Athens. And since you won’t be flying, keep in mind that surface travel (rail/road/ferry) from Venice to Athens will be a long commute, especially if you don’t plan on stopping anywhere worthwhile along the way (Rome? Florence/Tuscany? Corfu? etc).
Is there a reason why you need to return to Italy after visiting Greece? I’m not too crazy about the fact that you have to backtrack…it wastes time.
I totally understand the fact that it wastes time, when i was looking for hostels, that’s how it ended up. I’ve been emailing back and forth with a few hostels today trying to get a few days switched around, but we need to get from either Rome or somewhere in Greece up to London, and it was cheaper to fly from Rome to London than somewhere in Greece.
I’m totally open to suggestions if you guys have any! My route currently is London -> Munich -> Venice -> Athens -> Santorini -> Rome -> London. I was thinking about nixing the Greece/Italy Pass because I have yet to buy it, and getting the 4 Country Select pass, because it’s cheaper than buying a city to city ticket from Munich to Venice. I think that works out right.
Anyway thanks again for the help!
What’s the advantage of a railpass? I’d look at flights and point to point tickets for the whole trip.
From everything i’ve looked at, a rail pass reduces the cost. The flights i’ve seen are out of our price range, am i overlooking something?
Ok so i did a little more digging, and i can’t believe i didn’t find this earlier, but i found Olympic Airlines which does make it cheaper to fly between cities. But, i haven’t found a way other than boat and to get from venice to athens. Do any of you guys know how much that would cost/how long it would take.
Not sure what your dates are, but also check here: http://www.myair.com…
If their dates don’t fit your itinerary, also check here: http://www.mobissimo…
try www.whichbudget.com to see which budget airlines fly which routes and then do some poking around on the websites it links to. I ultimately found Santorini to London on Thompsonfly — though not great prices on your dates.
Where are you finding your prices for point to point tickets??? Try www.trenitalia.com — the website for the national rail company in Italy. Remember that your railpass will not cover the cost of reservations which are required on many Italian trains and sometimes double the cost of the ticket. You can use www.railsaver.com to see which, if any, railpass or combination of pass(es) and point to point is best. Follow the “I have a good idea of my itinerary” route and check “I prefer purchasing railpasses (to point to point tickets) ‘only when it saves money.’”
The railpass websites generally show the prices they charge for point to point tickets — usually at least 1/3 more than the ticket will cost in Europe. Inflated prices for tickets plus inflated prices for reservations plus shipping plus handling often mean the price from the railpass websites is nearly twice what you’ll pay at the station in Europe plus you’ll miss any special pricing that may be available from the national rail companies. Buying tickets from the automated kiosks or www.trenitalia.com is very easy in Italy. Buying “just a reservation” to use with your railpass can be a real hassle and almost always involves waiting in a long line.
nlo88,
How long is your total backpacking trip? If you’re going to use surface travel (ferry + rail) from Venice all the way to Athens, then you should consider stopping somewhere along the way, because it’ll be a long ride. What about:
From Venice, ferry to Corfu
Corfu 2-4 days
Bus or fly to Athens
Athens 1-2 days
Ferry to Santoríni
Santoríni 2-3 days
Ferry to Athens, fly to Rome
Another option:
From Venice fly to Athens (yes there are direct flights, unless they’re already booked)
Athens
Ferry to Santoríni
etc…
OR
From Venice take the train to Milan
Fly from Milan to Athens (direct flights from either MXP or LIN)
etc….
OR
From Venice take the train to Bologna
Bologna and Emilia-Romagna region 1-4 days
Fly to Athens
Athens 1-2 days
From Athens ferry to Santoríni (and maybe also visit Syros, Páros, Náxos, or Mykonos)
Ferry back to Athens
Fly Athens to Rome
it’s 23 days long starting in London/Southampton and then on the 19th we are flying down to Munich and on the 23rd we have a train to Venice and 2 nights in Venice. I like the first option you have you have. We might do that.
Thanks for the alternate views / advice! We leave on Saturday!
I like the first one most too.
Hey Guys! I’m mid trip, and we are currently in Munich. After Munich we are going to Venice, and then from there, we’ve been told to go to Corfu, but It’s not something the rest of my group would like to go to. We’ve thought about Turkey and Somewhere else in Italy, somewhere in the South.
We were wondering if anybodz has insight on a place in turkez that would be cheap \easz to get to Athens from. Or somewhere in Southern Italy.
any help is much Appreciated!
Turkey is east of Greece, Italy is west of Greece. You’ll have to cross Greece to Turkey from Italy, unless you fly or go through the Balkans.
If you’re going to Athens anyways, I highly advise you break up the looooong Italy-Athens commute with a stop in Corfu, a place every visitor enjoys. Other people gave you the same advice, so I’m curious why some people in your group are going against experienced advice and don’t want to go to Corfu? If you’re only going to visit Athens during your time in Greece (by the looks of it, it sounds like you’re going to drop Santorini too), then you won’t be doing the country any justice, in fact don’t even bother visiting Greece.
You do not need to go to Athens on trip to Greece. A great Greece itinerary that can fit your overall Europe itinerary would be Italy-Corfu/Paxoi-Meteora-Thessaloniki-IstanbulWe ended up stopping in corfu. Thou who holds the debit card, holds the power for buying tickets.
I definitely see what you guys mean by not needing to go to Athens to see Greece.
Thanks for all the help!
I definitely see what you guys mean by not needing to go to Athens to see Greece.
Corfu Island has an amazing coastline and countryside, and Corfu Town: the entire city is a UNESCO World Heritage Site. It’s kind of a shame not to stop there to break up a long Venice-Athens commute.
Thanks for listening.
