Travel

Patras has a major harbor with regular daily ferry boat connections to and from Italy (Venice, Ancona, Bari, Brindesi). Some of the principal ferry boat companies are ANEK Lines, Blue Star Ferries, Minoan Lines and Superfast Ferries.

Patras can be alternatively reached via Athens by first flying to Eleftherios Venizelos International Airport and then by road from Athens to Patras. From the airport one can simply rent a car and take the highway towards Elefsina-Korinthos-Patras without ever entering the city of Athens; it is about 2 1/2 hours drive to Patras.

Public transportation from Athens to Patras is also quite good and reliable. In such case you are advised to take bus X93 starting from the airport (just outside the arrivals' building) to "Kifisos Coach Station" and exit at the last stop inside the Athens central bus station; this part of the trip takes about 45 minutes and the ticket costs 3.20 euro. There you can take a bus running frequently from Athens to Patras (approximately one every hour starting from early morning to about 10 pm); this last part takes about 2 1/2 hours and the ticket costs 18 euro each way.

Alternatively you can take the train (called "proastiakos") from inside the airport to Patras. In that case you have to change train at Korinth; the waiting time for the connection can be from a few minutes to about 1 hr. The train trip takes about 4 to 5 hrs in total (depending on the connection time) and costs around 15 euro each way. There is a train every two hours starting from the airport (from early morning to late night).

The map below gives a good idea of the traveling within Greece:

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Note: Google earth files can be opened by Google Earth which can be downloaded from earth.google.com