Travel from Athens to Crete

8. Re: Best mode of transportation from Athens to Crete?

Well you know what they say.'Wise men think alike.and fools seldom differ'

That was exactly my thinking, overnight ferry saves a on a couple of nights accommodation.

It wasn't uneventful, started off with a truck driver arriving late just as the ramp was started to be lifted, could not hear the argument that was taking place on the dock but if the gestures were anything to go by it was quite colourful. Later I found it an education to see how an entire family can convert a small stairwell into an overnight camping pitch within minutes, looked comfortable.

On arrival I was luckier than yourself as I just had to cross the road to the bus depot and wait twenty minutes for the first bus to Chora Skafion. Woke up half way across the island to see a couple of men with chainsaw dissecting a tree that lay across the road, dozed off again and 20 minutes later woke up to find the bus surrounded by 60 or 70 cyclists, we had driven into the middle of a race. Half awake half asleep it was a bit surreal.

However the most fascinating thing about the whole outward journey was just as we left Piraeus watching the seagull swoop down on the surf of the ferry, they literally rode the waves along the sides of the ferry, bow to stern, and snatched up any disturbed fish. Those that caught nothing rose at the stern, flew out, up and back to the bow to begin again. It was amazing to watch, they stayed with the ferry for about 3 or 5 miles.