Greek island ferries: how to book, which operator, and how to track strikes

Greek island ferries run on a mix of large conventional ships, fast catamarans and small local boats, sold by several operators and many agencies. The booking itself is simple. The decisions that matter are which sailing to take, when to arrive, and what happens when a ferry does not run.

This guide covers the booking route, the difference between boat types, the Athens-area ports, check-in and luggage rules, refund terms, and where to find out about strikes and sailing bans. It uses the operators' own conditions, EU passenger-rights pages and GOV.UK travel advice, each read on 2 October 2026. Ferry operators change their terms by route and season, so the figures below are examples to compare against your own booking page.

There are three normal routes. You can buy on the operator's own website or app, at a ticket office in the port, or from a ticket agency. Hellenic Seaways and Blue Star Ferries belong to the same group, Attica Group, and use a shared web check-in and e-ticket system. Other companies sell their own tickets.

The route matters less than what you hold afterward. Blue Star Ferries says changes and cancellations for tickets bought online or in its app go through its Help Center, while tickets bought at central port offices and ticket agencies are changed there. Keep the booking reference, the e-ticket and the name of the company that sold it. Start any change or cancellation with the channel that sold the ticket.

Compare sailings on the same date and not only on price. For each option, note the departure port, the departure and arrival times, the vessel type and the cancellation tier. Two sailings to the same island can leave from different ports and arrive hours apart.

Operators run both kinds of boat. Hellenic Seaways lists high-speed vessels, including the AERO Highspeed catamarans, on its fleet pages, and Blue Star Ferries runs conventional ferries. The difference shows up in three places on the booking page.

1. Duration. High-speed boats are faster. The page for each sailing shows the duration, so compare it directly rather than relying on a general rule. 2. Seating and cabins. The vessel page on the operator's site lists what each class includes. 3. Vehicles. Whether a vessel carries cars and motorcycles is stated on its page. Confirm it before you pay if you are bringing a vehicle.

Sea state also differs by vessel and by day, so a sailing on the same route can run when another does not. If a flight home depends on the ferry, take the sailing that arrives the day before.

Piraeus is the main port for island routes, and it is large. Hellenic Seaways' Piraeus port map shows numbered gates, including E1, E2, E3, E6, E7, E8 and E9, plus a ticket sales point for the Saronic islands. The map notes that gate E9 is reachable by vehicle up to the boarding point. The gate depends on the ship and the destination, and it can change, so read it off your ticket or the operator's notice on the day.

Rafina and Lavrio also serve island routes from Attica. They are separate ports away from Piraeus, so a ticket for one cannot be used at another. The booking page and your ticket name the departure port. Check it twice, once at booking and again the evening before.

Allow time for the port itself, which is another reason for the 1-hour report time in the rules below. For the city you are leaving from, see our Athens guide, and for an island stay at the end of the trip, our guide to Santorini alternatives helps you pick which boat to book.

Web check-in on Hellenic Seaways and Blue Star Ferries opens 48 hours before departure and closes 2 hours before. You then receive your e-ticket by email or on a mobile or tablet. At boarding, Blue Star says you must show the e-ticket together with an ID card or passport.

The conditions are published on Hellenic Seaways' general terms page, and the check-in window is described on Blue Star's web check-in page. Other operators publish their own, so read the one for the company on your ticket.

Luggage needs one extra check. Hellenic Seaways' conditions say luggage must not contain valuable items, and valuables can be handed to the chief purser for safekeeping. Keep your passport, medication and anything you cannot replace with you.

Keep the e-ticket somewhere you can open it without a signal, as a screenshot or a printout. Blue Star Ferries says that on domestic routes a lost ticket cannot be refunded or cancelled, and that it is not legally permitted to reprint one, so you have to buy a new ticket. You can then declare the loss in writing, giving the departure date, the itinerary, the lost ticket number and the new ticket number. If the original ticket is still unused after one month, the company reissues a replacement free of charge for the same destination and seating category, valid for 2 years from the original travel date.

The rule is on Blue Star's page on ferry tickets and reservations. Other operators set their own lost-ticket terms. The e-ticket reduces the risk, since you can reopen it from your email, but the same advice holds: read the operator's conditions before the day you travel.

Cancelling a ticket you bought yourself follows the operator's tiers, which depend on the route, the season and how close the sailing is. Hellenic Seaways' conditions give an example for its Cyclades, Dodecanese, North Aegean, Saronic and Crete routes.

The conditions define which dates count as high season, so read them before you decide how long to hold a booking. The same rule applies to all of them: compare the tier for your sailing before you buy a ticket you might need to change, and keep proof of the date and time you cancelled.

No official strike calendar is published that we could find, and a calendar would not help much, because strikes can be called with little notice. GOV.UK's travel advice for Greece says there are regular strikes, sometimes called at short notice, that can disrupt buses, trains, ferries and air travel, as well as roads and borders. Its latest update was on 11 August 2026.

The advice is on GOV.UK's Greece safety and security page. To track a strike for a specific day, use three sources in order. First, the operator's own notices on its website and app, because it tells you whether its sailings are affected. Second, the Greek Ministry of Maritime Affairs and Insular Policy, which oversees ferry regulation, for official announcements. Third, the Greek press and your hotel or host on the island, who see the changes first.

Weather works differently. In strong wind, Greek port authorities can stop departures. The meltemi, the strong north wind that blows across the Aegean in summer, is the usual cause in the Cyclades, and the Hellenic National Meteorological Service publishes the forecasts. Our best time to visit Greece guide covers when the wind is most likely.

EU passenger-rights rules cover Greek ferry routes. The EU's Your Europe portal says that when a ferry is cancelled, or its departure is delayed by 90 minutes or more, the carrier must offer a refund of your ticket within 7 days or re-routing under comparable conditions to your final destination at the earliest opportunity, at no extra cost.

The figures are on the Your Europe page for ship passengers and the European Consumer Centres' page on maritime travel. The weather exemption is the one that matters in the Aegean. Both sources say you are not entitled to compensation when severe weather causes the delay, and the Consumer Centres add that accommodation is not owed when weather causes the cancellation. The refund and the re-routing remain.

In practice, Hellenic Seaways' own rule is the first thing you will meet: the ticket for a cancelled departure is not valid for boarding and must be exchanged for a boarding card on the next scheduled departure, subject to availability. Travel insurance can cover costs the ferry does not, such as a missed flight or a hotel night, so read the delay and missed-connection clauses in our travel insurance guides.

Book through a channel that gives you an e-ticket and a reference. Compare boat type, port and cancellation tier on the same date. Report 1 hour before departure with ID in your hand, and check the port printed on the ticket the evening before. For every sailing that matters, read the operator's notices on the morning of travel. Keep a day of slack before any flight home.