driving from uk to greece

18445 Views 15 Replies 7 Participants Last post by Steather2622, Jan 18, 2015

vass1

Discussion Starter · Sep 13, 2009

HI, we are planning to drive from the uK to lefkas island, next year.
If anybody has driven could you please let me know the most cost effective route.
Although we are travelling onto Lefkas, anyone who has driven to Igumenitsa or the greek mainland would be helpful.
we have looked on the route planners, but when speaking to some people they have different thought son which route to take, also what would be helpful is the distances that we could expect to travel each day.
thank you

1 - 16 of 16 Posts

claptoon

· #2 · Sep 13, 2009

Greek trip

vass1 said:
HI, we are planning to drive from the uK to lefkas island, next year.
If anybody has driven could you please let me know the most cost effective route.
Although we are travelling onto Lefkas, anyone who has driven to Igumenitsa or the greek mainland would be helpful.
we have looked on the route planners, but when speaking to some people they have different thought son which route to take, also what would be helpful is the distances that we could expect to travel each day.
thank you

Hi
We drove a couple of years ago to Vassiliki from Newcastle in a Diahatsu jeep. We followed a Tom Tom navigation route. Ferry from Newcastle to Idjmuiden (amsterdam) drove more or less straight down through Holland,Germany,Austria, Italy and caught the ferry from Venvice to Ignoumenitsa. Then the short jorney to Lefkas. We stopped over at a place near Munich and made Venice early PM the next day to have a great afternoon looking around. The ferry leaves very close to Venice and easy to locate. We enjoyed the journey and it was a nice experience. It's debatable which way is best as you can travel shorter ferry routes from say Dover an Bari in Italy but the ferry fro Venice is a day and a half to Igoumenitsa but is lovely and much better than the North sea ferries! The choice is more expensive for longer ferries but less driving and visa versa. We had a left hand drive which made driving easier. The greek road down is much smaller and winds a bit but easy a pleasurable. Through europe when driving get used to fast drivers pulling out to overtake on the motorways quite late and chopping in quickly. Do the same as they get impatient if you hang around in the outside lane if pull out to overtaking too early. I see by your 'name' you are possibly going to Vassiliki. Let me know if you need any local info. Good luck
Peter

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vass1

Discussion Starter · #3 · Sep 14, 2009 (Edited)

claptoon said:
Hi
We drove a couple of years ago to Vassiliki from Newcastle in a Diahatsu jeep. We followed a Tom Tom navigation route. Ferry from Newcastle to Idjmuiden (amsterdam) drove more or less straight down through Holland,Germany,Austria, Italy and caught the ferry from Venvice to Ignoumenitsa. Then the short jorney to Lefkas. We stopped over at a place near Munich and made Venice early PM the next day to have a great afternoon looking around. The ferry leaves very close to Venice and easy to locate. We enjoyed the journey and it was a nice experience. It's debatable which way is best as you can travel shorter ferry routes from say Dover an Bari in Italy but the ferry fro Venice is a day and a half to Igoumenitsa but is lovely and much better than the North sea ferries! The choice is more expensive for longer ferries but less driving and visa versa. We had a left hand drive which made driving easier. The greek road down is much smaller and winds a bit but easy a pleasurable. Through europe when driving get used to fast drivers pulling out to overtake on the motorways quite late and chopping in quickly. Do the same as they get impatient if you hang around in the outside lane if pull out to overtaking too early. I see by your 'name' you are possibly going to Vassiliki. Let me know if you need any local info. Good luck
Peter

Hi Peter
Thank you for your reply
In total how many days did this journey take you?
The total cost roughly?
Thanks

claptoon

· #4 · Sep 14, 2009

Costs & time

vass1 said:
Hi Peter
Thank you for your reply
In total how many days did this journey take you?
The total cost roughly?
Thanks

I can't remember costs but its a straight forward totting up exercise in ferry cost, fuel and roughly £120 for tolls should cover. Its not a cheap option compared to air travel but if your taking stuff out you have no choice really. Time wise took us from Friday teatime leaving north shields on the ferry to arriving in Ignoumenitsa Monday morning and Vassiliki monday lunchtime. If you need any info on Vassiliki orbuying property let me know, we are buying at the moment so I have a decent basic knowledge.

Regards

Peter

Cairokid

· #5 · Sep 15, 2009

Hi

We've driven from near Athens to Scotland and drive to France every year or so.

We prefer the Patras - Venice route as it saves driving and we always travel in winter so it is less expensive. However most people choose Patras - Ancona.

Both of these ferries stop in Igoumenitsa I think.

We usually drive up and through France to enjoy the scenery and wine and I prefer it as I speak French, but other people go via Germany I think.

We used to then be able to catch a farry straight to Scotland but unfortunately that has stopped now.

My advice is to allow a few days and enjoy the journey rather than rushing.

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Caroline13

· #6 · Oct 13, 2009

Hi there
we have driven from Manchester to Greece three times so have a bit of experience. I would advise to avoid France if you can as the toll roads can be very expensive. Our trip consisted of driving to Hull and taking an overnight ferry to either Belgium or Holland (we have done both and they are similar), we then drove down to Mulhouse area in Germany and stayed there overnight (just at roadside hotel - about 80 euros for evening meal and brakfast), we then drove through Switzerland and Italy (unavoidable toll roads) and we went from Ancona to Igoumenista. The ferry leaves Italy around 8pm so you have time to get there. Thos ferry again is overnight.

If we left Friday evening for example we would arrive in Greece on Monday morning, the toll roads are about 10 euros for every 100 km's (on average). the ferry from Italy can cost anything from 300-600 euros dependant on your car and the cabin you take. Its best not to book anything and just haggle when you get to the port.

the other option is to drive down to Bari where the ferry journey is less and cheaper but this is about 700 km's from ancona so will add about a further 7 hours drive from ancona

Hope this is helpful but anything else just ask
Caroline

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vass1

Discussion Starter · #7 · Oct 14, 2009

Caroline13 said:
Hi there
we have driven from Manchester to Greece three times so have a bit of experience. I would advise to avoid France if you can as the toll roads can be very expensive. Our trip consisted of driving to Hull and taking an overnight ferry to either Belgium or Holland (we have done both and they are similar), we then drove down to Mulhouse area in Germany and stayed there overnight (just at roadside hotel - about 80 euros for evening meal and brakfast), we then drove through Switzerland and Italy (unavoidable toll roads) and we went from Ancona to Igoumenista. The ferry leaves Italy around 8pm so you have time to get there. Thos ferry again is overnight.

If we left Friday evening for example we would arrive in Greece on Monday morning, the toll roads are about 10 euros for every 100 km's (on average). the ferry from Italy can cost anything from 300-600 euros dependant on your car and the cabin you take. Its best not to book anything and just haggle when you get to the port.

the other option is to drive down to Bari where the ferry journey is less and cheaper but this is about 700 km's from ancona so will add about a further 7 hours drive from ancona

Hope this is helpful but anything else just ask
Caroline

Hi Caroline.
That is very good informatio...............thank you
WE are curently in greece at present making plans for the drive next april.
So if you do not mind, will contact you again when we return to uk after the 26th october.
We have some more questions.
Thank you again your in depth information is very helpful

G

· #8 · Oct 14, 2009

Rosevillep

vass1 said:
HI, we are planning to drive from the uK to lefkas island, next year.
If anybody has driven could you please let me know the most cost effective route.
Although we are travelling onto Lefkas, anyone who has driven to Igumenitsa or the greek mainland would be helpful.
we have looked on the route planners, but when speaking to some people they have different thought son which route to take, also what would be helpful is the distances that we could expect to travel each day.
thank you

Hi. I drove to Athens last month from Jersey/St.Malo/Paris/Munich/Austria/Slovenia/Croatia/Serbia/Macedonia/Greece. I wanted to leave my car there.
It was not cost effective. 2100 miles cost a fortune in petrol. You need a green card you cant go through Serbia without one. You need to buy a windscreen disc @35 Euros to go through Slovenia, without one they stop you and fine you 150 Euros. It took me three days and I was knackered so I would advise proper stop overs and not just kipping in the car which would add to the cost. You could aim for about 500 miles a day with decent comfort stops.
I am glad I did it but dont know if I would want to do it again. I didnt find the A.A. routes very helpful, it was easier to rely on the Michelin maps and the (very) good continental road signs. Every E.U. country seems to be repairing their roads so miles of one lane motorways with traffic in both directions will be encountered.
Obviously you have to make sure your car is in good nick. I have left my car there cos I have a house there but all in all it would have been cheaper to buy in Greece.
If I think of any more I will let you knoe. Good luck. DMC

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vass1

Discussion Starter · #9 · Oct 14, 2009

rosevillep said:
Hi. I drove to Athens last month from Jersey/St.Malo/Paris/Munich/Austria/Slovenia/Croatia/Serbia/Macedonia/Greece. I wanted to leave my car there.
It was not cost effective. 2100 miles cost a fortune in petrol. You need a green card you cant go through Serbia without one. You need to buy a windscreen disc @35 Euros to go through Slovenia, without one they stop you and fine you 150 Euros. It took me three days and I was knackered so I would advise proper stop overs and not just kipping in the car which would add to the cost. You could aim for about 500 miles a day with decent comfort stops.
I am glad I did it but dont know if I would want to do it again. I didnt find the A.A. routes very helpful, it was easier to rely on the Michelin maps and the (very) good continental road signs. Every E.U. country seems to be repairing their roads so miles of one lane motorways with traffic in both directions will be encountered.
Obviously you have to make sure your car is in good nick. I have left my car there cos I have a house there but all in all it would have been cheaper to buy in Greece.
If I think of any more I will let you knoe. Good luck. DMC

Thanks very much for that info........will definitely not drive all the way......will probably get ferry from Venice to igomenitsa?
to cut down the driving.
if i think of anything else will reply.

Rodgers

· #10 · Oct 22, 2009

vass1 said:
HI, we are planning to drive from the uK to lefkas island, next year.
If anybody has driven could you please let me know the most cost effective route.
Although we are travelling onto Lefkas, anyone who has driven to Igumenitsa or the greek mainland would be helpful.
we have looked on the route planners, but when speaking to some people they have different thought son which route to take, also what would be helpful is the distances that we could expect to travel each day.
thank you

Hi,

I am planning a similar journey next year. I am going through Germany, Austria, Slovenia, Croatia and Albania, however, this is the scenic route if you like!

The quicker route seemed to be Croatia, Serbia, Macedonia on the motorways.

Cheers

Tom

Caroline13

· #11 · Oct 22, 2009

I would advise great caution when driving through these countries as not all of them are great to drive through. We have spoken to many people on our travels (mainly wagon drivers and delivery vans) and they will not drive this way as they state you need special permits and if you don't have them you will get on the spot fines - as long as your prepared and aware of this you should be okay, good luck!

Rodgers

· #12 · Oct 22, 2009

Caroline13 said:
I would advise great caution when driving through these countries as not all of them are great to drive through. We have spoken to many people on our travels (mainly wagon drivers and delivery vans) and they will not drive this way as they state you need special permits and if you don't have them you will get on the spot fines - as long as your prepared and aware of this you should be okay, good luck!

You dont need special permits at all. At best you need a green card which your UK insurer can issue to you free of charge. Some countries require a vignette (ie road tax) to use their motorways, but all other roads are free. Albania requires compulsory 3rd party insurance (like all European countries) and if your policy doesnt cover this you can buy it at the border. NFU Mutual covers Albania as standard with all their car policies though. Sounds like you've been listening to scare stories.

Caroline13

· #13 · Oct 22, 2009

maybe so but I wouldn't drive that way and every Greek person I have spoken to wouldn't either but you sound more knowledgable than me on the subject so I'll leave it there.... Still think it's no more cost or time effective to go on the ferry

Rodgers

· #14 · Oct 23, 2009

Caroline13 said:
maybe so but I wouldn't drive that way and every Greek person I have spoken to wouldn't either but you sound more knowledgable than me on the subject so I'll leave it there.... Still think it's no more cost or time effective to go on the ferry

Yeah, I wouldnt drive that way if speed were my object - it's a scenic or adventurous route really

Jane&Jack

· #15 · Nov 17, 2009

Hi

My partner did the drive from Ramsgate to Thessaloniki in 3 days in a 2.5ltr Vectra in July this year......although he didnt have much sleep.

He avoided the toll roads by going from UK to Ostende ferry (£72) belgium-germany-austria-ancona (no tolls) got the ferry from ancona -igoumenitsa (£152 one way) then drove up to Thessaloniki, petrol cost approx 250 euros including eating.

We booked through viamare and payed on internet, if you google viamare the site it will come up with the option to choose different ferry companies.

He considered driving overland but we were advised not to do so by some english truckers who had done the route many times, they said it was dangerous in that you wouldnt want to pull up and take a kip in a lay by etc and also very expensive as you hit all tolls.

Hope this has helped a bit!

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Steather2622

· #16 · Jan 18, 2015

UK-Thessaloniki

Hi there
Thanks for the info already posted as it has been very helpful already and helped us decide to avoid France and also that the ferry is a better option than driving all the way.
We are driving to Thessaloniki in Febuary due to relocation for work, it's come round quickly and as we have a need for the car and all our stuff as well as a dog we have decided it's better we drive,
We would like to get a bit more info on the journey you took, things like where to stop for petrol, food, overnight stays, maybe some info on euro insurance for the drive etc
Any info would help.

Thanks in advance

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