Booking a boat to paradise for Orthodox Easter can feel like chasing a rare vintage at an estate auction—if you hesitate, it disappears. Travel agents sound almost apologetic when they talk about the current situation. By Holy Wednesday and Thursday, most ferries to favorite island destinations are riding at full capacity. Deck seats are snapped up. Cabins (especially for the longer hauls, like to the Dodecanese or Crete) go from rare to myth. Even those planning to bring their own car run into trouble, with garages booked out and high prices slapped onto the few remaining spaces. It’s an Easter tradition—scramble first, sip Assyrtiko later.
Let’s make this painfully clear for those who like bullet points with their tsipouro:
- Major routes sell out days or weeks ahead of Easter.
- Cabins for overnight or extended trips are almost impossible to get last-minute.
- Garages for cars fill up quickly, raising costs further.
- Ticket prices, already steep, rise with demand.
- Families traveling together face the brunt of high prices and limited seats.
Island Hopping This Easter
Imagine the open blue stretching between you and a table by the sea. Now add the math—tickets, cars, the negotiation with a child (or spouse) who didn’t want to pack light. Picking an island involves more than romantic whim. Here’s how the numbers stack up for some classic Easter spots, with those eye-watering Easter ferry ticket prices all too real:
- Paros (a hotspot for the faithful and the fun-seekers): Return tickets for two adults and two children on the fast ferry hit €251.60. Add a car at €190, and the total touches €441.60. For a quick crossing, you pay fine-wine prices.
- Chios (for families on a conventional ferry): Four tickets for two adults and two kids (over 10) come in at €432, with the car doubling that pain at €212. Total: €644.
- Tinos (younger children, same old story): Parents pay €200 for tickets, but kids enjoy a half-price ride at €100. Car tickets bring it to €220. The festive pilgrimage comes to €520.
- Syros (the classic pairing of tradition and laid-back charm): A couple faces €186 for return fares (a tad pricier than in 2024), plus €209.40 for their car. Overall, €395.40 for the weekend.
- Symi (a longer trip, bigger bill): Family returns reach €640, plus a car at €273.50 (thanks to a rare return discount), topping a whopping €913.50. The Aegean can be relentless, both in beauty and in ferry taxes.
For inland and harder-to-reach gems, the journey adds up as well:
- Corfu: Those making the Athens-to-Igoumenitsa drive add €216 for tolls and gas, then pay €60 on the boat for four, plus €45 for a car. €321 is the final tally before frappé or a carafe of white on the Liston.
- Skyros: The drive from Athens to Kymi costs €47.40 in travel fees. Tickets from Kymi cost €69.60 for four, and a car costs €52. The family pays €169, which, compared to the rest, almost sounds like a deal—until you factor in the gasps at the ticket counter.
Slow ferry or fast, luxury or economy, the experience becomes a story—a tale of blue horizons, sold-out cabins, and Easter ferry ticket prices that almost rival the magic of the destination itself.
In the end, the appeal remains. The ferry horns, the off-key shouts of porters, the distant mountains blurring into horizon and myth. Pay the tickets, pack the Malagousia, and join the migration—because nothing says “Greek Easter” like the open sea and a table waiting somewhere on the other side.
