Flying to Greece from the UK

So, this is where the fun starts...

Getting to Trikeri will involve a full day’s travel for most people, and may require an added overnight stay depending on the time your flight departs or arrives. We’ve tried to outline most of the options available when travelling from the UK, as well as the various complications they involve. If there’s anything you’re unsure about though, just give us a call.

There are four options available if you’re flying into Greece from abroad: Volos, Thessaloniki or Athens, and Skiathos. Travelling on to Trikeri from any of the airports mentioned other than Skiathos will take several more hours, so you’ll need to factor this is when arranging flights (as detailed below, some will necessitate breaking up the journey with an overnight stay).

The closest airport to Trikeri is Volos, just over 100km away. Unfortunately, there are no scheduled flights direct to Volos from the UK. Monarch Airlines operates charter flights direct from Gatwick and Manchester (departing and returning every Friday), but these are relatively expensive compared with scheduled flights. Ryanair currently operates flights to Volos from Brussels and Milan, which might prove cheaper and more convenient than some options via Thessaloniki or Athens (but it’s worth checking Ryanair schedules as these seem to change with relative frequency). The Ryanair Brussels flight leaves very early, so would involve a Eurostar trip with an overnight stay (this sounds like a lot of hassle and expense, but bear in mind that the flights listed at the moment are very cheap, so it could still be an option worth considering). Flights from London Stansted to Milan leave very early (around 0640), allowing you to catch a connecting flight to Volos in mid-afternoon (there are other Ryanair flights to Volos from Rome and Frankfurt, but the schedules do not allow for a same-day connection). Basically, Volos is the most difficult airport to get to compared to the others, but gives you the most straightforward (and cheapest) onward journey to Trikeri, so it’s worth factoring that in when comparing prices and so on. Note the Volos airport is 30km outside Volos Town.

The closest major airport to Trikeri is Thessaloniki. From here it’s about a 3-3.5 hour drive on to Volos (regular buses are available from ‘Macedonia’ bus station to Volos - about 10 times a day, costing €12), with the extra two hours on to Trikeri on top, so around five hours in total. easyJet, Ryanair and British Airways all fly direct, with a wide range of connecting flights also available from other carriers. Please note, the easyJet flights for this period are already up online, and they’re not cheap... (Thursday May 31 and Friday June 1 are particularly expensive, but you might get a better deal with them if you can come out a couple of days earlier). Ryanair have put theirs up now too, they’ll be a bit more reasonable. It’s up to you as to whether you dive in and book something now or hang on and wait for something more affordable, but hopefully all flights will be available before too long. Another thing to be aware of is that the easyJet flights leave very early from Gatwick (around 0650), making them more tricky for those who are coming from outside London, while the Ryanair flights currently depart from Stansted late afternoon and don’t arrive until around 9pm, which therefore means an overnight stay in Thessaloniki (this is not such a bad option - we’d actually recommend spending a day or two here if you have the chance, as it’s a really great city). The easyJet return flight from Thessaloniki also leaves quite early, so it would be almost impossible to catch if you were leaving Trikeri on the same morning. It’s possible to book single/one-way flights with easyJet and Ryanair, so it might be better to book different legs separately depending on the times.

The third option is to fly to Athens. This is Greece’s largest airport, so it’s served by a number of airlines, including British Airways, easyJet, Aegean and BMI. Flights to Athens tend to be cheaper than those to Thessaloniki, but the journey on to Volos and Trikeri is slightly longer (we haven’t done this drive, but it should take around 4-4.5 hours). There is a frequent bus service from Athens Liossion station to Volos (around 15 times a day - the cost is about €20).

Another option we are looking into is the possibility of chartering our own plane from London to Volos. Obviously this would involve a large group of people leaving and returning on the same days (probably a minimum of 70). Once we know how many people are planning on coming we’ll be able to float some possible dates, but given that people are likely to have all kinds of different schedules, it’s probably a long shot...

Finally... you could fly to Skiathos Island on a weekly charter for a holiday, take a boat from there to Volos and from there either hire a car or take the bus to Trikeri; or we can charter a boat directly to Agia Kyriaki or Katigiorgis (see this map-of-trikeri-journey.jpg). Charter flights to Skiathos can be expensive (unless combined in a holiday package), so we’d probably only recommended it if you’re going for a holiday in Skiathos too.

In summary: Factor in driving/journey times to airports when booking your flights!

Continuing your journey on to Trikeri

Travelling on to Trikeri from any of the airports mentioned will take several more hours- as mentioned above - so you’ll need to factor this is when arranging flights (some will necessitate breaking up the journey with an overnight stay, as referred to above). The main options will be either hiring a car and driving or taking the bus (the rail network doesn’t extend down into Pelion), although there is an added option of taking a boat taxi or a minibus from Thessaloniki, Skiathos or Volos if there is a big enough group (see below).

 

The drive from Volos to Trikeri takes up to 2 hours; from Thessaloniki to Volos is around 3-3.5 hours; while Athens to Volos takes around 4-4.5 hours.

Driving

We recommend that people hire cars to get the most out of their visit (you’ll find all the best beaches are tucked away below the mountainside roads). The route from Volos Town to Trikeri is very easy, even for those unused to driving on the ‘wrong’ side of the road (it’s more or less one winding road, incredibly picturesque and very light on traffic, with the odd goat - so drive slowly!...). The motorway routes from Thessaloniki and Athens are obviously more challenging (we’ve only actually tried it from Thessaloniki – once you’re up and running it’s fine, but getting out of the city is a bit more tricky), so those who are flying into Thessaloniki or Athens and are less familiar with continental driving might find that the best option is to travel by bus into Volos and pick up a hire car from there.

Bear in mind that driving from both Thessaloniki and Athens to Volos involves

paying around €15 in road tolls.

All major car hire companies operate from Thessaloniki, Athens and Volos.

AA route map from Thessaloniki airport to Milina

AA route map from Athens airport to Milina

(We’ve taken these maps from the good people at Pelion Sail & Cycle, so they only go as far as Milina. Trikeri is about another forty minutes further on, but there’s only one road, so you can’t get lost...)