Athens - Chios - Cesme ferry
 

Hi guys,

Hope you can help, I've searched the forum but only found fairly old threads, so not sure what the current situation is.

I'm planning to go from Dublin to Istanbul and back in September and on the way out plan to travel via Balkans and Greece, and on the way back take the shortcut through BG, RO and central Europe.

If all works to the plan, I'll be in Athens to board the ferry on or around 21st Sept. Looking at this website, ferries at this time go on Monday evenings or Wednesday evenings. Wednesday is too late for me, so I want to make it Monday. Then I can take 08:00 ferry from Chios to Cesme on Tuesday.

How busy those ferries currently are? Do I need to book in advance or would just turning up in Piraeus and buying tickets there work? I probably won't need a cabin anyway, just me and bike. Also, if I don't take cabin, is there any place on this boat to get at least a bit of sleep?

What about Chios to Cesme - again, do I need to book in advance?

How bad the Customs is when entering in Cesme? Any other caveats to be aware of?

Thanks so much for your help!

A couple of years ago I took a ferry from Piraeus to Kos to Bodrum 2 people/1bike. The boat from Piraeus was a huge ferry, where you could also sleep on deck (we had a cabin).

We stayed a couple of nights on Kos and then took a people/fast catamaran from Kos to Bodrum. There was space for 2 or 3 cars and a few bikes. At Bodrum, we had to buy Turkish road insurance before they let us out of customs. The customs ossifer was happy to call (his mate?) the insurance broker who gladly took my cash. All very easy.

We then headed north through Turkey back to (great uncle) Bulgaria.

Going to Istanbul from SW Turkey I strongly recommend taking the ferry from Bandirma to Sultanhamet. Saves a huge pita riding into the city from the east.

Thanks chris!

Is it that bad that ferry boat is justified? I for some reason couldn't get ferry timetable on the ferry website, maybe too far in advance...

My plan too is to just stay 1 day in Istanbul as a rest day and then head to the north Bulgaria/Romania and west back to Ireland. I would've stayed longer but unfortunately the schedule is a bit tight.

Look at a map and make your own choice. The ferry website for Bandirma to Istanbul/Sultanahmet is İstanbul Deniz Otobüsleri A.Ş.

Yes, I think you're right, its a big loop there from the east. The site doesn't give me timetable for september yet, but I guess its just too far off as their summer timetable is only valid till 13th Sept. Will check it back later!

When I took the ferry it was in December and as far as I can recall it left at 5pm-ish and arrived at Sultanahmet at 9pm-ish. Then it was only 5 minutes ride to the hotel which was near many of the tourist attractions like the Blue Mosque, for example.

I stayed at Hostels in Istanbul - Budget and Cheap Hotels Istanbul at Sultanahmet They allowed me to park the bike on the pavement outside the front door.

Thanks Chris, this is super-useful again! I was going to stay in the same area as well to explore the city next day.

I took the Athens/Chios/Cesme ferry sequence in the other direction several years ago. No need for advance reservations, plenty of deck space for sleeping (but bring sleeping gear sufficient for damp breezes and hard surfaces). As everywhere, pay attention to any local holidays or festivals.

Hope that's helpful.

Mark

Sept.23 is a religious holiday in turkey for 5 days and its a tradition here to make it between 2 weekends and so many locals do holiday in the islands with their vehicles on long holiday periods...Also island locals are visa free for turkey and they drive to turkey too for shopping purposes,aspecially by food trucks..
I guess better have your booking before.

This is the company that runs ferries..
Neorion St,33 Chios / GREECE+30 227 108 18 44+30 227 108 28 94info@egebirlik.eu
Ege Birlik

Çeşme has a small seagate very close to the center and if insurance booth is not open, one of you will be let out to go and buy the insurance if your green card doesnt cover Turkey..

Tip 1..: -3 km. outside çeşme, Ilıca (roadsign was Şifne) has one of the best sandy beaches and lessknown mud spa. point of Turkey.On the left of the main road to İzmir.kumru sandwiches is best there..

Tip.2..: Buy a HGS card at a postoffice (PTT-postane) for the tollroad.Cash not accepted anymore..(ı guess 7 tl. deposit and 18 tl credit will be good for your route..

All the best..

Mehmet, this is a great advise, thank you so much!

As it stands, I was planning to travel from Athens to Chios on the evening of 21st Sept, arriving Chios early morning 22nd, and then taking ferry from Chios to Cesme on the 22nd Sept morning. Would you say it the ferry will be busy on this date in this direction?

I have also looked up ferries on this website:
Erturk Lines - Chios Cesme Ferrys

But the schedule they have is different from what Ege Birlik is giving - the Erturk site lists 2 ferries on the 22nd - 08:00 and 18:00, but Ege Birlik only lists one (at 18:00). Do you know which one might be correct?

I am also travelling alone, will they still let me out to buy insurance? If not, are there other options - e.g. buy it by phone or internet somehow?

I have also now read on the religious holiday you've mentioned - is there anything else (such as local customs or something I shouldn't do) I should be aware of when travelling during this holiday?

We took the Piraeus - Chios- Cesme crossing last year around late April.

We arrived at 5pm at the port in Piraeus, with our 2 bikes, booked on the spot and got on the ferry departing at 7pm. Only time for a greasy kebab! We then arrived at Chios at 5am then waited for the ferry to turn up (at the other end of the pier by the way!). It left Chios at 8am. The crossing then to Cesme takes about an hour and the ferry is tiny!

At Cesme we had to buy insurance. We were told where to go (about 15 minutes walk). Without insurance we could not get through the turkish customs. Might save you a long walk in the heat, in full MC gear (!) to get the insurance sorted in advance.

Posting back in my own thread with experience.

Arrival to Cesme was a bit chaotic. As Maria says, there is no insurance company in the port, the custom guys knew nothing and weren't friendly.

One of the other guys flagged a taxi and told him to take me to insurance office, which he did, but this office had problem with their system (or so he said). I walked around central Cesme tried few places, all refused to insure a foreign bike. Finally found a place, sting for 200 liras for insurance - oouch, probably a bit of scam, but by this point I've had enough. Then walk back to the port, releasing the bike and I'm on my way. All of this took 1.5-2 hours.

Overall, not worth it imho unless Cesme is much more convenient entry point for you than land borders. The insurance company is in front of marina.

Also there is no PTT office on the entrance to Cesme-Izmir motorway to buy toll card. Don't worry about this as there is one just before the exit booths.