Winter Ferries 2019/2020

Winter Ferries 2019/2020

Hellenic Seaways “Nissos Rodos” operating the Monday sailing for Blue Star Ferries during October

I’ve had lots of requests for details of ferries to/from Symi in the winter. The ferry companies are never in a hurry to release timetables as nearly all the passengers are local and don’t have the same desire to book months in advance that some tourists do.

However, Dodekanisos Seaways have released their sailings for the period 1 November to 31 March. You’ll find the timetable here:

It is basically the same as previous years, with Rhodes-Symi-Kos-Kalymnos-Leros-Lipsi-Patmos and return on Fridays and Sundays; Rhodes-Symi-Kos-Kalymnos and return on Saturdays; and Rhodes-Symi-Kos-Kalymnos-Leros-Lipsi-Agathonisi and return on Mondays. The usual frantic activity around Panormitis Festival time in early November soon drops back to this pattern by mid-November.

Blue Star Ferries have yet to publish the timetable, but the booking system shows that there will for the first time be three ferries each way a week all winter. The Blue Star Patmos will leave Piraeus on Sundays, Tuesdays, and Thursdays, operating overnight and reaching Symi on Monday, Wednesday, and Friday mornings. As expected she then continues to Rhodes and onwards to either Kastellorizo or Karpathos (Wednesdays). Then she returns the same day, leaving Rhodes for Symi and islands beyond to Piraeus at 16:00 (Monday), 17:30 (Wednesday); or 19:00 (Friday). The exact pattern of islands served is different on each day of the week, but they all call at Kos.

More details when the actual timetable appears.

4 thoughts on “Winter Ferries 2019/2020”

  1. Hi Andy. When I look at the ferry schedule for May 2018, the Friday Blue Star departure is at 16:00, whereas since about September it has been at 19:00. Do you think that this will be continued until May 2019 or will they revert to a “summer” schedule?

    And then do you think ANES will be up and running in May? There was an 18:30 Rhodes-Symi on Friday in July 2018.

    1. Hi David.
      There’s just no way to tell what times ferries will run at in 2020 early summer. On past performance, Blue Star will release their summer timetables around late December, while we’ll be lucky to see what ANES will do until April.
      A Friday 16:00 Blue Star would suit me personally very well, but it very much depends on the pattern of island calls allocated to the Thursday afternoon sailing from Piraeus to Rhodes, which governs what time the ship reaches Rhodes. After arrival it has historically done a round trip to Kastellorizo, and then set off back to Piraeus via Symi.
      As regards ANES, the 18:30 sailing from Rhodes turned into 19:30 for 2019 compared to 2018, and the Friday sailing didn’t exist, presumably due to competition with the Blue Star service which is significantly cheaper and just as fast.

  2. Hi Andy

    Looking to catch a ferry from Kos on 2 July to Symi and Symi to Rhodes 4 July. Do you know when we’ll be able to book ferries.

    1. Probably not before late March. But there really is no need to book more than a few days in advance, if that. However, if timetables are anything like previous years, you will not find a ferry from Kos to Symi on 2 July, which is a Thursday this year, as there have been no Thursday sailings in this direction for several years. There will almost certainly be sailings on 1 and 3 July though.
      Symi to Rhodes is easy, as this has been daily in July for at least the last 30 years, though all the sailings will likely be lunchtime onwards.

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