How much island trips cost
Traveling in the Aegean has now become much more expensive compared to five years ago
The increased operational and salary costs are keeping ferry ticket prices high, out of reach for many Greeks who want to travel to the islands.
For instance, to travel from Piraeus to Syros in August and return, it costs a family of four 231 euros by conventional ship and €508 by high-speed vessels. The same family needs €642 to go to Iraklio with a cabin, while if they take a car, the return trip costs exceed the minimum net salary in Greece.
Meanwhile, costs are skyrocketing on intra-Cycladic high-speed ferry routes. The one-way fare from Milos to Amorgos in economy class costs €105 per person, while from Milos to Santorini it’s €93.70. A single fare from Naxos to Folegandros on a high-speed ferry in August is priced at €76.70, while on a conventional ferry that runs a subsidized line with many stops, it’s just €10. This is the benefit that the rational use of public service contract subsidies can have.
Although the high cost is mitigated for the islanders by the transport equivalent subsidies, and for the wider population by the existence of discounts and offers on the part of the ferry companies, the fact remains that the cost of going to the islands is much higher than it used to be five years ago.
The problem is the same across Europe and in this context Greece is the country with the lowest costs of coastal shipping in the Mediterranean and 11th on the list with the average cost of coastal transport per 100 kilometers in the 27 European Union countries, according to a pan-European study by Vivanoda, a French online platform that specializes in ferry, bus, train and air tickets.
One of the paradoxical phenomena is that tickets to Crete on Minoan Lines are cheaper than tickets to Milos, which the same ship approaches before reaching Crete. Notably, calling at Milos exempts the ship from having to purchase carbon dioxide emission rights imposed for trips to Crete and to Italy.
Shipping Ministry data released at end-May actually showed ticket price cuts up to 6.6% and mainly concerning routes to the Dodecanese and the Cyclades.
