Driving to Greece and the Greek Islands should take careful planning well in advance. To just pack up a car and set off would be a massive mistake. Certain factors must be considered to enable a trouble free journey.
Planning advice
Get your car serviced by a reputable garage and also get European breakdown cover by a reputable company eg. AA or RAC
Decide when and which ferries you wish to take as your travelling days depend on the sailing times. You must decide how long journeys should take. You can download routes and approximate times by using sites on the internet eg. Michelin or AA guides.
When driving to Greece, arrange to get to the ferry ports allowing about 2 hours or more prior to sailing in case of breakdown or traffic problems. Ferries do try to load up very methodically and generally sail on time.
From Yorkshire, UK, where we live, we try to leave home at about 6am to catch a ferry at about 2pm from Dover to a French port (either Calais or Dunkirk).
Norfolk Line do an inexpensive crossing and from Dunkirk you will have a good direct route to the French/Belgium motorway in the direction of Lille. From Lille we always head for Tournai-Mans-Charleroi and Namor, then on to Arlon before getting to Luxembourg, on the E42 and then onto the A4 route.
Luxembourg is the cheapest place in Europe to fill up with fuel, so a break here is usually welcomed. Depending on how far you wish to travel each day, planning for overnight stops is required.
Cheap accommodation can be found on most routes and good clean and reasonably cheap accommodation includes Accour hotels, B&B, Formula One hotels. Most hotels do a continental breakfast at a small charge.
The route through Luxembourg is easy and you can be through it in 1/2 hr to 3/4 hr. We found the route to Metz and Nancy to be the quickest and easiest route. It is clearly marked and easy to follow.
Once you are back in France and heading for Metz, there is a pay motorway, the E25, which gives an easy route to Strasbourg. There are alternative routes which go through Nancy and the St.Die tunnel to Selestat in the Alsace region of France, but we have experienced delays and poor roads while using this route.
It is an easy motorway system to and through the city of Strasbourg which is clearly marked all the way on a very straight road and on to Selestat, Mulhouse/Basil towards Switzerland.
Due to the customs delays at the border, we usually take a break at one of the above mentioned hotels in order to have an early start through Basil and into Switzerland.
On entering the Swiss border, there is a road tax which covers your vehicle for one year and a coloured sticker is placed on your windscreen. This is a cost of about £25. You soon realise why you have to pay this fee as the roads through Switzerland are scenic, good and have many long tunnels where delays are normal. The scenic areas are excellent and you can also find good refreshment/wash/shower areas.
The best route from here is the A2 to Luzern and to head for the 15 mile long tunnel at St.Gothard. It usually takes us 1-2 hours to get through the delays leading to the tunnel. So be aware.
After coming out of the tunnel, the road heads through the Italian sector of Switzerland and heads for Bellinzona, still on the A2 and on to the Swiss/Italian border at Como. On passing the border into Italy, the road changes to the A9 heading for Milan.
Warning
We found the Italian drivers to be very impatient and regularly tail gate while flashing their lights and regularly sounding their horns. Just smile and be patient with them.
When you planned your route you should have decided on the most suitable Italian port to sail from. Our destination is to the island of Kefalonia so we personally found the Venice line to be best and by turning left on the Milan ring road onto the 'pay' motorway, the Venice route is clearly marked and on leaving the motorway at Mestre there is just a short journey to the Venice dock area.
Our ferries leave at approx 6pm and we are on the Minoan Line or Venuris Line. Other ports are at Ancona, Bari and Brindisi at the foot of Italy. The overnight ferries are the cheapest but you must consider the petrol and motorway charges through Italy before rejecting the luxurious but expensive Superfast ferries.
From Bari and Brindau, the Agoudemus line sails to the island of Kefalonia while other ferries sail to Corfu, Igiamenitsa and on to Patras on the Greek mainland.
The sailing from Venice takes 36 hours and gives a restful cruise. The views of the Grand Canal and St. Marks square are wonderful and not to be missed. The ferries which sail to Patras means that to get to Kefalonia island, the 2 hour 'Blue Star' island ferry, which runs 3 journeys daily to the island. Times can be checked on bluestarferries.gr on the internet. Patras is a busy port town and a minimum stay here is advised if possible.
The ferry to Kefalonia goes to either the port of Sami or to Argostoli, the capital of the island. An alternative ferry goes to Poros on Kefalonia from Killini, which is about 50 miles south of Patras and is the cheapest, quickest route to the island.
Rooms on the Venice/Greece ferries are adequate and meals are usually good. The cruise heads down the Grand Canal and down the full length of Italy and calls into Corfu, then to Igiumenitsa on the Greek mainland before heading into Patras. Recommended ferries are the Minoan, Superfast, Venturis and the direct Agoudemous ferry.
Tickets can be pre-booked on websites by English speaking staff at the agents offices or by booking on the websites.
Greece
Travelling in Greece is frustrating as you regularly get inconsiderate drivers, double parking, no indicators, driving erratically and extreme speeding.
The hazard of motor bikes and scooters is the same as on all Greek islands as it is a cheap and regular means of transport.
Parking is usually easy but beware that many of the greek cars have bumps and dents in them.
Driving to Greece can be extremely enjoyable so I hope you plan carefully and enjoy your trip.
Have a safe journey.
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