Ferry from Bari, Italy to Corfu, Greece

Corfu > Greece


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Crossing the Adriatic

This ferry's final destination is Igoumenitsa on the mainland of Greece, but it makes a stop in Kerkira on the island of Corfu. It spent most of last night loading up 3 decks of tractor-trailers before chugging across the Adriatic. We disembarked in the early afternoon with a trickle of other vehicles; the main point of this ferry is trans-Adriatic Italo-Grecian commercial traffic.

Liz on the Vehicle Ferry between Bari Italy and Corfu, Greece

Liz on the Ferry

Ferry from Bari to Kerkira

Getting to Bari

To get to Bari in the first place we had to cross the leg of Italy in the midst of a railway strike.

We woke up in Sorrento on the western coast of Italy. The day before we had sailed over to Capri. Now we had to take a couple of trains to get to Bari, on the eastern side. What we didn't realize is that a railway union strike had frozen all the trains. So for the first part of the day we waited at a few stations for trains that didn't arrive.

Then, after conversing with the station manager, I added a new word to my Italian-sounding Spanish: soppresso, meaning “cancelled". But it still took me awhile to understand it was the result of a strike.

Finally in a dusty station on the outskirts of Naples we were told there might be one last train from Caserta going to Bari.

Ferry Docked at Kerkira, CorfuView All Sizes

A View from the Akrotiri Beach Hotel overlooking Paleokastritsa Bay, Corfu, Greece

Paleokastritsa BayView All Sizes

We hiked to a bus station and jumped aboard a bus to Caserta, arriving at the train station just minutes before the last train departed.

Old Fort on a Peninsula near Kerkira, Corfu, Greece

Old Fort near KerkiraView All Sizes

In Bari we waited on the docks until almost 10 o'clock at night amidst an army of commercial trucks for this huge cargo ship to churn into the harbor. Only a few other passengers boarded.

Soon we were on our way to the island of Corfu and eventually Athens and Crete.

Vehicle Ferries and Cruises

At the time, a vehicle ferry was our only option for this hop to Corfu. As with other experiences like the ferry from Valdez to Whittier or from Seattle to Bremerton we were not concerned with the onboard amenities as much as just getting to our destination. Most vehicle ferries are equipped with cafeterias or sparse entertainment rooms, but if you want to have fun while at sea then take a cruise!