Arrival Point in Alonnisos - Patitiri Harbor

As your hydrofoil boat arrives in Alonnisos you will typically disembark at one of two points directly in the harbor area. The picture at the left is one view of the Patitiri harbor that I took when arriving on a Hellenic Seaways Flying Dolphin a few years ago.

If your voyage was on a Flying Cat, you will exit the boat at the rear, if it's a Dolphin it will be near the front of the boat (see picture to the right). As an aside, please note that you may or may not receive any assistance from the boat crew with your luggage. Sometimes you get assistance, sometimes not. This is just typically part of the experience of traveling on hydrofoil boats to the Greek islands.

One notable exception in my experience is a crew-member on one of the Flying Cat vessels. Named Alekos, he has always been exceptionally friendly and very helpful to me and other passengers as well. If you happen to be on Flying Cat 5 or 6 during your trip, Alekos is a large, muscular guy with a big smile who speaks fairly good English. If this physical description isn't enough, you can always look for the person's name-tag to confirm it's him. Every time I run into him he remembers my face and is pleased to see me. If you approach him and introduce yourself I'll bet he'll be very hospitable to you.

Getting to Your Hotel/Pension

Once you've disembarked, be prepared to be approached by folks offering accommodations. I've never experienced anyone being pushy about it, they're just trying to generate some business of course. If you are staying somewhere near Patitiri harbor, depending upon how much luggage you have it may be practical for you to walk to your hotel. If, on the other hand, you are staying at a hotel or pension which is on the upper level of the town, you will probably want to take a taxi. When making your room reservations it's of course a good idea to ask the hotel staff member for directions to the hotel from the port, and to inquire as to the best way to get there.

If you are staying at a hotel, pension, or private residence in the upper village of Alonnisos (the Old Village, or "Hora"), you have the option of hiring a taxi or taking the city bus from the port up to the village. One thing is certain, you will need some form of transportation because there's no way you can walk to the village unless the only bag you have is a backpack! For complete details regarding taxi service on Alonnisos, click on this link. Information regarding the city bus is available by clicking here. Please note that this bus only runs during the tourist season from early June until the end of September.

If your accommodations are anywhere else on the island other than the Old Village (e.g., Votsi, Milia Bay, Steni Vala), unless you have a friend to drive you, or are part of a tour group handled by one of the travel agencies on the island, there will be no other option but to take a taxi or rent a car.

Relaxing at the Port

Once you're off the boat if you would prefer to sit down for a spell to relax and have a meal and/or a beverage, there are several tavernas, restaurants, and cafes within walking distance of the quay. We typically stop at either of these two places: The Flisvos Estiatorio or the Ostria Cafe. If you look at the photo with me in it above on the right, Flisvos is the first restaurant directly in front of the Flying Dolphin, and the Ostria Cafe is the second restaurant to its left.

Should you choose to visit Flisvos, the proprietor's name is Christos, and he's a wonderful person who loves to entertain with a song now and then. Although he doesn't speak a lot of English, his son Thannasis works with him and is fairly fluent in the language. We are always treated like family at this restaurant, which is one of the key reasons we continue to eat there over the years.

If you choose to stop by the Ostria Cafe, you'll find a very diverse menu for both food and beverages. The owner is Eleni along with her husband Victor and her mother Maria,  and Eleni has been a dear friend of ours for over ten years. She speaks excellent English by the way. Please feel free to tell her that Jeff and Andrea from the USA sent you.

To contact me via email with any questions regarding this post click here.

Posted by Jeff Maziarek at 5/1/2011 12:32 PM
Categories: Arrival Point in Alonnisos - Patitiri
Tags: Alonnisos Patitiri Flisvos Anais Cafe
 

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