Fournoi – Karlovassi
Ferries to Samos
Fournoi – Karlovassi
Ferries to Samos
The Fournoi Karlovassi ferry route connects Aegean Islands with Samos. Currently there is just the 1 ferry company operating this ferry service, Blue Star Ferries. The crossing operates up to 2 times each week with sailing durations from around 50 minutes.
Fournoi Karlovassi sailing durations and frequency may vary from season to season so we’d advise doing a live check to get the most up to date information.
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Fournoi is a clutch of small islands in the Ikaria region of Greece. These islands, of which only two are inhabited, sit in a pleasantly warm stretch of the Aegean Sea near to the western border of Turkey. The largest of these isles, also called Fournoi, is a narrow, snaking stretch of land shaped by a saw-toothed shoreline and an undulating inland landscape of steep, shrub-covered hills. The port of Fournoi is located in the island’s largest town of Fourni. It’s a community with a love for fine seafood. A large fleet of fishing vessels regularly leave from the town’s west-facing bay to trawl the bountiful waters of the nearby Mediterranean, hoping to quench the almost insatiable local hunger for great-tasting fish. The town itself is formed around a twisting network of lanes that lead away from beach-lined edge of the bay towards the charming whitewashed buildings that rise on tiers towards the surrounding foothills. The departure point for ferries is found at the foot of a small concrete pier near to the centre of the curved shoreline. It’s a small area with no check-in terminal or passenger amenities, though a few cafés selling hot food and drinks can be found close by. Transportation across the island is limited due to its small size and secluded location. Only one main road feeds into Fourni, a route that heads south to the hamlet of Plagia, while a single bus shuttles passengers from the port to the island’s main beaches. A number of ferries leave from the port a few times throughout the week. Dodekanisos Seaways offer a host of routes to the islands that pepper the Aegean Sea, from Samos and Ikaria (also serviced by Hellenic Seaways), a short distance to the north, as well as a Patmos, Lipsi, Leros, Kalimnos and Kos that stretch further south.
Found on the glittering ultramarine coast that kisses the north-western edge of Samos, a roughly oval-shaped island deep in the Greek stretch of the North Aegean Sea, is the charming port-town of Karlovasi. Built in a wedge between a landscape of steep hills, the town is picture-perfect in its guise as an idyllic Mediterranean community. Traditional white-walled apartment blocks rise in anarchic tiers upon slopes coloured deep-green with Mediterranean pines, while a web of narrow lanes snake idly through the suburbs. The waterfront is lined by a sweeping promenade studded with alfresco restaurants and bars and canvas stalls selling local wares. Beyond them, in the warm shallows of the Aegean Sea, yachts and sailboats bob gently on their moorings. The port in Karlovasi is found at the north-eastern edge of town. It is a small site featuring a handful of piers that jut into a section of the sea sheltered by an arcing breakwater. Incoming ferries dock along the edge of the largest pier where facilities are limited to just a check-in booth and a short stay car-park. Travelling to and from the harbour can prove difficult. The island is hewn from rugged mountains that are split by just a few “main” roads, while most of the villages, Karlovasi included, are designed around a cramped network of streets more suited to pedestrians than cars. A few public buses travel between the towns and villages found nestled in the niches between the hills. Most services travel to the synonymous capital of Samos; this quaint, bay-side town sitting at the end of the number 62 highway which curves away from the heart of Karlovasi and traces the island’s rocky northern coastline east. A number of routes currently operate from the port in Karlovasi throughout the week. Services hosted by Hellenic Seaways sail to several of the islands that speckle the Aegean Sea; including Chios, Limnos and the port-city of Mytilene on the isle of Lesbos to the north; and Mykonos, Syros and the town of Evdilos on Ikaria in the west. A couple of other routes head to the city district of Piraeus and the town of Kavala further away on the Greek mainland.
