Ferries from Lavrio

Athens has three ferry ports and almost nobody uses the third. Lavrio sits on the southern tip of Attica, near Cape Sounion, an hour or so from the city — and for one island group it is not an alternative to Piraeus but the only option.

What sails from here

Year-round and frequent: Kea and Kythnos. Infrequent through the year: Chios, Limnos and Kavala. In summer, occasional services reach Syros, Tinos, Andros, Paros, Naxos, Ios, Sikinos, Folegandros, Milos, Serifos and Sifnos.

The Kea crossing covers 16 nautical miles in roughly 45 minutes to an hour, worked by SeaJets high-speed craft and by the conventional ferries of Karistia, Goutos Lines and Blue Star. It is the most-searched route from this port by a wide margin, and our timetable holds 2 active sailings on it.

⚠ Kea is not reachable from Piraeus

This is the fact that decides the trip. If Kea is the destination, you are coming to Lavrio — there is no Piraeus alternative to fall back on, which is the opposite of how the rest of the Athens ferry network behaves.

Plan the road transfer accordingly, and do not assume a missed sailing can be recovered from another port.

Where it sits relative to the other two

• Piraeus — the broadest network, the metro, and the fallback options when something is cancelled.
• Rafina — closer to the airport, the faster gateway to the northern Cyclades.
• Lavrio — Kea and Kythnos, and the cheaper Western Cyclades departures in summer.

Lavrio is also the least forgiving of the three: no metro, fewer sailings, and a long taxi if the timing goes wrong.

Getting there

Lavrio is on the southeast coast of Attica, past the airport when coming from the north, and about 60 km from central Athens. There is a bus, but most travellers arrive by car or taxi, and the run from the airport is materially shorter than the run from the city centre — which inverts the usual Piraeus logic.

Season

Kea and Kythnos run all year because people live on them. The wider Western Cyclades list is a summer phenomenon and the cheapest way into that group — worth checking against Piraeus prices before defaulting to the big port.