Igoumenitsa

Igoumenitsa
<map lat='39.5' lng='20.258466796875' zoom='9' />
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Information
Country:	Greece
Population:	81,000
Licence plate:	HN
Major roads:	E55, E90
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Igoumenitsa is a coastal city in the northwest of Greece.

There is a ferry terminal with connection to towns in Italy (Ancona, Venice, Bari) and to some destinations in Greece. See ferries between Italy and Greece for more information.

Hitchhiking out

East towards Thessaloniki, Bulgaria, Istanbul, Turkey until Iran

Is definitely better if you find your lift on the ferry (coming from Brindisi e.g. as i did) but even on land, you just go at the port exit and trucks do have the space to stop (if they want..). It is really one of the most transited way in Europe, all trucks coming from Europe, Italy and going to Greece, [Bulgaria]],, Turkey until Iran must pass from here. They all will share the same way until Thessaloniki and later split, going north to Bulgaria and Romania or continuing east to Turkey. Everyday hundreds of trucks pass from there.

To Brindisi, Italy

The cheapest ticket to Italy is 44 euros with Grimaldi Line (to Brindisi). It does not sail every day, you have to check at the office.

If you want to hitchhike trucks to get inside the boat, it's difficult : they come directly from the highway to the customs. You can try to talk to the driver at the customs but it will not please the customs agents. You can also try to reach the last gas station on the highway before the customs (~15 minutes walking, see on OpenStreetMap). There is few trucks there, and they may accept you if you buy a co-driver ticket.

Infront of the passenger terminal there's a car and truck parking, might be worth a try. When I was there in 2015 the three truck drivers talked to me but didn't want to have me in their trucks. Not many trucks waiting there, I went and bought the passenger ticket. To Ancona was only 4 Euroes more expensive but it's at least a full night's sleep and not just three or four hours.

Another way to get to Italy is to take a private boat. It should work well in summer. You can hitchhike to Plataria, the closest private boat port from Igoumenitsa. During the summer there is several Italian private boats which generally come back to Italy at the end of August.

Had no luck getting to Italy from Igoumenitsa so went to Plataria. Talked to boat owners there and quickly found an Italian man who agreed to take me to Brindisi but I had to wait around 4 days for favorable wind. (Viktor, august 2016)

Sleeping in Igoumenitsa

Sleeping in Igoumenitsa isn't easy if you are on a budget and dont have a room. If you have to spend the night in Igoumenitsa and are planning to set up a tent ect. in the hills right nex to the port (South to the parking lot) beware that there can be suspecius people roaming around here (May, 2012). It's recommended to find a really remote spot outside the city (beatiful area by the way) or you could try asking if you can sleep in the ferry terminal in wich you will, or have, probably spend a lot of time trying to get a free ticket to Italy.

There are some unfinished and abandoned houses in Igoumenitsa in which one could spend the night but while searching for such place beware of straydogs roaming around in the streets. Theres a lot of them in Igoumenitsa.

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