Ferries to Tilos, pre-booking necessary?

[daveandgill]

Hello All,
It's been a couple of years since our last (and 4th) visit to Halki. We've tried another island holidays, but none tick as many of our boxes as Halki, so we must return (happily). We have toyed with the idea of a holiday on Tilos, and have now come up with a compromise. We'll book two weeks on Halki and take a couple of days out and visit Tilos from Halki.
I guess that the ferries operate on a "walk-on" basis, or should we think of pre-booking? Does pre-booking offer much cheaper fares?

Regards, Dave and Gill.

[muriman]

Hello D&G

Perhaps the most convenient way of arranging the trip would be to decide during your time on Halki which days to go to Tilos, then book tickets for the Dodekanis Seaways catamaran a bit in advance through Zifos Travel? You could go on a Tuesday morning (about 0945 I think without re-checking the schedule)and come back on a Thursday afternoon. I'm not sure but I think there's no cost advantage in pre-booking ahead - assuming you mean booking from the UK - especially as that would incur currency transfer costs. That said, I'm intending to pre-book (online from the UK) the catamaran from Rhodes to Halki in June as despite credit card/currency costs it should reduce any last-minute hassle at 0830 on the quayside in Rhodes. The big ferry is cheaper but the timings probably not so good (possibly depending on the dates you have in mind)?

[carol]

Hi DaveandGill, you need to prebook, I assume you are getting the catamaran from Halki, just get a ticket from Zifos travel before you leave, they will check your ticket on the catamaran before they let you through to take a seat so no paying on board, you can get a return from Zifos, the only time the catamararan needs booking well in advance is when there are big festivals taking place on the islands otherwise I would suggest getting your ticket the night before you want to travel.

[carol]

Looks like we were both typing at the same time !!!

[daveandgill]

Thanks for the info.. We'll plan it when there and board with a ticket. Roll on late June!

[carol]

Don't know if you have any accommodation in mind but we have stayed at the Eleni Beach Hotel and will be there again for a week at the end of August.

[stevec]

There's been a discount on the fares for the Dodec Express the last couple of years running and we had no problem getting a day return through Zifos Travel last year. Ferry gets you to Tilos about 11am and return leg comes in at a little after 4pm (EXIF on my shot of the Express coming in last year shows the time as 16.21 but I think it was running late), giving you about 5hrs to explore if you decide to make it a single day visit.

Looks like we'll be there the same time Dave and Gill.

[daveandgill]

That's good to know, we hadn't thought that a day trip was possible. With room bookings via t'internet and ferry through Zifos, we can leave it until we are on Halki and take it from there... Looking forward to our return and to meeting old and new friends from June 24th for two weeks...

[carol]

A day trip works really well, you get long enough to have a look round and a swim and a decent lunch and not feel too rushed, we started off with a couple of day trips and went for a week in 2015 and loved it so doing the same this year then two weeks in Halki

[daveandgill]

Thanks for the info and suggestions. We're planning on a Thurs to Tues stay on Tilos. That gives us a chance to get the feel of the place. We were surprised to find that Booking.com shows accommodation on Tilos. We liked the look (and price) of Seva's sudios, so may book that well in advance (Eleni was much more expensive for our dates).

[daveandgill]

Just to report that our excursion to Tilos went well. We got the Thursday ferry out and stayed five nights at Sevi's studios (30Euro pn, booked via Booking.com or just turn up). The discount for the ferry trip appears to apply for day trips or visits of a shorter than 5 day duration. We paid 13 Euros each way (still a small discount).
Thanks for your help.

[carol]

Pleased to hear you got to Tilos and your travel arrangements went as planned, we will be there 7 weeks tomorrow and cannot wait, thanks for letting us know it all went well