A move to a Greek island almost always has a second sea leg in it. Goods reach the mainland or Piraeus, then wait for a boat going where you are going. That extra stage is the single biggest reason island quotes get revised after the fact.
The islands are not interchangeable. Crete, Rhodes and Corfu have working commercial ports and can take goods directly. The Cyclades are transhipped and depend on the sailing schedule. Lefkada is joined to the mainland by a causeway, so it needs no boat at all.
Say the island name at enquiry stage. Not the region, not "one of the Greek islands". The name changes the route, the vehicle size and the price.
Heraklion and Souda Bay near Chania are both commercial ports, so Crete can take a shipment directly rather than through Piraeus. Rethymno sits between the two and is served from whichever suits the sailing. The Venetian old towns in Chania and Rethymno have narrow lanes and restricted vehicle access, so the last hundred metres often needs planning.
Its own port and its own customs handling, which makes Rhodes one of the more straightforward island moves for a place so far east. The complication is at the delivery end. The medieval old town is closed to general vehicle traffic, so deliveries inside the walls are done on foot or with a small vehicle and a permit.
Corfu can be served from mainland Greece or reached on a short crossing from Brindisi, which on a road move can cut the mainland leg out entirely. Corfu Town has the same old-town access constraints as Rhodes, with stepped lanes and limited loading space in the Venetian quarter.
Mykonos, Santorini, Paros, Naxos and their neighbours generally have no direct commercial sailing from abroad. Goods land on the mainland, most often at Piraeus, then wait for a boat that serves that island.
Two things follow from that. Your date depends on the sailing timetable rather than the mover's diary. And the vehicle that does the final delivery may be smaller than the one that brought the goods to the port, because it has to fit the boat and the island roads.
Santorini deserves a specific mention. Goods arrive at the port at the foot of the caldera and the road up is a steep series of switchbacks. That limits vehicle size, and properties on the caldera edge frequently have stepped-only access at the door.
The Ionian islands behave differently from the Aegean ones, and one of them is barely an island at all as far as a removal vehicle is concerned.
Connected to the mainland by a causeway and a bridge, so a vehicle drives on. No sailing, no transhipment, no waiting for a boat. On a road move from Britain that makes Lefkada one of the simplest Greek island destinations there is, and it should be priced accordingly.
Reached by ferry from Kyllini on the western Peloponnese, which is a short crossing but a fixed one. Road moves arriving at Patras are already close. Zakynthos is the second most searched Greek destination we see after the country as a whole, so this is a well-worn route.
Served from the mainland, and also reachable on a direct sailing from Bari or Brindisi into Sami. Where that crossing fits the schedule it removes the Greek mainland leg altogether, which is worth asking about on a road move rather than assuming Piraeus.
The answers that separate a quote that holds from one that gets revised.
No. Most islands need a second sea leg after goods reach the mainland or Piraeus, and that leg brings its own sailing days, weight limits, handling stage and cost. A quote that reads the same as a mainland one has usually not priced the crossing yet. Ask which sailing it assumes.
Crete through Heraklion and Souda Bay, Rhodes through its own port, and Corfu, which can also be reached on a short crossing from Brindisi in Italy. Kefalonia can be served directly from Bari or Brindisi into Sami. Everything else is generally transhipped through a mainland port.
Yes. Lefkada is joined to the mainland by a causeway and a bridge, so a removal vehicle drives straight on with no sailing involved. On a road move from Britain that makes it one of the simplest Greek island destinations, and the quote should reflect that rather than treating it like a sea crossing.
It affects your dates more than your price. Sailing frequency drops noticeably outside the summer months, so a winter move to a smaller island can mean waiting for a suitable boat. If your dates are fixed, say so early, because that may decide which route is used.
Often not, and that is worth establishing before anything is booked. Old towns in Rhodes, Corfu, Chania and Rethymno restrict vehicles, Cycladic villages have lanes built for donkeys rather than trucks, and the road up from the Santorini port limits vehicle size. Send photographs of the street as well as the rooms.
Yes, and this is worth spending money on. A mainland delivery might involve one handling stage. A transhipped island move can involve three or four, between vehicle, port, boat and a smaller final vehicle. Ask the mover to pack for the number of handling stages on your actual route.
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Send the island by name, the town, your dates and whether the property has vehicle access. A vetted moving company from our network works out the sea leg, the final vehicle and the packing standard before quoting.
Get your free quoteWe are a free enquiry service and a Working Member of AGM Group. We connect people moving to and from the Greek islands with vetted international moving companies from that network. We do not operate vessels, vehicles or crews ourselves.
Use this page to work out which kind of island move you have, then talk the sailing and the access through with the mover.
Written by Darren Benjamin, Founder, International Removals Companies.