Planes, Ferries and Ikaria Car Rentals:
Get to Ikaria By Plane: Ikaria’s airport is on the eastern tip to the island. Flights are to/from Athens (ATH). They generally operate daily. Ikaria’s airport code: JIK.
Travel from Athens (ATH) to Ikaria (JIK) by plane takes less than 1 hour.
You can search for and book flights from Athens to Ikaria on some international search engines (like Orbitz, CheapTickets, or Hopper), or on the Aegean Airlines’s website. We recommend booking tickets right away once you know your travel dates, as prices can go up by the day sometimes and seats are of course limited on the small planes. Your preferred travel dates might not be available so plan ahead.
Get to Ikaria By Ferry: Ikaria has two major ferry ports: Evdilos and Agios Kyrikos and they are basically on opposite sides of the island.
Travel from Athens (Pireaus) port to Ikaria (Evdilos or Agios Kyrikos) takes about 8 hours.
Evdilos port is close to the villages of Evdilos, Armenistis, Gialiskari, Rahes, and Karavostamo. Agios Kyrikos is close to the villages of Agios Kyrikos, Therma and Ikaria’s hot springs, Seychelles beach, Magganitis village, and ferry/boat connections to Fourni Island.
You can book ferry tickets online using ferryscanner.com or ferryhopper.com.
Also remember that ferry schedules and connections to Ikaria are not the same everyday. Plan our your travel schedule ahead of time. Ferry schedules are generally not released until just a few months before departure.
Island Hopping
Ikaria island hopping now has great options! A single ferry route now connects to many other islands like Fournoi, Patmos and Kos. Another ferry links direct to Mykonos. Have fun playing with ferryhopper’s and ferryscanner’s island hopping functionalities and search multiple island routes to plan out your day-to-day Greek island adventure. We recommend booking tickets in advance, especially if you are traveling in high season (June-August) and connecting with any other popular islands. You can can also book ferry tickets at the port of departure (if tickets are still available).
Nearby Islands that are fairly easy to hop to from Ikaria by ferry: Mykonos: 2 hours; Samos: 2 hours; Patmos 1 hour; Fourni 30 min; Kos 3.5 hours; Syros 3 hours.
Renting a Car on Ikaria
Generally speaking, there are many cars to rent on Ikaria. However, high season can create shortages. If you need an automatic car, book well in advance. You can ask for a pick up / drop off at a port or the airport (we often pick up a car at a ferry port and then drop it off at the airport when leave).
The cars on the island are generally small/ not luxury models. That’s okay, you will be kicking up dust around Ikaria’s winding roads, anyhow! Check out Mav car rentals (Evdilos), Aventura (Evdilos), or Lemy Car Rentals (Airport). We’ve had great experiences with all three of these car rental agencies. (Make sure to also have the rental agency explain to you which roads to AVOID when driving around Ikaria.) You can also search for cars on Ikaria on the international site, rentalcars.com.
