Hi,
Ferrys from Ancona and Venice to Patras are large, fast, reliable and comfortable ships more like cruise ships than your average greek island hopping ferry. I recommend Venice if one wants to spent for time on the ferry and do less miles on the road and Ancona vice-versa. Plese make sure that you book a cabin or a birth otherwise the trip might prove too tiresome and I want you to be fresh and relaxed when landing over in these shores.
Greek people will tend to recommend a greek rather than italian ferry (not out of sauvinism, it is just that we have more experience with them). Here's a convenient site that seems to cover all greek operators:
http://www.greekferries.gr/
ANEK, Minoan and Superfast ferries have a good reputation for the Italy-Greece route.
Return from the north would be recommended through the Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia rather than Bulgaria or Albania as going through these two countries might constitute an adventure in itself. I can post more route details and alternatives if needed. There's the faster way through Serbia or the scenic route which covers the Dalmatian coast. In any case you should consider if you will be in the mood for a tough trip after you have spent a few days riding in the Greek mountains. Maybe at that time the comfortable ferry ride to Italy will seem like heaven.
Additional benefit for all EU people is that going through Italy will have you always riding in EU territory, unless you ride through Switzerland, with the benefit of zero border hassles and delays.
Regarding road assistance: This is recommended, most major European companies will have co-operation arrangement with a Greek company (ELPA, Express Service are the two largest). For insurance cover you must have at least a green card for third party insurance but you might opt to contact your insurers for more comprehensive coverage.
Regarding number of participants. We don't know yet if we will have any restrictions. Having said that, more than 6-8 double rooms may become problematic to organise (I'm just an IT consultant not a professional tour operator
) and also any more than 10 bikes becomes chaotic in my experience.
It is too early to tell but of course this will be on a first come first served basis.
At a later stage (early next year) when actual bookings will take place I might need to have some confirmation of everybody's travel arrangements (e.g. in the form of copies or scans of ferry tickets for example) just as a minimum guarrantee that you indeed intend to come. My intention is to try and avoid people having to forward to me any kind of advance payment, so if the need arises for any advanced booking fee (which I will try to avoid by travelling in an off season) for lodging there will be two choices: Either me handling it on a trust basis or I bring you into direct contact with the hoteliers to arrange your advance payment whenever possible.
The first priority now is to gather all those who are seriously interested and try to narrow down potential dates and duration. Next will be detailed route planning.
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