Why take an overnight ferry?
There are many options for taking the overnight ferry in this area of the world. In fact, you can also take the overnight ferry between Italy and Croatia, or Italy and Montenegro. Over the years I’ve seen the routes change a bit, so you have to be on the look out. But it is a pretty nice and easy way to spread an itinerary over a few countries.
The nice thing about this particular route, is that when you arrive in Bari you are RIGHT at the old town. We were able to easily walk directly from the ferry to our accommodation in the town in just a few minutes.
An overnight ferry can be a good option when you don’t want to waste any actual vacation time. While flights between these areas can be quick, you still have to account for time and money spent at the airport. With the overnight ferry you still get a full day in your first destination, and a full day when you arrive in your new spot. You basically go to sleep in one country and wake up in the other. The overnight ferry left Albania at around 11pm and arrived in Bari around 8:30 am.
Companies & Travel Options
At the time of our travel there were two major overnight ferry lines running this route. They were Grand Navi & Ventouris. We used Grand Navi for our trip due to timing, but I have heard they are quite similar. Different companies may run to different locations on different days so you just have to do your research in advance.
I highly advise booking directly through the ferry company you choose instead of a 3rd party website. This way if you have any issues you can connect directly with them to get things sorted out.
What types of rooms/seats are there and what do they cost?
The cost depends on the way you choose to ride. There are a number of options for what we’ll call “accommodation” on the overnight ferry.
For a seat: If you just want a seat on the ferry, it’ll cost you about 100 euros. Your seat would recline and you’d be in a main area of the ferry.
Inside cabin: An inside cabin would not have a window, it would have lie flat beds, can house up to 4 people (bunk bed) and has a private bathroom/shower. This will cost around 145 euros.
You can also book a cabin spot in a GROUP room. This means you’d be put in a room with other males or females depending on what you select. Kind of like a hostel on land. You would pay a slightly lower price for a shared cabin.
Cabin with a sea view: This would be the same layout and style as an inside cabin but with a window. This is about 186 euros. This is the option we chose because for some reason I felt more comfortable being able to see the sea (even though we slept most of the trip anyway).
What is the food/drink situation?
The food/drink situation on our overnight ferry was less than thrilling. I honestly didn’t eat because nothing looked appealing. I would recommend packing something to eat or getting something in town right before you take off. There were a few different shops, cafes, and a buffet type spot on board.
You could get drinks on the ferry as well, wine, beer, cocktails, coffee, soda, etc.
The breakfast situation wasn’t as bad, they had some normal breakfast buffet type things and coffee in the morning available for purchase.
How early do you actually need to be? (Don’t forget Passport Control)
The information for the overnight ferry said you needed to be there 2-3 hours before the ferry was to depart. Honestly, you could have probably pushed the limit quite a bit. If you’ve been on ferries before you know they generally board quickly, but remember, you also have to go through passport control before getting on the ferry. Being the early birds that we are, we were quite early. We got through easily, got ourselves settled, and chilled out on the upper deck until the ferry took off.
Can you bring a car?
Yes, these ferries take foot passengers as well as cars. Before taking a car from one country to another though you should make sure to check the requirements with your car rental company. Some companies have different stipulations for crossing borders.
Are there things to do?
As this is an overnight ferry, it was not loaded with things to do. We did our best to sleep most of the way, so if people were doing things, I didn’t know about them. Prior to going to sleep we did have some snacks, walk around a bit on the upper deck to watch the sunset, and explore the ship a bit.
No matter which type of accommodation you choose, you can walk around the ferry, spend time on the upper deck, hang out in lounge areas, cafes, and other shared spaces. You could hang around and read, play games, watch tv, etc in the shared spaces if you wanted to. There wasn’t really any entertainment provided.
I enjoyed watching when we left the dock in Durres and watching our arrival in bari from the upper decks.
If you’re interested in hearing more about our itinerary from Albania to Puglia you can find my post all about it here —–> 2 Week Itinerary for Albania & Puglia