Athens to Aegina Ferry: Slow Boat or Flying Dolphin, and Gate E8

Piraeus to Aegina ferry schedule and prices in 2026

Five companies run Piraeus to Aegina town. Three sail conventional car ferries, two sail fast passenger catamarans, and between them they put more than 40 crossings a day on the route in high season.

Saronic Ferries carries most of the traffic. On a summer Monday in 2026 it left Piraeus at 06:00, 07:20, 09:15, 09:45, 10:25, 11:25, 14:00, 15:40, 17:45 and 18:45, with a twelfth sailing on Fridays as late as 20:45. Aegean Flying Dolphins runs eight fast boats a day on weekdays, from 08:00 to 19:00, with a 20:15 on Sundays. The timetable shrinks after mid-September. In the last week of September 2026 the car ferry was down to six departures, at 07:20, 09:30, 11:25, 14:00, 15:25 and 17:45, while the fast boats kept their summer times until 31 October. Winter still has boats every day, just fewer of them.

The fares split along the same line as the boats. The conventional ferries cost about €9 to €12 one way: Saronic's own site says from €12, its published fare grid says €8.90, and Remezzo and Aegina Ferries start around €9 to €10. The fast boats cost about €18 to €19. For a US budget, that is roughly $10 to $14 against $21 to $22, a small price for half an hour saved each way.

Conventional ferry or Flying Dolphin to Aegina: which to take, by time of day

The two kinds of boat do not run at the same hours, so the choice is often made for you. Here is how a summer weekday lines up.

Early, it is the car ferry or nothing. The first fast boat leaves at 08:00 on weekdays and 08:50 at the weekend, while Saronic sails at 06:00 and 07:20. If you want the whole day on the island, the 07:20 lands you in Aegina town at 08:30, before any fast boat has left Piraeus. Mid-morning is the one stretch where the fast boat clearly wins: it buys you an extra half hour ashore on a day trip. After lunch both lines have gaps of two to three hours, and the evening is when the slow boat makes sense again. Its open deck is a better place than a catamaran cabin to watch the gulf go gold.

"Flying Dolphin" is the name you will read in most guides. On Aegina it now means the fast catamarans of Aegean Flying Dolphins and the Aero catamarans of Hellenic Seaways, not the old yellow hydrofoils that still work the route to Hydra. They are enclosed, with airline-style seats and no deck to step out on. In a swell they move more than the big ferries, so if you get seasick, the conventional boat is the kinder choice for the price of 30 minutes.

Do you need to book the Aegina ferry? Buying tickets at Piraeus

On foot, on a weekday, outside the peak of summer: no. Aegina is the one Greek island you can decide to visit over breakfast. Saronic Ferries sells tickets at the port as well as online, and with a boat roughly every hour one sold-out sailing only costs you a coffee. The exceptions are the ones you would expect. Book ahead for a car, for a July or August weekend, for a public holiday, or for a fast boat at a fixed hour, because the catamarans are small and the Friday evening and Sunday evening sailings fill up with Athenians going to their island houses. Saronic itself advises booking in summer and on holidays.

Booking also settles the return. The last fast boat back is the one people miss, and a ticket in hand means you plan the afternoon around it rather than find out at the quay that it is full. E-tickets are standard, and Saronic and Hellenic Seaways offer web check-in from 48 hours to 2 hours before sailing, so you walk straight to the boat.

Piraeus to Aegina: finding gate E8

Piraeus is huge, but the Aegina boats are in the easy part. Take metro line 1 to the end, or line 3 from the airport, Syntagma or Monastiraki, as the map of Athens shows. From Piraeus station, gate E8 is five to ten minutes on foot along the waterfront. Saronic Ferries says all its Aegina routes leave from E8, and so does Ferryhopper. The ticket booths for the Saronic islands are along the same stretch.

One catch that no booking site mentions. Hellenic Seaways' own port map puts its Aero catamarans at gate E9, the next one along, while the operators of the car ferries all say E8. The two gates are neighbours, so it costs you a few minutes at most, but read the gate printed on your ticket and check the screens rather than follow the crowd. Arrive 20 to 40 minutes before departure on foot, which is what Saronic advises, and an hour ahead with a car in summer: the boats leave on time.

Taking a car on the ferry to Aegina

Only the conventional ferries carry vehicles, which means Saronic Ferries, Aegina Ferries and Remezzo. A car costs about €19 to €25 one way on top of the passenger tickets, and a motorbike about €5 to €8. Ferryhopper quotes around €34 for two adults and a car. Old forum threads say you cannot reserve a car on this route and have to queue at the ramp. That is no longer true: you can book the vehicle online, and on a summer Friday you should.

Whether you need it is another question. Aegina is small, buses leave from the harbour for the main sights, and car and scooter rental shops line the waterfront in Aegina town. Bring a car if you are staying a few days in one of the villages, not for a day trip.

Aegina town, Souvala or Agia Marina: which Aegina port

Aegina has three ports with boats from Piraeus, and the one on your ticket matters.

Aegina town, on the west coast, is where almost every boat goes, all year. The ferry lands right on the waterfront, with cafés, the fish market, the buses and the rental shops within a few minutes' walk. If you do not know where you are going, this is where you want to be.

Souvala, on the north coast, is a small resort served by one Saronic car ferry, the Antigoni, from April to October. The crossing takes about 1 hour 5 minutes and there are three or four a day in summer. It suits people staying in the north of the island who would rather skip the drive from town.

Agia Marina, on the east coast, is the beach resort below the Temple of Aphaia. Hellenic Seaways and Magic Sea Ferries run fast boats there from about April to November, and the crossing takes around 30 minutes, the shortest on the route. The catch is frequency: about two a day per company, and in late September 2026 Magic Sea did not call on Fridays and went via Methana on Sundays.

Last ferry from Aegina to Piraeus

The way back is where a relaxed day goes wrong. In summer, the last Saronic car ferry leaves Aegina at 21:30 from Monday to Thursday, reaching Piraeus at 22:40, and at 20:30 on Friday. The last Aegean Flying Dolphins fast boat leaves at 20:15 every day until 31 October 2026. In the shoulder season the car ferry is the one that stops early: at the end of September 2026 its last sailing was 19:30, which made the 20:15 fast boat the last way off the island.

The first boats back leave around 07:00 on the fast line and 07:45 on the car ferry in summer, useful if you slept on the island and have a flight. From Piraeus you are one metro line from the airport. Do not plan a same-day flight around the last evening boat: on a Sunday in summer it is the one that sells out, and the Saronic Gulf, though far calmer than the Cyclades, does see sailings cancelled in spring gales.

On board the Aegina ferry: luggage, pets and seats

The limits differ more than you would think. Ferryhopper lists 50 kg of luggage per passenger on Aegina Ferries, Hellenic Seaways and Magic Sea, 40 kg on Saronic and Remezzo, and only 20 kg on Aegean Flying Dolphins, which matters if you are moving to the island for a week with a large case. On the catamarans, cases stay in a rack near the door.

Pets travel free, on a lead or in a carrier, with their health papers. There are no cabins on any boat, only seats, and on the car ferries you can sit in the lounge or on deck wherever you like. On the fast boats you stay in your seat for the whole crossing.

Aegina day trip from Athens: is it worth it?

Yes, and it is the easiest island day out of Athens. Take the 08:00 or 08:50 fast boat, spend the day between the harbour, the Temple of Aphaia and a pistachio stall, and come back on the 18:15 or the 20:15. Two fast tickets cost about €36 to €38 a person. Aegina is a working island rather than a pretty one, with a real town that people live in all year. How it compares with Agistri, Poros and Hydra as a day out is set out in our guide to the Saronic islands.

Aegina also works as a first or last night of a longer trip, since Piraeus is the port for both the Saronic Gulf and the Cyclades. Which companies run which lines, and how Greek ferry tickets work across the network, is in the guide to Greek ferries.