# Igoumenitsa

Igoumenitsa is a city in Epirus.

## Understand

Igoumenitsa is a main gateway to Northern Greece, being the arrival port of many ferry services from Ancona, Bari, Brindisi, and Venice in Italy. It's also the starting point of "Egnatia Odos", a modern motorway which ends to the Greek–Turkish border at Kipoi, providing a fast access to Thessaloniki and Istanbul.
With a population of around 25,000 people, Igoumenitsa is a relatively large town, close to some pleasant beaches.

## Get in
### By bus

39.494520.2631 KTEL intercity buses operates 5 daily trips to/from Ioannina and 2 daily trips to/from Thessaloniki. The nearest rail hub is Larissa, change bus at Ioannina to get there. Also buses to Parga (via Sivota) but no services on Saturday or Sunday.
There are 3 buses per day to/from the Mavromati - Qafe Bote border (3,50 €, 45 minutes). A taxi ride from Butrint (Albania) to the border costs around 10-15 €.

### By boat

ANEK Lines,Superfast Ferries and Minoan Lines operate a daily service from Ancona, Bari and Trieste. Grimaldi ferries sail from Brindisi to Igoumenitsa twice a day.
There are hourly ferries to Corfu (1.5h) from where you can catch speed boats to Sarandë, Albania (30min). Account for delays when choosing this option to cross from Albania to Greece or vice versa.

### By Bicycle

Igoumenitsa lies on the EuroVelo cycling routes EV8.

### By Foot

Igoumenitsa is the beginning/end of the Greece section of the European hiking trail E6.

## Get around

The actual city mainly spreads 2.5km along the coast from the 39.4887420.259182 International ferry port terminal in the south over the 39.4978220.263023 domestic terminal (next to the actual city center) up to the 39.5114220.258821 archeological museum in the north.

### By Foot

You can walk all distances in town in half an hour.

### Bike Sharing

Igoumenitsa operates a station based bike sharing system Cyclopolis with stations at least at both ports. To register you need a credit card. You'll get a 7h free ride upon registration which is enough for a nice half day trip to Drepanos Beach (see next section) on the cycle path.

### Taxi

Radio Taxi Igoumenitsa$^{[deadlink]}$ costs €1.25/km (as of August 2022). They also drive long distances (e.g. Athens) and to the Albanian border Mavromati/Qafë Botë (€40) or further to Sarandë for €105.

## Do

* Go swimming at 39.5063820.222111 Drepanos Beach, a long bay next to the bay of Igoumenitsa. The beach is all sand and there are multiple bars that offer sunbeds. However the beach is long enough that you can also choose a spot on your own, if you're lucky even with shadow from a tree. It's 7km from the international port terminal and 5km from the northern end of the city. As of August 2022 there is a brand new paved cycling and walking path from the end of the sea side promenade up to the camping at Drepanos beach. It's completely separated from the road (hence safe to use, e.g. with bike sharing). The last 2km next to the beach are without any shadow. There is also a bus (line 2) going to Drepanos beach once per hour (ask camping staff or people working at bars).
A taxi is €10.

## Eat

North of the domestic terminal there are plenty of restaurants and tavernas.

## Sleep

* 39.5036120.263381 Acropolis, ☏ +30 26650 28346. (updated Feb 2016)
* Egnatia, ☏ +30 26650 23648. (updated Feb 2016)
* 39.5064920.262892 El Greco. (updated Feb 2016)
* Stavrodromi, 16, Souliou, ☏ +30 26650 22343. (updated Feb 2016)

## Go next

* Ioannina
* The seaside resort of 39.40720.2422 Sivota is just 25 km away.
* Sarandë in Albania (60km)