Tripatini contributor Keith Kellett writes:

"Almost since the dawn of recorded history, Man has been crossing the Aegean Sea by boat, and this remains the best way to do it. We could paraphrase the words of Jean-Jacques Rousseau: ‘If you just want to get there, you could fly, but to travel, you must take a boat."

There are boats of all description plying this sea, and I’ve sailed on a lot of them. The one that the island people themselves use, as well as the tourists, is the ferry. Most of these leave the Greek mainland from the port of Piraeus. It’s a big port, and, since Greece has many islands, there are many ferries, and looking for the one you require can be quite a chore.

Don’t ask at a ferry company office; they will only tell you about their own ships, and disregard those of other companies! I once spent a weekend on Leros, because a ferry company told me there were no boats until Sunday night. There were, but not from that particular company! However, I couldn’t take too great an exception; my flight didn’t leave till Monday afternoon, and I’d rather have spent the time on Leros than in Athens.

Read more in his post Sailing the Aegean Sea.