Greek for island-hopping: ferries, tavernas and the word for tomorrow
Island-hopping in Greece runs on a small, specific vocabulary: the names on the ticket, the words on the port screen and the handful of phrases that get you fed when the boat lands at nine at night.
The first problem of a Greek island trip is not the language of conversation but the language of logistics: your ticket says one name, the island has another, and the port screen shows a third, all in an alphabet you met on the flight. The second is the taverna, where the dishes that are actually good that evening are often not the ones printed in English. Both are solved by a vocabulary of perhaps forty words, which is what this guide gives you.
The names on the ticket are not always the names on the map
Greek ferry companies print the official or port name, and the port is not always called what the island is called. That mismatch is the single most common source of confusion at a ticket desk.
| You say | The ticket or screen may say | Sounds like | Why |
|---|---|---|---|
| Piraeus | Πειραιάς / ΠΕΙΡΑΙΑΣ | pee-reh-AHS | Athens' main port; the city itself is not on the ticket |
| Rafina | Ραφήνα | rah-FEE-nah | Athens' second port, east of the airport |
| Lavrio | Λαύριο | LAHV-ree-oh | Third Athens port, for the western Cyclades |
| Santorini | Θήρα (Thira) | THEE-rah | The island's official name; the ferry port is Athinios, Αθηνιός |
| Heraklion | Ηράκλειο | ee-RAH-klee-oh | The Η is an ee, so it is also spelt Iraklio |
| Chania | Σούδα | SOO-thah | Ferries for Chania dock at Souda Bay, a bus ride away |
| Mykonos | Μύκονος, sometimes with Τούρλος | MEE-koh-nos | Most large ferries use the new port at Tourlos, north of town |
| Paros | Παροικιά | pah-ree-KYAH | The island's port town |
Two more words decode a great many signs. Χώρα (KHO-rah), literally country, is what islanders call the main village on many Cycladic islands, usually up the hill from the port, and a bus marked ΧΩΡΑ is going there. Λιμάνι (lee-MAH-nee) is the port itself, and a bus marked ΛΙΜΑΝΙ will take you back for the boat. The everyday word for the boat is καράβι (kah-RAH-vee); the word on official screens is πλοίο (PLEE-oh).
Reading the ticket and the port screen
Most tickets are now issued as e-tickets or printed boarding passes, but they still use a fixed set of Greek labels, often with English beside them on the bigger lines.
- Εισιτήριο (ee-see-TEE-ree-oh): ticket. Μετ' επιστροφής (met-eh-pee-stroh-FEES) is a return.
- Αναχώρηση (ah-nah-KHO-ree-see): departure. Άφιξη (AH-fee-ksee): arrival.
- Επιβίβαση (eh-pee-VEE-vah-see): boarding. Αποβίβαση: getting off.
- Οικονομική θέση or Κατάστρωμα (kah-TAH-stroh-mah): the cheapest class, deck class, which gives you the run of the lounges and the open decks but no assigned seat.
- Αριθμημένη θέση or αεροπορική θέση: a numbered, airline-style seat. Καμπίνα: a cabin, worth considering on overnight runs to Crete or the Dodecanese.
- Ταχύπλοο (tah-KHEE-ploh-oh): a fast boat. Faster, pricier, more likely to be held in port by wind and rougher in a swell than a συμβατικό, a conventional ferry.
- Καθυστέρηση (kah-thee-STEH-ree-see): delay. Ακυρώθηκε (ah-kee-ROH-thee-keh): cancelled.
- Πύλη (PEE-lee): gate. At Piraeus, departures leave from numbered gates, E1 to E12, and the furthest are a long walk apart; check the gate on your booking before you leave the metro.
One more word explains a day lost to the weather. When the wind is strong enough, usually around force 8 on the Beaufort scale for large ships and lower for small boats, the coastguard issues an απαγορευτικό απόπλου (ah-pah-goh-ref-tee-KOH ah-POH-ploo), a ban on sailing. Nobody at the ticket desk can override it, and the ship leaves when it is lifted, which may be hours later or the next morning. Ask at the λιμεναρχείο (lee-meh-nar-KHEE-oh), the port authority, or at the πρακτορείο (prak-toh-REE-oh), the ticket agency on the harbour front, which will know before anyone else.
A script for the ticket agency
Harbour agencies sell tickets for several companies and are the best place to ask which boat is running. A typical exchange:
- You: Καλημέρα. Ένα εισιτήριο για Νάξο, παρακαλώ. (kah-lee-MEH-rah. EH-nah ee-see-TEE-ree-oh yah NAH-ksoh, pah-rah-kah-LOH.) Good morning. One ticket to Naxos, please.
- Agent: Για σήμερα ή για αύριο; (yah SEE-meh-rah ee yah AHV-ree-oh) For today or tomorrow?
- You: Για αύριο. Τι ώρα φεύγει; (tee OH-rah FEV-yee) For tomorrow. What time does it leave?
- Agent: Στις εννιά και μισή, το ταχύπλοο. At half past nine, the fast boat.
- You: Υπάρχει και συμβατικό; (ee-PAR-khee keh seem-vah-tee-KOH) Is there a conventional ferry too?
- You, on the day: Είναι στην ώρα του; (EE-neh steen OH-rah too) Is it on time?
Note the shift from Νάξος to Νάξο after για, for: island names change their endings with the sentence, a habit the Greece field kit explains. If you cannot remember the right ending, say the name as it appears on the map; you will be understood.
Ordering at the taverna
A traditional island taverna is built for sharing, and the structure of the menu tells you how to use it. Two words matter more than any dish name. Μαγειρευτά (mah-yee-ref-TAH) are the cooked dishes of the day, stews, baked vegetables and casseroles made in the morning and kept warm; when they are gone they are gone, which is why many tavernas will invite you to look in the pots or at a display counter. Της ώρας (tees OH-rahs), of the hour, means cooked to order, typically grilled meat and fish. Order a few μεζέδες (meh-ZEH-thes), small plates, για το τραπέζι (yah toh trah-PEH-zee), for the table, and they will arrive in the middle for everyone.
House wine is sold by weight. Μισό κιλό κρασί χύμα (mee-SOH kee-LOH krah-SEE KHEE-mah) is half a kilo of loose wine, roughly half a litre, served in a metal jug; λευκό is white, κόκκινο red, ροζέ rosé. A quarter, ένα τέταρτο, is the size for one.
Fish is also priced by the kilo, and in a fish taverna you usually choose your fish from a display, after which it is weighed. Ask Πόσο κάνει το κιλό; (POH-soh KAH-nee toh kee-LOH), how much per kilo, and then πόσο ζυγίζει; (zee-YEE-zee), how much does it weigh, before it goes on the grill, so the bill holds no surprises. Greek menus usually mark frozen items, κατεψυγμένο (kah-teps-eeg-MEH-noh), with an asterisk; a fresh-fish dinner is the one place it is worth checking the small print.
Useful lines at the table:
- Τι μας προτείνετε; (tee mahs proh-TEE-neh-teh) What do you recommend?
- Τι έχετε σήμερα; What do you have today?
- Ένα μπουκάλι νερό. A bottle of water.
- Χωρίς κρεμμύδι. (khoh-REES kreh-MEE-thee) Without onion.
- Γεια μας. (YAH mahs) Cheers, literally our health.
Bread usually arrives unasked and appears on the bill as a small per-person charge; that is normal, not a trick. How to ask for the bill, and why it will not come until you do, is covered on the kit page.
Parakalo, the word that does five jobs
Παρακαλώ (pah-rah-kah-LOH) is the Greek please, but you will hear it far more often doing other work:
- Please, at the end of a request.
- You're welcome, in reply to ευχαριστώ, thank you. The exchange ευχαριστώ / παρακαλώ is as automatic as a handshake.
- Can I help you? A shop assistant or waiter who approaches with a rising παρακαλώ; is asking what you want.
- Hello, answering the phone, alongside ναι and έλα.
- Excuse me, really? Said slowly and sharply, παρακαλώ πολύ is indignation, roughly I beg your pardon, from someone who has been pushed in front of.
The tune does all the work. A falling, quick παρακαλώ is polite filler; a rising one is a question; a long one with raised eyebrows is a complaint.
Avrio, and the island sense of time
Αύριο (AHV-ree-oh) means tomorrow, and it is a perfectly literal word: a mechanic who says the scooter will be ready αύριο means tomorrow. What stretches is everything around it. Σε λίγο (seh LEE-goh), in a little while, can be ten minutes or an hour. Ένα λεπτό, one minute, is rarely one minute. Σιγά σιγά (see-GAH see-GAH), literally slowly slowly, is both advice and a philosophy, and you will hear it said kindly to anyone visibly hurrying. Θα δούμε, we will see, can be a gentle way of saying probably not.
Two other time words help plan a day. Μεθαύριο (meh-THAHV-ree-oh) is the day after tomorrow, and απόψε (ah-POP-seh) is tonight. Note that ferries are the exception to the relaxed clock: they tend to leave on schedule when the weather allows, and arrive late. Be at the quay well before departure, and treat the arrival time as an estimate.
The greetings run by the clock as well, and on an island you will use καλημέρα and καλησπέρα constantly; the switch-over times are in the Greece field kit. So is the head-tilt that means no, which matters when you ask a ferry agent whether there are seats left.
Before you board: a short checklist
- Write down the Greek name of your departure port and destination port, not just the island, as the ticket will show them.
- At Piraeus, know your gate number before you arrive.
- Deck class means no seat: bring a layer, as the air-conditioned lounges and the open deck are very different temperatures.
- If the wind is up, ask the agency about an απαγορευτικό before you check out of your room.
- On arrival, look for a bus marked ΧΩΡΑ or the name of your village, and know the word ΛΙΜΑΝΙ for the trip back.
- At the taverna, ask what is μαγειρευτά today and ask the price per kilo before choosing fish.
Learn to read the capitals in particular. Port screens, bus fronts and shop signs are often written entirely in capital letters without accents, so ΗΡΑΚΛΕΙΟ is the same word as Ηράκλειο, and the more of them you can sound out, the less any of this depends on finding the English line underneath.