Patras Greece
Frequently Asked Questions
At the quay, a few minutes' walk from the centre. No long shuttle: you leave the gangway, cross the waterfront boulevard and the shopping streets begin.
Yes, for the most part. Georgiou I Square, the basilica of Agios Andreas and the monumental stairways to the upper town are all walkable. The Byzantine castle at the top sits about 800 metres from the shore, but it is a serious climb.
Georgiou I Square and a Greek coffee on a terrace, the climb to the Roman odeon and the Byzantine castle, then the basilica of Agios Andreas west of the centre. A tasting at a nearby wine estate rounds out the day.
The largest church in Greece, dedicated to the apostle Andrew, patron of the city, who was martyred here according to tradition. Its reliquary draws pilgrims from across the Orthodox world, and the interior surprises with its scale and mosaics.
The city rooftops, the Gulf of Patras and, on a clear day, the mountains on the far shore. The castle occupies the site of the ancient acropolis and keeps its curtain walls, towers and an inner garden where locals come to walk.
Not really, and that is what makes it interesting. Greece's third city, a maritime crossroads to Italy and a major student town, it lives first from its harbour. You meet a working Greece here, with nothing staged.
Mavrodaphne, a sweet red born here in the nineteenth century on the surrounding slopes, and tentura, the local liqueur flavoured with cinnamon and clove that cafés serve at the end of a meal.
The largest in the country, filling the streets each winter for over a hundred and fifty years. Cruise ships do not call at that season, but the city talks about it all year round.
Yes, it spans the strait a few kilometres northeast of the city. It is one of the longest cable-stayed bridges in the world, and can be spotted from the castle heights on a clear day.
The euro and Greek, with English well established in this university and port city. Cards work everywhere in the centre.
