Reims – Metz – Nancy – Strasbourg – Zurich – St Gotthard – Lugano – Milano – Bologna – Ancona.

{mosimage}The big change was in security at Ancona harbour.  There is now a wall separating the dock area from the town and, once you enter the docks (following the signs for car ferries) you are stopped by security staff every 50m or so.  They want to see proof that you’ve booked a ticket: either the actual ticket or a fax confirming a reservation.  I had neither but told them I’d telephoned Marmara Lines, made my booking and was going to collect the ticket.  It worked.  Had it not I would have had to park outside the dock area and walk in to make my booking.

In 2004 I travelled in late May which is low season for the car ferry.  This time it was mid-July and high season so the ticket for me and a Ford Focus estate was £354.  This included a cheap 4-berth en suite cabin which I was told I would be sharing, but no-one else ever turned up.  There are cheaper options and all fares are listed on www.marmaralines.com.   I booked on Friday afternoon for the ferry leaving 10.30pm Saturday.  Unlike the previous year the ferry was full and, by late Saturday afternoon, the ticket office was turning people away.

Costs on board have gone up from 2004.  You can’t pay cash for anything on the boat.  Once on board you go to the bank and buy a smart card in euros for whatever amount you want  – you then use the card to pay for everything.  When you’ve spent everything on the card you go back to the bank to top it up.  A glass of tea is 1 euro and a small beer is 3.  Food is good and reasonably priced in the self service café.  Many of the Turkish passengers had brought their food for the journey with them so, if you want to save money, do the same.  If you book a cabin you get breakfast.

In Ancona I stayed at the Hotel Sporting which is about 2 miles out from central Ancona on the seafront road.  It’s a newly refurbished businessman’s hotel which costs 75 euros per person per night in the week but only 48 on Friday, Saturday and Sunday.  That’s for bed and breakfast.  If you continue driving along the seafront road, away from Ancona, you pass through the neighbouring town of Falconara (Italian holiday resort) and end up in the car park of a large supermarket.  In 2004 I failed to find a supermarket and ended up buying food treats – parmesan, prosciutto, dried porcini – in a good but pricey delicatessen in Ancona.  This year I stocked up in the supermarket and can recommend their litre cartons of wine.  If you do decide to buy food for the journey the supermarket is the place to go.

{mosimage}The bonus of taking the ferry in high season is the fact that it passes through the Corinth Canal.  The journey is almost twelve hours shorter than in low season when the ferry goes all the way around mainland Greece.  The Canal is amazing and the Marmara Lines ferry just fits through – only 1m clearance on each side.  We passed through the Canal at around 7am on Monday morning with only about 100 of the 850 passengers on board awake to see it.  There was no announcement.  So if you take the ferry in high season be sure to ask a crew member for an estimated time of arrival at the Canal, and make sure you’re up on the top deck for best views.