Getting from Symi to Kea

If you are heading to Kea from Symi you are making your way from one of the most beautiful harbour towns in the Dodecanese to the closest Cycladic island to Athens, on the opposite side of the Aegean. It has good beaches, a quiet Chora and an ancient stone lion carved into the hillside that is one of the more unusual monuments in the Cyclades.

Take the ferry

There is no direct ferry from Symi to Kea. Kea is served exclusively from Lavrio on the southeastern Attica coast. Getting there means taking the ferry from Symi to Rhodes, which takes around 50 minutes to 1 hour 30 minutes and runs multiple times daily, and then flying from Rhodes to Athens and taking a taxi to Lavrio, around 30 minutes from Athens Airport, for the ferry to Kea taking around 1 hour and running up to 7 times daily in summer. This avoids crossing the city to Piraeus entirely.

Getting there by air

Kea has no airport. The nearest airport is Athens International, around 30 kilometres from Lavrio. Symi has no airport. The nearest airport is Rhodes. Taking the ferry from Symi to Rhodes, flying from Rhodes to Athens and then taking a taxi to Lavrio for the ferry to Kea gives a total journey time of around 5 to 6 hours. In Greece, airlines do not operate direct inter island flights.

Your best option

Take the ferry from Symi to Rhodes and fly from Rhodes to Athens, then take a taxi to Lavrio for the ferry across to Kea. The proximity of Lavrio to Athens Airport makes it one of the most convenient island connections from the airport in Greece. Note that Symi is car-free so if you are traveling with a car it would already be in Rhodes, from where you can board the overnight Piraeus ferry in reverse and drive to Lavrio for the ferry across to Kea.