How to Get Around Samos by Bus (2026 Guide): Routes, Stops, Times & Fares

Samos has two centres of gravity — Vathy (Samos Town) in the north-east, where the ferries dock and the bus station stands, and Pythagorio on the south coast beside the airport — and one operator linking them, KTEL Samos. We list 8 routes and 12 stops, every one anchored at the KTEL station in Vathy: Pythagorio and Samos Airport, the inland villages of Chora and Mytilinii, the north coast through Kokkari to Karlovasi, and the long west-coast haul to Marathokampos, Votsalakia and Drakei. Between the towns the bus is genuinely useful; at the edges of the island it thins to a few runs a week — and the summer programme now in force publishes no Sunday service at all.

The Samos bus network at a glance

One operator runs everything. KTEL Samos — ΚΤΕΛ Σάμου, branded in English on its own buses and Facebook page as Samos Public Busses — works out of the station at Themistokli Sofouli 241 in Vathy, on +30 2273 027262 (the printed timetable also carries 22730-27270) and at [email protected].

The shape is strict hub and spoke: every route we hold begins and ends at that station, and there are no published direct services between the outlying places. Karlovasi to Pythagorio, or Kokkari to the airport, means riding back into Vathy and out again — so either base yourself where the spokes meet, or accept that cross-island trips eat a morning.

Three towns matter. Vathy is the capital, the main ferry port and the hub, with the station in the town itself. Pythagorio is the south-coast harbour town, the UNESCO-listed ancient city and the settlement nearest the airport. Karlovasi, at the western end of the north coast, is the third town and the second ferry port — if your boat uses Karlovasi, the north-coast line is your connection. Vathy and Pythagorio also handle the short crossings to Kuşadası on the Turkish coast.

Main Samos bus routes

• Samos Town (Vathy) ↔ Pythagorio: the busiest line on the island by a clear margin — capital to south-coast harbour town, with enough departures to give you a real choice of returns — route details.

• Samos Town ↔ Samos Airport (SMI): the second-best-served route, down to the airport on the south coast — route details.

• Samos Town ↔ Kokkari ↔ Agios Konstantinos ↔ Karlovasi: the north-coast trunk line and one of the best served we hold, taking in the beach village of Kokkari before running west to Karlovasi and its port. The operator's table treats Kokkari and Tsamadou as one fare stage, so ask for Tsamadou by name rather than expecting a separate stop — route details.

• Samos Town ↔ Chora: a short, frequent inland hop to the old administrative village behind Vathy — route details.

• Samos Town ↔ Mytilinii: the inland crossroads village on the older road south, also well served — route details.

• Samos Town ↔ Ireon: the village beside the Heraion, the UNESCO-listed sanctuary of Hera, with only a handful of departures a day — route details.

• Samos Town ↔ Marathokampos ↔ Votsalakia: the long haul south-west, for the mountain village of Marathokampos and the long beach at Votsalakia under Mount Kerkis. Very few runs — route details.

• Samos Town ↔ Drakei: the thinnest service on the island, out to the remote village at the far western end, and in the summer 2026 programme it runs on Mondays only — route details.

KTEL Samos publishes a few more workings we do not list yet, mostly weekly village runs: Vourliotes on Wednesdays, Pagondas and Mili on Mondays, Pyrgos on weekdays, and Potokaki, which the operator treats as a fare stage between Pythagorio and the airport rather than a destination. If one of those is where you are staying, phone the station. Everything we hold is on the full Samos bus timetable.

Getting from the airport and the ports

Samos Airport (SMI) sits on the south coast a few kilometres from Pythagorio, and it is well connected — to Vathy. The Samos Town–Airport route is the second-busiest line we hold, so if the capital is your destination the bus is straightforward.

The trap is the short leg. Even though the airport is practically next door to Pythagorio, the summer 2026 announcement publishes no standalone Pythagorio–Airport service. A few airport departures are marked as running via Pythagorio, but no Pythagorio departure times are printed for them, so you cannot plan that connection from the schedule alone. Staying in Pythagorio, ask at the station and keep a taxi fare in reserve.

Ferries are easier. Vathy's port is in the town, minutes from the bus station, and the north-coast line connects the capital to the second port at Karlovasi. For a boat to Kuşadası out of Vathy or Pythagorio, leave real margin: not even the trunk routes are dense enough to absorb a missed bus, and on a Sunday there is nothing to catch.

Tickets and fares

Fares are distance-based — there is no flat island fare, and the operator publishes no fare table we can reproduce here. Buy at the ticket window in the Vathy station for outbound journeys; boarding in a village you generally pay the driver, so carry small notes and coins. KTEL Samos does not yet sell tickets online through Greek Island Buses — where a Greek operator does, the price is identical and you board with a QR code on your phone, but Samos is for now an in-person purchase. Check both halves of your journey on the full Samos bus timetable before you set out.

No Sunday buses in the summer programme

The summer 2026 timetable has two columns and only two: Monday–Friday and Saturday. No Sunday departures appear anywhere in it. Do not put a Sunday flight, ferry or beach day on the bus — plan Sundays around walking distance, a taxi or a hire car.

Which timetable is in force — and where to find it

This is the Samos-specific trap, and it catches people who do everything right. The programme running now is the summer 2026 one, in force from 16 June 2026 and described by the operator as valid until at least 10 September — a review date rather than a hard finish. The awkward part is how it was published: as of early August 2026 the timetable page on ktelsamos.gr still linked only the winter 2025–26 image, while the summer table circulated through the local press and the operator's Facebook page. If you land on the official site, check the date printed on the image before planning around it.

One more quirk: the published table gives departure times from Vathy and from the far end, and nothing in between — no intermediate or arrival times. If you board at a mid-route village such as Agios Konstantinos, be at the stop early. When a departure really matters, phone the station on +30 2273 027262.

The west of the island: Marathokampos, Votsalakia and Drakei

Western Samos is where the bus stops being convenient and becomes a commitment. The Marathokampos and Votsalakia service runs only a few times, and the returns are essentially one early-morning departure and one mid-afternoon — and the afternoon return does not run on Mondays. Drakei, under Mount Kerkis, is the extreme case: Mondays only, the single outbound leaving Vathy around midday and the departures back running early morning and mid-afternoon. A same-day round trip barely exists — treat Drakei as an overnight.

Plan your trip

Browse the complete Samos bus timetable for every route and stop we hold, note your return departure at the same time as your outbound, and remember the two rules that govern buses on this island: everything runs through Vathy, and in the current programme nothing runs on Sunday.