Greece 2025, Part 1: From Zug to Brindisi

In May 2025 we had two and a half weeks of holiday, and the question was: where in Europe? It had to be by car, and ideally to a country we had never been to. We chose Greece – somehow I had never managed to drive or fly there before. Why by car? We wanted to discover the country and drive around a lot. The journey was part of the destination.

Charging in Greece? Sobering.

The first thing I did was check the usual providers. The result in 2025: Tesla had only a handful of Superchargers in Greece, IONITY none at all. In general, IONITY is barely present in Eastern Europe – not in Romania, not in Bulgaria and not in Greece.

The solution was We Charge from VW. In Switzerland they offer a four-week plan: the International plan costs CHF 17.99. It lets you charge abroad at fixed prices, at both AC and DC chargers. I downloaded the price list for all countries: fair and super simple. One charging card for every country.

Overland or by ferry?

There were two options: overland via Germany, Austria, Hungary, Romania and Bulgaria – or through Italy and then by ferry. For the outward journey we chose the ferry: Grimaldi Lines from Brindisi, overnight to Greece.

Ferry to Greece: electric cars with 40 percent battery at most

The first peculiarity came up while booking. Grimaldi points it out prominently: electric cars may have their battery charged to no more than 40 percent. I looked it up: according to Greek regulations, this applies on all ferries to and from Greece and within Greece. For gas-powered cars the limit is 50 percent. The rule from the Greek Ministry of Shipping has been in force since April 2024 (more on this from the ADAC, in German). Exactly why, I don't know – on other ferries, for example across the English Channel or from France to Ireland, there are sometimes even charging points on board.

So the task was clear: drive from Switzerland to Brindisi and get on the ferry with no more than 40 percent. On top of that, there were hardly any fast chargers around the port in Greece, mostly just AC chargers. We decided: we'll plan that once we're there.

Days 1 and 2: Maranello – a town that lives and breathes Ferrari

We split the route into three stages with two overnight stops. The first took us to Maranello. Of course we made the most of it: a night at the Ferrari hotel and a visit to the Ferrari Museum. The whole town lives and breathes Ferrari. Every pizzeria and every shop has Ferrari flags hanging outside. A great experience.

Termoli: an evening by the sea

After the museum we continued to Termoli, a small and very idyllic coastal town on the Adriatic. We had booked a hotel there and spent a lovely evening. On the way we charged at an IONITY station in Forlì – paid quite simply with the We Charge card.

Day 3: Arriving with an (almost) empty battery

The ferry didn't leave until 11 pm. So we had the whole day for the drive to Brindisi and could enjoy the scenery. The goal: arrive in Brindisi as empty as possible. About four kilometres before the ferry port there was one more IONITY charging station; we charged there to exactly 40 percent and then drove to the port.

In the evening we checked in. When we drove onto the ferry, the “Kydon Palace”, the staff checked three times that the battery really wasn't above 40 percent.

My tip

If you're taking a ferry with an electric car to Greece, from Greece or within Greece: bring the battery down to no more than 40 percent beforehand. The staff really do check.

Late in the evening we left Brindisi – overnight towards Greece. I'll tell you how things continued there in Part 2.