Hi bullit, sorry if this is a bit late, but just got back from Athens. Anyway in answer to your questions.
1/ yes no problem (only bans in summer and some holidays)
2/Ferry to Patra drive up to Athens
3/ yes and no its a shorter crossing and little cheaper than Ancona, but once you put extra fuel, toll costs and time onto it then its not looking so good.
4/ nope, tho be warned if you take the wife with you in the summer (august) and the ship is full you could find you and the wife split up. ie you put with 3 drivers and the wife with another drivers wife.(it does happen) you can sleep in the truck tho if you are on top deck, open in summer for the camper vans etc.
5/how long is a piece of string! tho on average would say 9 days
6/nope not anymore ( why you now see half of Turkey around Ancona)
7/ Might have to next year when Olympics are on as word has it that ferry companies are not to keen on having trucks while games are on, will have to wait and see.
As an aside if your mate is going to Thessaloniki it is better to get off at Patra either go up to Athens and take the Thiva road (missing Athens) or take the Rio ferry just outside Patra only 27euro and run along the other coast, tho this time of year be warned there is shed loads of snow about on the mountains, main reason not to get off at Igumanitsa, this time of year loads of snow and lots of big climes, so if he has a 520 and some chains ok, if not go to Patra.
When i left tuesday north of Greece was under some serious amounts of snow.
hope above is of some help
sdj
Biggles:
Hi bullit, sorry if this is a bit late, but just got back from Athens
Do you know any of the drivers from Fleetwood Transport, or Alan from ADI International?
Vince
Sorry Vince cannot say that I do, what trucks do they drive?
Think I might have met you in the early 90’s was waiting for an exhibition to finish in Poznan we was all parked in the grounds of a hotel seem to recall there was a few Kepstowe guys there I was waiting to take a log cabin to Denmark worked for Bob Steward at the time, had an old 112 Scania, if memory serves we all arrived on the Friday afternoon and exhibition didnt finish untill the sunday, I was doing eastern blok work for Samson transport at the time, do you remember a company called SLR transport from Harwich? didnt do any work for them, but used to get them to do my carnet, met one of there old subbies in Patra last week guy named Phil used to do Moscow in an old ERF dont know him do you?
Steve
We used to park at the Intermotel in Poznan, but I have only ever delivered to the Expocentre, not loaded out so it probably wasn`t me.
I seem to recall SLR, were their trucks painted blue?
I can`t recall the ERF, though that may be because of fading memory due to old age! 
We started back on the Greece work a couple of months ago, I loaded one out of Belvedere on Friday and he asked me to take it but I couldn`t be away over the weekend so one of our other drivers took it.
Fleetwood trucks are Topliners or Globetrotters, in white, signwritten in red. Maybe see you down there sometime in the next few months…
Vince
Yeah that was the name of the place, as you say it was a while ago, all i can remember is one of the guys was from New Zealand (think it was anyway)
SLR’s trucks were blue ivecos, the ERF that phil had was white, think if you met him you would remember him, got a big white beard smoked a pipe and the dash of the erf was piled high with empty saint bruno packs.
Yep may see you down there some time, my trailer is being loaded for me tomorrow, think im back tuesday
Hi biggles, thanks for the reply, sorry for the delay in posting as I havent had access to a computer for a week or so.
I have passed on the info from yourself and the other guys, seems he is haveing second thoughts and may try to stay abit more “local” 
All your info was well useful and very much appreciated. Many thanks to everyone once again.
bullitt.
Hi everyone,could I pinch a moment of your time please? A mate of mine was after some info on running down to Greece. Thought I might find him some answers from the “regulars” on here!!
Basically, he would like to know if…
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Can you drive in Greece on a Sunday (non fridge trucks)?
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Is it quicker or cheaper to get a ferry to Patras or Igunomitsa and then drive to Athens or go to Athens direct by ferry to Piraeus?
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Most trucks seem to go direct from Anconna, is there anything to be gained from running further south to catch a ferry from Bari or Brindisi?
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Do the ferry companies charge for a second driver (wife or kid in the cab)?
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What would be the “average” round trip time from London, tipping in Athens area or maybe up the east coast towards Thessalonika, probably back loading out of Italy?
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Is this still the most expensive route to Turkey?
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Finally,is it worth considering going the old route (Yugoslavia etc) overland?
I know we have some people on this forum who “do Greece” and hope some of the guys who run down there on a regular basis might be able to answer some of the questions.
Many thanks in advance for taking the time to do so. All info will be passed on and gratefully recieved.
Just wish it was me doing it!! 
bullitt.
Afternoon Bullit 
Whilst I can answer some of your queries, I don’t know all the answers but will do my best
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Not sure as never have had cause to drive there on a Sunday
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Don’t think you can get a ferry direct to Athens from Italy. It is £465 on ANEK Lines o/w. BE WARNED You will NOT get on a ferry on a Friday or Saturday unless you have booked weeks in advance. The bubbles mass book all the places in advance. This does lead to ‘vacancies’ though. ANEK run a stand by list but you must get your name on this as soon as arriving at the port if no booking. Then pray. 3 companies run Ancona-Patras. Superfast (19 hrs), Minoan and ANEK are both 22 hours, which is much better as you can usually get a 24 in whilst doing the crossing.
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I don’t think so
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Not sure as my wife got a glazed look in her eyes the one time I asked if she wanted to come lol
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This is tricky. The run we do I always say could be done in 8 days with a lot of luck (Base-Athens and return) but of course, it doesn’t work like that lol. Ideal situation is Leave UK Sunday afternoon and park in Calais or thereabouts for daily rest. Monday morning, set off and arrive Ancona for Wednesday afternoon ferry. Land Patras Thursday and run to tipping point for tip Friday morning, reload Friday afternoon and head home. Only ONCE did I manage to do this lol and it got me back in 8 days. It is just over 200 kms Patras-Athens but it not a good road … fast single track but beware the bubble machines, they drive like maniacs
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If going to Turkey or Northern Greece, get off the ferry at Igunomitsa
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Absolutely NOT. Too many borders to cross. Remember Greece is in EU so if only going to Greece then there are no borders to cross as such
One thing i might point out is that we are having trouble getting paid by the Greeks for the loads we have done for them.
Also warn your pal that apart from the 2 main cities (Athens and Thessolonika) there does not seem to be any street signs in Greece!!!
Hope this has helped and if I have got anything wrong, I am sure some of the other regs will correct me. Have fun
- Greece does not have a Sunday driving ban for trucks.
Mate of mine,Biggles,is down there at the moment.He should be back at home next weekend so he’ll probably give a few more answers.
Many thanks for taking the time to reply chaps, especially Mr Bear, the answers given were most helpful. Thought Athens was closer to Pireaus than it actually is so learnt something new! (lesson: Never be afraid to ask!!)
All the info will be passed on and any more would be gratefully recieved!!
Will let you know what, if any thing, gets decided.
Thanks once again.
Bullitt.
Think you have read that wrong, Bullit. Pireaus is the port in Athens, Patras is the port you get the ferry to from Italy. Patras is 210 kms from Athens. If I remember rightly, only inter island ferries go from Pireaus but I may be wrong