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Due to problems in ex-Jugoslavia, the only route for cars into Greece is via Italy. It is recommended that Ancona is used as a port of exit, not Brindisi, because that means longer driving (fuel in Italy is very expensive (1750 Lire/liter) and the road tolls prohibitive. It costs Lire 69000 until Brindisi, which is about 30 pounds, for the one way toll!
There are plenty of ferries from Ancona, with the biggest Venizelos M/V taking 3000 people and 1200 cars. For a family with a cabin, the fare is about 300 pounds low season/400 pounds high season, return.
The way to go would be to leave in the afternoon and take the ferry from Dover to Calais. You cross to Calais, using  (they are the best) heading to Brussels on the E40. Take the E411 to Luxemburg and get petrol there. Luxembourg is one of the least expensive places for petrol in Europe. One liter costs LFR 27/48p (unleaded). Compare that with 59p in the U.K.!
Follow the road to Metz and then Saarbruecken passing the river Rhine at Strassburg and then getting on the Autobahn, direction Basel. You must have a Swiss highway vignette on your windscreen (Sfr 40) current for the year (includes January of the following year) for driving on highways in Switzerland. From Basel, you head on direction Luzern, and then passing St Gotthard tunnel, you arrive at the last highway/petrol stop of Switzerland 9 km before the Italian border, called Coldrerio. Italian Petrol is also very expensive, about LIT 1750 per liter, so fill-up before crossing the border.
It should be about 6 am at this point and you can stop, relax and have breakfast (there is a McDonalds hamburger restaurant here). From here taking the highway to Milano and then Bologna you arrive at Ancona 3 to 4 hours later.
From London, count about 17 hours to Ancona (excluding the Ferry) and another 21 hours to Greece. It is preferable to get off at Igoumenitsa and thus take a look at mountainous Epirus on the way to your destination. The ferries also go to Patras for the same fare as to Igoumenitsa.
 The price of petrol in Greece is DRA 200 (50p) per liter for Super Unleaded or DRA 160 (48p) per liter for Diesel. These are prices valid for 1999.
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There are two main trains heading for Greece: the Acropolis Express and the Hellas express. They take 36 hours from Munich so it is not a fast way of getting to Greece. Coming from Belgium, you would need to connect to Munich which takes an additional 7 hours.
In addition, the Budapest/Belgrade/Thesaloniki circuit is also used.
However train travel is very expensive. It costs twice as much as a plane fare at around 300 pounds return. The best bet, is to take advantage of an interail pass which are substantially better value and combine Greece with other countries.
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Olympic Airways
Air UK
