Greece is supposed for exploring, and never simply by ferry. Along with your car – rented or in any other case – there’s a wealth of historical past, tradition and, sure, seashores to savor.
Away from relying solely on buses and boats, alternatives to depart crowds behind are myriad. Listed below are 5 of our favourite highway journeys in Greece that traverse the material of the nation’s mainland and islands.
Greek islands highway journey
Finest highway journey for seashores
Athens–Paros; 180km (112 miles) whole driving, not together with sea journey
Though it’s possible you’ll consider exploring Greek islands as a sea journey, you’ll want wheels to correctly discover and revel in most of those rocky isles. That is significantly true with seashores, the place the very best – and least crowded – ones might solely be reachable by automotive.
Few elements of Greece are extra iconic than the Cyclades, the place the islands dotting the Aegean are the stuff of vacation fantasies. Begin this journey in Athens, the place the port of Piraeus is your gateway to what awaits. Start on uncooked and rugged Serifos – much less visited than a lot of its neighbors, it affords the right break from the same old hubbub of life. It has one predominant highway that loops across the island, so your solely actual determination is whether or not to go clockwise or the reverse. Uncover little fishing villages barely touched by tourism and lengthy, sandy seashores in sheltered coves lapped by impossibly azure waters.
Simply subsequent door – and nearby of Serifos – Sifnos exemplifies the distinct personalities that every of the Cycladic islands possesses. It’s standard with guests and has a well-deserved repute for its meals traditions with many high-end and inventive tavernas and eating places. The roads radiate out from the central city of Apollonia. Observe these brief and twisty routes right down to a wide range of seafront villages with well-developed seaside scenes.
Make your ultimate cease on the big and various island of Paros, which rewards drivers with a plethora of seashores, mountain villages and shimmering hillsides of olive timber.
Planning Tip: Your large determination on this journey is whether or not to make use of the identical car for your complete journey or to hire a automotive on every island. When you’re driving your personal car, it’s possible you’ll recognize its familiarity as you go from one island to the subsequent. Nonetheless, whereas many ferries transport vehicles, the prices might be excessive, and obtainable car slots might refill at the same time as there stays room for passengers. If hiring a automotive in Greece, it’s higher when it comes to value and problem to simply rent one individually on every island.
Historic Greece
Finest highway journey for the wonders of the classical world
Athens–Historic Olympia; 590km (367 miles)
A lot of the very best of Greece’s traditional mythology and historical past is finest visited by automotive. This journey begins in Athens – in fact, you have to take a second to go to the Parthenon – and winds across the mainland and the Peloponnese Peninsula, with stops at websites of legend and lore.
It’s a straightforward drive northwest to Historic Delphi, located on a wide ranging web site overlooking the Gulf of Corinth. Right here the fabled oracle was the religious heart of Historic Greece when it was at its strongest. Drive south to Nafplio within the Peloponnese, the place you’ll be able to cut up your time between a trifecta of sights: the acropolis at Tiryns, the citadel of Historic Mycenae and the 2500-year-old theater at Epidavros.
Lastly, see the place fashionable athletic competitions hint again their roots at Historic Olympia. Stroll amidst the reconstructed stadium that hosted the primary Olympic video games in 776 BCE and was the location of competitions for a rare 1000 years.
Round Athens
Finest highway journey for a fast go to
Athens–Marathon; 136km (85 miles)
Guests to Greece are normally in a rush to go out from Athens to the islands – and with good cause. However in case you’re on a brief go to or simply in search of a change of tempo from the capital, Attica – the water-surrounded area with Athens at its heart – will reward guests who want to pattern glorious seashores, historical monuments and expanses of pure magnificence.
Some 17km (10.5 miles) southeast of Athens, Glyfada is a tiny suburb that marks the beginning of the so-called Apollo Coast (or Athenian Riviera, relying on whose advertising materials you like). Small seashores backed by upscale golf equipment and extra remoted strands on coves favored by nudists dot the coast. Pause for a cultural second on the gleaming marble Temple of Poseidon at Cape Sounion.
Following the craggy shore northeast, end your drive at Marathon – sure, that Marathon – the place Pheidippides started his run to Athens with information of army victory. Immediately, it’s a cushty and beachy suburb, the place the best problem you’ll face is selecting between its many seafront tavernas.
The magnificent island of Crete
Finest highway journey for exploring a Mediterranean spotlight
Iraklio–Hania; 280km (174 miles)
Geographically very a lot separate from the remainder of Greece however culturally a core a part of the nation, Crete is unmissable. The Mediterranean’s fifth largest island (proper after Corsica) is a panoply of historic sights, areas of very good pure magnificence, hidden and uncrowded seashores and hovering peaks that appear nearly Alpine of their grandeur.
Begin within the japanese metropolis of Iraklio and go instantly south to the traditional Minoan Palace of Knossos. Get misplaced inside this sprawling advanced the place the hyperlinks to the previous are tangible. Drive west to the holy web site of Moni Arkadiou, a Sixteenth-century monastery that embodies the indomitable Cretan spirit. Right here you’ll be able to perceive how invaders from the Romans to the Turks to the Nazis, with dozens extra in between, discovered their desires of conquest shattered by the island’s fiercely impartial spirit.
Drive by way of the sheer cliffs, excessive mountain passes and deep gorges right down to the south coast, the place the seaside city of Sougia stays untouched by mass tourism. Get a ferry or take a hike to historical websites and much more distant seashores.
Lastly, head north to Hania, the evocative port city that oozes historical past inside its Venetian-era partitions.
Planning Tip: Distances on Crete might be deceiving. That seemingly brief 60km (37-mile) jaunt from the touristy north to the untrammeled south will take for much longer than you may anticipate. Roads curve sharply by way of the deeply eroded panorama, and the going might be very sluggish. And don’t anticipate many roadside indicators to supply steering; Cretans have but to see an indication they didn’t shoot stuffed with holes, an area supply of pleasure and spirit.
Northern wilds
Finest highway journey to get off the crushed path
Thessaloniki–Sithonia; 880km (547 miles)
Greece’s second metropolis, Thessaloniki, is a splendidly under-visited heart for historical past, artwork, nice meals and intoxicating nightlife. Begin right here exploring the nation’s north, which borders a various vary of neighboring international locations and bears the influences of Macedonians, Romans, Byzantines, Slavs, Turks, and lots of extra.
Drive southwest to the fabled peak of Mt Olympus, Greece’s highest. A religious coronary heart of the nation, you’ll be able to drive as much as its loftier elevations and go for hikes, each simple and world-class.
Keep within the mountains as you go west into the Zagorohoria area, which is dotted by tiny villages which have carried on throughout the millennia. Circle again in the direction of Thessaloniki and end your highway journey on the unheralded however unmissable seashores of the Halkidiki Peninsula. Plunge deep into the very southeastern tip of distant Sithonia.
Suggestions for driving in Greece
Though Greece follows EU conventions for driving rules, there are some invaluable issues to recollect as you drive round.
- Highway and directional indicators are solely sporadically offered. After seeing directional indicators for sights and cities on quite a few minor roads, it is simple to get lulled right into a false sense of safety. A significant junction might haven’t any signage and be simply missed, so keep conscious of the place you’re utilizing your mapping app.
- Along with your mapping app, obtain the info for the realm you’ll be exploring upfront in order that simply if you concern you’re misplaced, you gained’t uncover that there’s no cell sign and that now you’re actually misplaced. Cell alerts are sometimes spotty at finest within the countryside.
- In rural areas, most (if not all) fuel (petrol) stations could also be closed on Sundays, so refill on Saturday, assuming there gained’t be one other alternative till Monday.
- When you rent a automotive, reserve far upfront in case you’re touring in summer time, significantly in August. Fleets can get completely booked up, and charges can skyrocket. Word that small native operations can provide each the very best charges and the friendliest service. You could find them utilizing mapping apps. It’s price purchasing round a bit for a rental automotive; don’t simply accept some acquainted worldwide model. And, though technically not required in Greece, convey an Worldwide Driver’s Allow as some small rental companies might ask for one.
