Getting Around Greece

Getting around Greece covers the railway network, the Athens and Thessaloniki metros, the motorways and the Egnatia Odos, KTEL intercity buses, domestic flights, island roads and the long-distance walking trails. The post is one of the Greece Tours on Greece Ville, listed with the other Greek island tours and Athens tours.

This post covers trains, the metros and the tram, motorways, the Rio-Antirrio Bridge, KTEL buses, driving rules, airports and domestic flights, island roads, motorbikes, the long-distance trails, the Odontotos railway and taxis. Common questions come last.

What does getting around Greece involve?

Getting around Greece involves a mix of rail, motorway, bus, metro and tram networks on the mainland, set beside ferries and flights for the islands. This post covers the land networks and leaves the sea and the air to other posts.

Greece reshaped its transport system over the past two decades. Roads, rail, urban transit and airports all improved, while ferries stayed the main link between the islands. Getting around Greece therefore depends on the journey.

Rail is the smaller network. The country holds 2,571 km of track, and 764 km of it is or will be electrified. Standard gauge covers 1,565 km, and narrow gauge covers 961 km.

Two cities run rapid transit systems, Athens with the older metro and Thessaloniki with a newer one. Athens also holds the only tramway, so the capital has the widest mix of urban modes.

Roads form the second backbone. Motorways make up the main road network, and national roads fill the gaps. Intercity buses run on both, so the land networks rest on rail, road and city transit.

• Rail: Hellenic Train operates all the passenger trains on the national network.
• Metro: Greece has two rapid transit systems, one in Athens and one in Thessaloniki.
• Roads: Motorways follow higher construction standards than the national roads do.
• Buses: Companies called KTEL run intercity and regional bus transit.

Each later section takes one of these networks in turn. The ferries, the airports and the island roads belong to other posts, so this post stays with the land networks of getting around Greece.

How did the Greek railway network grow in the story of getting around Greece?

Getting around Greece by rail began as a plan in 1835 for a line from Athens to Piraeus, and the network grew from the 1880s to the 1920s until it reached its heyday in 1940. Decline followed from the 1950s.

Greek independence in 1832 coincided with the start of the railway era. A contract for the Athens to Piraeus line was signed in 1857, and four companies then needed twelve more years to finish it.

In 1881 the prime minister Koumoundouros signed four standard gauge contracts, hoping to make Greece a pivot between Europe, India and Asia. His successor Trikoupis cancelled them in 1882 and wrote four of his own.

Trikoupis proposed a 417 km narrow gauge system around the northern Peloponnese, a Thessaly system and a line to Lavrio. The Athens to Larissa line stayed standard gauge, which pulled getting around Greece by rail northwards.

By 1909 the network held 1,606 km of track. The first trains ran the full 506 km from Athens to Thessaloniki on standard gauge in 1918, once the line lay wholly on Greek territory.

• Diolkos: A paved trackway near Corinth moved boats overland, and one historian counts it as the first railway.
• Gauges: Standard gauge of 1,435 mm and narrow gauge of 1,000 mm both entered the network.
• Decline: Service cuts in 2011 followed the debt crisis.
• Reform: Greek Railways formed after the Tempi accident of February 2023, in which 57 people died.

Hellenic Train now runs the passenger services. The network stays smaller than at its peak, so getting around Greece by train works best on the main lines described next.

Which lines form the railway network in Greece today for getting around Greece?

Getting around Greece by rail today rests on three main lines: Piraeus to Platy with its branches to Thessaloniki, the Athens Airport to Patras line, and the Thessaloniki to Alexandroupolis line. Secondary lines branch off these three trunks.

The Piraeus to Platy line is the busiest passenger and freight line. It is electrified and double-tracked, and it serves Thebes, Lamia, Larissa, Katerini and Thessaloniki, so it anchors getting around Greece by rail.

The Athens Airport to Patras line is double-tracked throughout and electrified as far as Kiato. It crosses west Attica and the north coast of the Peloponnese, passing Eleusis, Megara, Corinth and Aigio.

The Thessaloniki to Alexandroupolis line is the second longest in the country, with a single track and no electrification. The Drama to Alexandroupolis section has stayed largely unused since 2019 because of poor track.

The metre gauge network of the Peloponnese has stayed largely unused since 2011. It once ran from Corinth to Kalamata through Argos, with a branch to Nafplio. The Nafplio day trip post covers the town itself.

• Svilengrad: The Alexandroupolis to Svilengrad line runs beside the Evros River and the Turkish border.
• Idomeni: The Thessaloniki to Idomeni line links Greece with the wider European network and carries only freight.
• Katakolo: The Katakolo to Olympia line remains in operation as a local and tourist service.
• Egnatia Railway: A planned line will link Alexandroupolis with Igoumenitsa across the north.

These lines show that getting around Greece by train centres on the Piraeus to Platy axis, while the secondary lines serve narrower corridors.

How does the Athens Metro serve getting around Greece through its capital?

Getting around Greece through Athens relies on the Athens Metro, a system of three lines that totals 91.7 km with 66 stations. Line 1 is green, Line 2 is red and Line 3 is blue, and all three meet at interchange stations.

Until 28 January 2000, Line 1 was the only rapid transit line in Athens. It runs mostly overground, with an underground section between Monastiraki and Attiki, and it grew out of a steam railway.

Attiko Metro built Lines 2 and 3 underground to ease congestion and improve air quality. Line 2 runs for 18.7 km, while Line 3 runs for 47.3 km and carries airport trains.

Law 3920 of 2011 consolidated the operators under STASY, which owns and operates 62 of the 66 stations. The airport station belongs to the airport operator, and three stations belong to GAIAOSE.

Archaeological teams worked ahead of the engineers for six years and recorded streets, houses and wells. Finds or replicas appear at stations such as Monastiraki and Syntagma, so getting around Greece doubles as a museum visit.

• Line 1: The green line began as a steam railway before electric trains replaced it.
• Line 2: The red line is entirely underground.
• Line 3: The blue line is mostly underground, and its airport trains switch to overhead wires.
• Line 4: A new line is under construction, and extensions of existing lines are under development.

The metro links with buses, trolleybuses, the tram and the suburban railway. That mesh turns the rail system into the spine of getting around Greece in the capital.

How do the Athens tram and the suburban railway join the network for getting around Greece?

Getting around Greece through the capital also uses the Athens Tram, opened in 2004 along the coast, and the Athens Suburban Railway, a commuter service linking Athens with Piraeus, the airport and towns beyond, and both connect with the metro.

Athens began with horse tramways in 1882, and the metre gauge network was electrified after 1908. A separate standard gauge tram ran from the harbour of Piraeus to Perama under the Hellenic Electric Railways.

The modern tram opened on 19 July 2004. Tram S.A. had been set up in March 2001 as a subsidiary of Attiko Metro. The line added a coastal layer to getting around Greece.

The new tram opened with five lines named after ancient Greeks: Aristophanes, Aeschylus, Thucydides, Aristotle and Plato. Lines 6 and 7 replaced the later lines in December 2021, and the tram reaches the coast from Syntagma.

The suburban railway began as Proastiakos SA in 2003, a subsidiary of OSE created for the Olympic Games. Its first line linked central Athens with the airport on 30 July 2004. Electrification finished in 2018.

• Tram operator: STASY took over the tram from Tram S.A. in June 2011.
• Line A1: This line runs between Piraeus and Athens Airport.
• Lines A3 and A4: Line A3 runs between Athens and Chalcis, and Line A4 runs between Piraeus and Kiato.
• Network: The suburban railway has 45 stations and runs under Hellenic Train.

Together the tram and the suburban railway carry the metro grid out to the coast and the plain. Both belong to the urban part of getting around Greece.

How does the Thessaloniki Metro fit into getting around Greece?

Getting around Greece in the north includes the Thessaloniki Metro, the second rapid transit system in the country, which grew out of a plan drawn up in 1918 and opened only after decades of delay, while a regional railway links the wider region.

Ernest Hébrard and Thomas Hayton Mawson first proposed an underground railway in 1918, when a commission was redesigning the city after the Great Fire of 1917. Work began in 1989 on a cut-and-cover tunnel.

The unfinished excavation along Egnatia Street became known as the hole of Kouvelas, after the mayor who launched it. A consortium named Makedoniko Metro was appointed in 1994, and the government annulled the appointment in 1996.

The government tendered the metro as a public work in September 2003. Funds came from the Greek state, a regional development fund and European Investment Bank loans. A Greco-Italian consortium was appointed on 7 April 2006.

For getting around Greece beyond the city, the Thessaloniki Regional Railway runs three lines. Line 1 goes to Katerini and Larissa, Line 2 to Edessa and Florina, and Line 3 to Serres and Drama.

• Operator: Thessaloniki Metro Automatic, a Franco-Italian consortium known as THEMA, runs the metro.
• Builder: Elliniko Metro oversaw the construction, as it did for the Athens Metro and the Athens Tram.
• Formal name: The system is sometimes called the Thessaloniki Metropolitan Railway.
• Extension: A northwest extension of Line 1 is planned past Stavroupoli and Evosmos to the hospitals.

The metro and the regional railway meet at the main station area. Together they give the second city a rail frame inside getting around Greece.

How do the Greek motorways form a national road network for getting around Greece?

Getting around Greece by car relies on a motorway network of about 2,528 km, the largest in Southeastern Europe. Motorways take the letter A and a number, and the six main routes cross the mainland through about 150 tunnels.

National roads carry the prefix EO, while motorways carry the letter A. Main motorways have one digit and branch motorways two or three, such as A25. Motorways hold green signs, and national roads mostly blue ones.

Odd-numbered motorways run north to south, and even-numbered ones run east to west, though exceptions exist. The A1 links Athens, Thessaloniki and the Evzonoi border crossing over about 550 km.

The A3 joins the A1 near Lamia with the A2 near Grevena. The A5 runs down the west coast from Ioannina to Pyrgos, so getting around Greece in the west follows it.

In the south the A7, the Morea Motorway, links Corinth with Tripoli and Kalamata, and the A8, the Olympia Odos, runs from Elefsina to Patras. The A6 forms the Attiki Odos ring road of Athens.

• Tolls: Motorways are the only toll roads in Greece, with one exception.
• Lanes: A typical motorway has two or three lanes and an emergency lane in each direction.
• Junctions: Entry and exit happen only at grade-separated interchanges, and the roads have no traffic lights.
• Expressways: This term names a standard between motorways and national roads, with a paved verge but no emergency lane.

National roads form the second layer of getting around Greece. They range from fast multi-lane dual carriageways to twisting two-lane roads, and the numbers run from EO1 to EO99 in a non-continuous series.

What is the Egnatia Odos in getting around Greece?

Getting around Greece across the north relies on the Egnatia Odos, the A2 motorway, which is the longest motorway in the country. It runs from the port of Igoumenitsa to the Kipoi border crossing with Turkey and forms part of European route E90.

The name recalls the Roman Via Egnatia. About 360 km of the modern road, from Evros to Thessaloniki, parallels the ancient route, although the original road ran much further north from Thessaloniki to the Adriatic coast.

Of the whole route, 94 km existed as parts of other motorways before the official project began. Builders added 393 km between 1997 and 2004, and a final bridge opened in 2014.

On the Pindos stretch from Grevena to Ioannina, concern for the habitat of the endangered brown bear delayed work until a new routing was proposed in 2003. That stretch was finished by April 2009.

The A2 links the ports of Igoumenitsa, Thessaloniki, Kavala and Alexandroupolis. It also links the airports of Ioannina, Kastoria, Kozani, Thessaloniki and Kavala, making it the main axis of getting around Greece in the north.

• Lanes: The road has two traffic lanes per direction, a central reserve and an emergency lane on the right.
• Monitoring: SCADA controls run the lighting and tunnel ventilation, alongside electronic surveillance.
• Population: The regional units it serves hold 36 percent of the population of Greece.
• Branches: The A24 serves Chalkidiki, the A25 runs to Promachonas, and the A29 reaches Krystallopigi.

Auxiliary routes also run north from the main line to the neighbouring countries. They tie the Egnatia Odos into the wider pattern of getting around Greece and the Balkans.

How do the Rio-Antirrio Bridge and the Corinth Canal shape crossings in getting around Greece?

Getting around Greece on the mainland depends on crossings at the water gaps. The Rio-Antirrio Bridge carries the road across the Rion Strait, the Corinth Canal cuts the Isthmus of Corinth, and the Aktio-Preveza tunnel passes beneath the Ambracian Gulf.

A French and Greek consortium led by Vinci built the Rio-Antirrio Bridge and operates it under a concession. Jacks and dampers join the deck to the pylons, so the structure absorbs earthquake movement.

The Corinth Canal spares ships a 700 km journey around the Peloponnese. A railway, a road and a motorway cross it at about 45 m, and submersible bridges at each end add sea-level crossings.

The modern canal follows the course of the cutting that Nero began. It closed after a landslide in 2021 and reopened on 1 June 2023. The Corinth Canal tour post covers the cutting itself.

Completed in 2002, the Aktio-Preveza tunnel is the only undersea tunnel in Greece. It runs 1,570 m between Preveza and the cape of Aktio, a link that replaced the ferry in getting around Greece.

• Monitoring: More than 100 sensors give round-the-clock surveillance of wind, tremors, cable strain and deck temperature on the bridge.
• Wind: Aerodynamic fairings on the deck and spiral strakes on the cables protect the bridge against high winds.
• Harbours: The submersible bridges lie at the eastern harbour of Isthmia and the western harbour of Poseidonia.
• Tunnel toll: It is the only toll road in Greece that is not a motorway.

These three crossings remove detours of land and sea. They show how getting around Greece by road depends on engineering at narrow points of land and water.

How does the KTEL network of intercity buses work in getting around Greece?

Getting around Greece by coach depends on KTEL, the common name for the companies that run intercity and regional bus transit. Each regional unit has its own network, and the vehicles carry the name of the local company, such as KTEL Argolidas.

Intercity bus travel became important in the post-war years because the railway network was underdeveloped. That history explains the continuing weight of the bus in getting around Greece.

Four major terminals anchor the network. The biggest stands in Thessaloniki, the Macedonia intercity terminal, and it serves all of Greece. Athens has two terminals, Kifissos and Liosion, which serve different parts of the country.

Kifissos lies in Peristeri towards Kifissou Avenue. Its routes for getting around Greece run to the Peloponnese, Epirus, Macedonia and the Ionian islands. Liosion handles the routes to Thessaly and Central Greece.

Outside Athens and Thessaloniki, companies named Astiko KTEL run the city buses in other cities. Athens and Thessaloniki have their own authorities for urban buses, called OASA and OASTH.

• Kifissos: Only KTEL buses use this station, the second largest bus terminal in Greece.
• Ticketing: The station holds 63 ticket offices and serves around 12 million passengers a year.
• Growth: Routes increased by 30 percent after the Ionia Odos and Olympia Odos motorways opened.
• Patras: A new terminal at Agios Dionyssios, close to the old one, was under construction to replace it.

The terminals link the capital to the regions and to the motorway axes. Coaches therefore connect the places that rail and urban transit leave out in getting around Greece.

How do the Athens buses and trolleybuses belong to the urban network of getting around Greece?

Getting around Greece through Athens uses buses, trolleybuses and battery electric buses that share one payment system with the metro and tram. Contactless bank cards and mobile payments work on all of these modes across the urban area.

OSY runs the bus network, which holds buses with combustion engines, trolleybuses and battery electric buses. OSY and the rail firm STASY form the two operating arms of the Athens transport authority, known as OASA.

The two arms formed in 2011 under Law 3920. ETHEL absorbed ILPAP and became OSY, while AMEL absorbed ISAP and Tram S.A. and became STASY. Trolleybuses run from depots such as Kokkinos Mylos and Rouf.

Payment changed in stages. Fare collectors vanished in the 1980s, and validation machines with paper tickets followed. The ATH.ENA ticket and card replaced single-use paper tickets in 2017, and tap2ride later spread to every mode.

Validation happens on entry in buses, trolleybuses and trams. Metro and suburban stations use turnstiles instead. This shared system makes getting around Greece in the capital a matter of one card across all vehicles.

• Metro depots: Eirini, Piraeus and Thisseio serve Line 1, while Sepolia, Stavros and Eleonas serve Lines 2 and 3.
• Tram depot: The tram has its depot at Elliniko.
• Thessaloniki: OASTH organises the buses in the second city.
• Airport buses: Tap2ride started as a pilot on the airport express buses.

The Athens hop-on hop-off post covers the sightseeing bus route in the city. The ordinary buses described here remain the daily layer of getting around Greece for residents.

Which traffic rules govern driving when getting around Greece?

Getting around Greece by road follows top speed limits of 130 km/h on motorways, 110 km/h on expressways and 90 km/h on national roads. Road signs follow the Greek Highway Code, and the Hellenic Police enforce the traffic laws.

Signs follow European conventions for shape and colour. Warning signs are triangles with a red border and a yellow background. Prohibitory signs are round with a red border, and mandatory signs have a blue background.

Text appears in Greek and Latin script. National roads are the only main roads that allow slow-moving and non-motor traffic, such as bicycles. That mix makes getting around Greece on them differ from the motorways.

Number plates carry three letters and four digits in black on white. A blue strip with the code GR and the flag of Europe was added in 2004. The first letters show the district.

The Hellenic Police handle traffic control, the enforcement of traffic laws and accident investigation. The state took over road signing in 1957 from ELPA, which had put up the first modern signs in 1924.

• Warning signs: They are triangular, with black pictograms on a yellow field.
• Prohibitions: Round signs with a red border and a white background forbid an action.
• Mandatory signs: Round blue signs with white pictograms give orders.
• Plates: Special plates also exist, such as those for the Allied Forces in Greece.

These rules apply to every road in the networks above. Drivers who know the sign shapes and speed classes can follow the pattern of getting around Greece on unfamiliar roads.

How are the islands linked to the mainland by air and road in getting around Greece?

Getting around Greece by air and road links the mainland to the islands through airports, subsidised routes and island roads. Ferries remain the prominent link between the islands, so flights and local transport fill the gaps that the sea routes leave.

Greece is divided into 13 regions, including nine on the mainland and four island groups. Each island group needs its own link to the mainland, and the air network supplies one for getting around Greece.

European Union law defines a public service obligation as a subsidy offered at auction. The winning company must run a set transport service for a set period, since the route cannot pay for itself.

Air routes between the Greek mainland and the Greek islands are a named example of this tool. The tender is open to any operator registered in the EU and can fix the timing of services.

A survey of the transport system notes that ferry transport remains the prominent method of travel between the islands. Roads, urban transport and airports complete the chain of getting around Greece.

• Regions: Four of the 13 regions of Greece are island groups.
• Subsidy: A public service obligation pays an operator to run a route that no market supports alone.
• Contract: The tender can set the type and size of vehicle and the timing of services.
• Ferries: Ferry transport remains the prominent link between the islands.

Together these tools tie the islands to Athens and Thessaloniki. The sections that follow describe the airports, the airlines and the roads on the islands in turn.

What is Athens International Airport in getting around Greece?

Getting around Greece by air starts at Athens International Airport, named after Eleftherios Venizelos, which is the largest airport in the country and the main base of Aegean Airlines. International flights meet the domestic services to the islands there.

Two terminals make up the airport: a main terminal and a satellite terminal reached by an underground link. The main terminal has three levels, one for arrivals, one for departures and one for a food court.

All 153 check-in desks of the airport stand in the main terminal. Fourteen jet bridges and eleven belt conveyors for luggage serve the building, which also holds the two halls described below.

Hall B of the main terminal handles flights within the Schengen area as well as domestic services. Hall A takes flights to countries outside that area, so domestic flights for getting around Greece use Hall B.

The design is modular and grows in six phases. The first phase fits 26 million passengers a year, the sixth will fit 50 million, and the layout leaves room for five more terminals.

• Buses: Transport for Athens bus lines connect the airport directly with the greater Athens area.
• Regional buses: KTEL Express buses link the airport to Rafina, Markopoulo, Lavrio, Kalyvia and Keratea.
• Taxis: A designated taxi waiting area stands at exit 3 of the arrivals level.
• Rank: The airport is the 15th-busiest in Europe.

The Athens airport transfer post covers the road, rail and metro links between the terminal and the city. Those links carry getting around Greece from the hub into Athens.

How does the network of regional airports work in getting around Greece?

Getting around Greece by regional airport depends on a chain of small fields under the Hellenic Civil Aviation Authority, which handles air traffic control and airport operations. The chain carries flights from the hubs to the islands and the smaller cities.

The Hellenic Civil Aviation Authority is a department of the Greek government under the ministry for infrastructure and transport. Its duties include air traffic control, aeronautical communications, airport operations and aircraft registration.

Radar stations of the authority stand at Ymittos near Athens, on Mount Pilion, on Lefkada, on Kythira and on Crete. Remote radio stations add links at sites such as Thassos Island, Sitia and the Geraneia Mountains.

Skiathos shows a small field at work in getting around Greece. Its runway is 1,628 metres long, short and narrow, and the airport can handle aircraft as large as a Boeing 757-200.

Chania and Heraklion share their fields with the air force. Chania is a joint civil and military airport, and Heraklion is a shared civil and military facility. The Hellenic Air Force also uses Chania as an airfield.

• Authority: The Hellenic Civil Aviation Authority is based at Glyfada, near the old Ellinikon airport.
• Radar: Its primary radar station stands at Ymittos near Athens.
• Skiathos: The runway sits on land reclaimed from the sea beside the island of Lazareta.
• Chania: The airport lies near Souda Bay on the Akrotiri peninsula.

Each of these fields adds a landing point to the map, and the small ones tie remote islands to the hubs. The next section turns to the airlines that fly this network of getting around Greece.

How did Olympic Airways and Aegean Airlines shape domestic flying in getting around Greece?

Getting around Greece by plane took shape under Olympic Airways, renamed in 1957 when Aristotle Onassis owned the airline, and later under Aegean Airlines, founded in 1995, which succeeded Olympic as the flag carrier and took over its routes.

Icarus, the first predecessor airline, was founded in 1930 and went bankrupt within months. In 1951 the state merged the surviving airlines into TAE Greek National Airlines, which flew Douglas DC-3 airliners on domestic routes.

In 1956 the state agreed a sale of the airline to the shipping magnate Aristotle Onassis. On 6 April 1957 the company became Olympic Airways, and free DC-3 flights won the trust of a doubtful public.

In 1971 Olympic created a subsidiary, Olympic Aviation, to serve the islands more economically. Short Skyvan utility airliners, small twin-engined turbo-propeller aircraft, flew the routes to smaller Greek airports.

Olympic Airlines ceased all operations on 31 December 2009. Olympic Air, the new airline formed from the privatisation, took over the flying, and the subsidised routes for getting around Greece passed to other carriers.

Aegean made its first commercial flights in 1999, from Athens to Heraklion and Thessaloniki. In 2011 the European Commission blocked a merger of the two carriers, citing a combined share above 90% of the domestic market.

• Alliance: Aegean joined Star Alliance on 30 June 2010.
• Approval: The European Commission approved the acquisition of Olympic Air on 9 October 2013.
• Takeover: On 1 February 2014 Aegean took over every route that Olympic Air flew outside the public service obligation.
• Brands: Both carriers continue to operate under separate brands.

The two airlines now share the domestic market in a pattern that began with a single state carrier. That history explains the shape of getting around Greece by plane.

Which islands hold the busiest domestic air routes in getting around Greece?

Getting around Greece by domestic flight centres on Crete, Rhodes, Corfu and the Cyclades, where the airports of Heraklion, Chania, Rhodes, Santorini and Mykonos handle the traffic. Heraklion ranks second in the country, behind Athens, and Rhodes ranks fourth.

Heraklion International Airport, named after Nikos Kazantzakis, is the primary airport on Crete and the second busiest in Greece after Athens. It is a shared civil and military facility.

Chania International Airport serves western Crete and is the sixth-busiest airport in Greece. Its terminal, ready in 1996, covers 14,650 square metres and has a design capacity of 1.35 million passengers a year.

Rhodes International Airport lies on the west side of the island near the village of Paradeisi. It was the fourth busiest airport in Greece as of 2019, and its single runway is 3,305 metres long.

Thessaloniki Airport opened in 1930 and is the main airport of Northern Greece. Two terminals stand in a T-shape, with two runways and 22 stands for narrow-body aircraft.

In the Cyclades, getting around Greece by plane runs through Mykonos Airport, which lies 4 kilometres from the town and serves domestic and European destinations. Santorini is among the Cyclades islands with a major airport.

• Hubs: Olympic Airlines kept hubs at Thessaloniki, Heraklion and Rhodes.
• Corfu: The airport, named after Ioannis Kapodistrias, serves scheduled and charter flights from European cities.
• Chania: The airport bears the name of Daskalogiannis, a Cretan rebel against Ottoman rule.
• Rhodes: The apron holds up to 20 aircraft of reference category C or smaller at once.

These airports mark the points where getting around Greece by plane meets the road and the sea. Beyond the runway, the next sections follow the roads and buses of the islands.

How do island roads and local buses serve a small Greek island in getting around Greece?

Getting around Greece on a small island rests on short roads, seasonal buses and local rules. Hydra shows the extreme case, because cars and motorcycles are banned there by law and horses, mules and donkeys carry the loads.

Rubbish trucks are the only motor vehicles on Hydra, since cars and motorcycles are not allowed there. Horses, mules, donkeys and water taxis provide public transport, and the inhabited area is so compact that people walk.

Athenians who visit Hydra drive to Metochi on the Peloponnese coast and leave the car in a secure car park. A passenger ferry then crosses to the island harbour.

Mykonos runs transit buses between the airport and the town of Mykonos, called Chora, and to other destinations, but only during the summer season. Off the peak season the airport has limited flight connections.

Skiathos Airport is reached by the Skiathos ring road or the coast road. The island has only one set of traffic lights, at the southern end of the runway, placed there to prevent jet blast accidents.

A road can give way to a cable. The Santorini cable car joins the Old Port of Gialos to Fira and took over from a walk up roughly 600 steep steps or a ride on mules in getting around Greece.

• Hydra: By law cars and motorcycles are not allowed on the island.
• Metochi: The car park on the Peloponnese coast is secure, and the crossing is by passenger ferry.
• Mykonos: Buses to the town run during the summer season only.
• Skiathos: The airport lies 4.5 km from the town.

The Fira to Oia hike post covers the walking route between the two Santorini towns. That route shows how a path replaces a road in getting around Greece on an island.

How is the road network of Crete laid out in getting around Greece?

Getting around Greece on Crete follows the A90, the Northern Road Axis of Crete, which runs about 310 km along the north coast from Kissamos to Sitia and forms the backbone of the island road network, with ports and airports along it.

The A90 mixes motorway with limited-access roads. It has three motorway sections that bypass Chania, Rethymno and Heraklion, and the rest of the route stays a trunk road.

By 2019 only 51 km had been upgraded to four lanes with an emergency lane and a median strip. That meant 9 km around Chania, 7 km around Rethymno and 35 km in Heraklion prefecture.

The road follows the old National Road 90, built in the late 1960s. Speed limits do not exceed 90 km/h, except on the Gournes to Hersonissos section, where a viaduct crosses the Aposelemi Gorge.

Median strips cut the death toll on one stretch, from 23 deaths in the years 1999 to 2001 to 2 in the years 2002 to 2005. That stretch ran from Linoperama to Giofyros.

For buses on Crete, KTEL is the common name of every intercity and regional company, and each prefecture has its own network. Crete has no railway lines, but a line is planned from Chania to Heraklion.

• Ports: The A90 connects to the ports of Kavonisi, Kissamos, Chania, Rethymno, Heraklion, Agios Nikolaos and Sitia.
• Airports: It connects to the airports of Chania, Heraklion and Sitia, and a link will join the new Kasteli airport.
• Tunnel: A study proposes a 15.7 km road section between Agia Varvara and Agia Deka in central Crete.
• Concession: The Heraklion to Chania sector was contracted as a 35-year concession.

The A90 forms the northern backbone of the national highway network in Crete. That layout shapes every journey in getting around Greece on Crete.

How do motorbikes, quad bikes and scooters fit the island rules in getting around Greece?

Getting around Greece on a motorbike, quad bike or scooter depends on licence law and vehicle class. A driving licence is required for every type of motorised vehicle, and the classes differ by engine size and by the age of the rider.

A moped is a small, inexpensive motorcycle with a less stringent licensing requirement than full motorcycles or cars. The word once meant a motorcycle with bicycle pedals, and a Swedish journalist coined it in 1952.

A moped is any motorcycle with an engine capacity below 120 cc, with 50 cc or lower the common size. Countries separate mopeds of 49 cc from larger scooter type motorcycles.

A quad bike is a four-wheeled all-terrain vehicle. It runs on low-pressure tyres, has a seat that the rider straddles and has handlebars like a motorcycle, and the extra wheels add stability at slow speeds.

For getting around Greece, foreign drivers from non-EU countries need an International Driving Permit, apart from the countries that hold mutual recognition agreements with Greece or the EU.

• Moped: The term comes from the Swedish words motor and pedaler.
• Quad: The name quad applies to an all-terrain vehicle with four wheels.
• Recognition: Switzerland, Albania, the United States, Canada, Australia and Japan appear on the list of recognised licences.
• Digital licence: Greece offers a digital wallet app, but the digital versions are valid only within Greece.

The same machines face different rules from island to island, so getting around Greece on two or four small wheels starts with the local ban or permit.

What are the long-distance walking trails of Greece, such as the E4 path, in getting around Greece?

Getting around Greece on foot follows long-distance trails such as the E4 path, a route of more than 10,000 km that starts in Portugal, crosses Greece and visits Crete before it ends in Cyprus, with the Peloponnese stage supplied every night.

The E4 starts at Cabo de San Vicente in Portugal, passes through Spain, France, Switzerland, Germany, Austria, Hungary, Romania, Bulgaria and Greece, and ends in Cyprus. It also visits the Greek island of Crete.

Marking along the route from the Bulgarian border to the foot of the Peloponnese can be inadequate. Current local information is therefore sought wherever possible before a walker sets out on that stretch.

Accommodation for getting around Greece on foot is not available every night. Walkers carry lightweight camping or bivouac gear and a supply of food for days at a time, except on the Peloponnese stage.

The Peloponnese stage offers board and lodging every night. Snow can lie above 1,600 to 1,800 m and on north-facing slopes into late spring, so the higher sections open later in the year.

The Cicerone book Trekking in Greece: The Peloponnese and Pindos Way, by Tim Salmon and Michael Cullen, appeared in 2018. On Mount Olympus the path E4 passes the Kalyva tou Christaki refuge at 2,430 m.

• Length: The whole E4 runs more than 10,000 km.
• Gaps: The route through Romania and part of Bulgaria is not yet completely defined.
• Refuge: The Kalyva tou Christaki refuge offers beds only and shelter from bad weather.
• Book: The Cicerone volume covers the Peloponnese and the Pindos Way.

These trails turn getting around Greece into a walk between villages and refuges. Supplies, shelter and local advice decide how far a walker can go between one village and the next.

How does the Odontotos rack railway climb the Vouraikos gorge in getting around Greece?

Getting around Greece by rack railway means the Odontotos, a historic line that climbs from sea level to 720 m through the Vouraikos gorge. The line counts as the steepest railway in Greece, and toothed rails carry the trains over the steepest sections.

A French company, ATON, built the line with the help of Italian craftsmen who had gained experience on similar projects in the Alps. It was one of the hardest projects of its time.

The line opened as a branch of the Piraeus, Athens and Peloponnese Railways, known as SPAP. Charilaos Trikoupis authorised the work as part of a plan to connect all of Greece by rail.

The railway is a single line with passing loops at Niamata, Triklia, Zachlorou and Kerpini. It climbs 22.3 km from sea level to 720 m, and bridges cross the Vouraikos River.

Six steam locomotives were built for the line that serves getting around Greece. Later the plan to electrify it was cancelled, and a power car with a diesel generator was placed between the two cars of each set.

That makeshift solution worked very well for decades. Today Hellenic Train operates the passenger trains, and the line joins the standard-gauge Athens Airport to Patras railway at Diakopto.

• Builder: The French company ATON built the line.
• Owner: The line is a branch built for SPAP and later passed to the state.
• Loops: Passing loops stand at four places on the single track.
• Link: At Diakopto the line meets the new Athens Airport to Patras railway.

The Kalavryta tour post covers the town at the top of the line and the sights around it. The railway remains a rare case of getting around Greece by cog.

How do taxis fit into getting around Greece?

Getting around Greece by taxi means point-to-point travel in a vehicle for hire, with ranks at airports and on islands where bus services run only in summer or not at all. The taxi fills the gaps between ports, airports and villages.

A taxi, also called a taxicab or cab, is a vehicle for hire that carries passengers point to point on an exclusive, non-shared basis. Methods of regulation and payment differ from country to country.

Hackney carriages are licensed for hailing, while private hire vehicles and limousines are licensed for pre-booking only. App-based ridesharing services offer similar travel but are regulated separately from taxis.

The word taxicab is a contraction of taximeter and cabriolet. The taxicabs of Paris were equipped with the first meters beginning on 9 March 1898, and they were first called taxametres.

At Skiathos and Mykonos, getting around Greece by taxi means a 24/7 service outside the airport terminal. At Sitia, taxis run to any destination on Crete, and no bus serves the airport.

On Kastellorizo a single summer bus links the airport and the town, and taxis are available as well. Corfu Airport lies 2.7 km from the city, and a taxi covers the distance.

• Athens: Taxis wait at exit 3 of the arrivals level.
• Skiathos: The taxi service is metered and runs 24 hours a day.
• Sitia: Taxis serve any destination on Crete.
• Kastellorizo: Taxis are available beside the summer bus.

Taxis therefore close the last gap in getting around Greece, from the airport door to the hotel door. They also serve the islands where buses run only in summer.

What do travellers ask about getting around Greece?

Getting around Greece raises questions about airports, licences, walking routes and small island fields. The answers below rest on the airport count, the driving licence classes, the E6 path and the opening of Sitia airport, each taken from a saved source text.

What number of airports serves getting around Greece?

Greece counts 16 international airports, 11 military airports and 26 airports of mixed use. Two of the civil airports, those of Athens and Thessaloniki, are the biggest by passenger numbers. The Hellenic Civil Aviation Authority oversees air traffic control and airport operations.

Which licence covers a moped when getting around Greece?

The minimum age for getting around Greece by moped is 16 years for mopeds and low-power motorcycles up to 50 cc. It is 18 years for cars and for motorcycles up to 125 cc, and 20 years for motorcycles or scooters up to 35 kW or 400 cc.

Which long trail crosses northern Greece in getting around Greece?

The E6 path runs from the northwest tip of Finland to Slovenia, and a second section starts again in Greece and finishes in Turkey. The places named on the Greek section are Igoumenitsa, Florina and Alexandroupoli. The Turkish section names the Dardanelles.

How did Sitia airport open for getting around Greece?

Sitia Airport began operations on 7 June 1984 with a test flight of an Olympic Airways Dornier Do-228. It opened officially two days later, and the first flight from Rhodes arrived on 13 June, followed by a flight from Karpathos.

Featured photo: Rakoon, CC0, via Wikimedia Commons.