Motorway

The Greek motorways has been restructured and modernized in the last few years but part of it is still being built. Most of it was completed at the end of 2017 so it is very new.

These are the main motorways:

A1 Motorway: Athens to Thessaloniki

This is the oldest and most important motorway in Greece, known as the Aegean motorway. It connects Greeces main cities like Athens and Thessaloniki between them and reaches also Lamia, Volos, Larissa and the northern part of Thessaloniki. The motorway runs from east to west cutting through the countries center and it is about 616 km long (14 of which are also part of the A2). The construction took a lot longer than it should have because of the financial crisis and the works on it lasted from 2008 to 2017. Thanks to this motorway Greece is now connected to the European road E75, connecting Norway to the south of Greece. If you are travelling from Athens to Thessaloniki you will have to drive for 502 km (490 of which will be on the A1) and pay a tall charge of 31,25 €. The price for the petrol to get there should be around 50 €.

A2 Motorway: from Igoumenitsa to turkish border

Officially known as Egnatia Odos, this motorway is located in the northern part of Greece and connects the port of Igoumenitsa to many other cities. It is 680 km long and part of European road E90. This motorway starts in Igoumentisa on the Turkish border and crosses the regions of Epirus, Makedonia and Thrace. The motorway was renewed in 2009 and it is now used by many tourists travelling to Thessaloniki, the second biggest city in Greece after Athens for number of people and economic importance. The toll charge for reaching Thessaloniki is about 9 € while the price for fuel should be around 30 € according to the type of car you are driving.

A3 Motorway: from Lamia to A2 Motorway

(Kentrikis Elladas) is central Greece’s motorway and is still being built in certain areas. It starts in Lamia (A1) and finishes in Grevena where the A2 motorway starts. This motorway is also part of the European road E65 and goes through the villages of Karditsa, Trikala and Kalambaka. The central section between Xyniada and Trikala was only finished and opened on the 22nd of December 2017. In October 2018 the European Union also invested money to finish the southern part of the motorway between Xyniada-Lamia. The toll charge for getting on the motorway is around 6,20 €.

A5 Motorway: from Ioannina to Patrasso

Also known as Ionian road, this motorway starts in Ioannina and finshes in Rio Antirio near Patrasso where it connects to the A8 motorway after having crossed the gulf of Corinth crossing the Rio-Antirio bridge. The road was opened on the 3rd of August 2017. This motorway crosses most of continental Greece and mostly runs by the Ionian sea (from where the road gets its name “Ionia Odos” from). It was the seconds road built to connect the Northern and southern parts of Greece after the A1. It is also part of the E55 and E951 European roads. The tolla charge on this road is about 26,20 €.

A6 Motorway: ring of Athens

Also known as Attiki Odos this motorway is part of the Motorway that run through the metropolitan area of Athens. It has a total length of 65 kilometers (40 miles) but it will be made even longer in the next6 few years reaching a length of 141 km (88 miles). Attiki Odos also has some smaller roads that are part of it like the Aigaleo Beltway (A65) and the Hymettus Beltway that reach the eastern and western parts of Athens. Then there is the A62 road that will take you directly to the international airport of Athens. It is a rather unique motorway as it was built around and partly inside a city that would otherwise have a lot more problems with the traffic coming from the airport and port nearby. The toll charge is paid as soon as you access the motorway and only changes according to the type of vehicle you have. You can pay with cash, e-pass or with credit cards. The price for accessing the motorway with a motorbike is 1,40 € while for accessing it with a car you will pay 2,80 €.

A7 Motorway: from Corinth to Kalamata

The A7 motorway called Moreas Motorway, or Eastern peloponnese road, starts in Corinth (near the junction with the A8 called Olympia Odos) and carries on to Kalamata, going through Tripoli. The A7 was recently modernized and has a length of 205 kilometers (127 miles). The toll charge costs around 8,90 € and the price of fuel for going from the start to the arrival will be around 17 €.

A8 Motorway: from Athens to Patra

Called Olympia Odos this motorway connects Athens to Patrasso in the south-western area of Greece and has a length of 215 km. It starts in Elefsina, at the juncture with the A6 (Attiki Odos), and finishes in Patrasso. The whole motorway was finished in 2017 and when it was restored many new roads, bridges and tunnels were built to reach as many areas a as possible. It still isn’t completely finished and it is considered one of Europe’s biggest projects. The price for accessing it is around 12,40 and if you decide to travel from the start to the end of it you will probably spend around 23 euros in fuel.