Car Travel in Peloponnese

Northern Peloponnese

The roads are fairly good in the Northern Peloponnese, and driving can be the most enjoyable way to see the region, giving you the freedom to visit the sights at leisure. You can take a bus to Patras or Nafplion and rent a car there, or rent a car at the airport in Athens and head south. The toll highway, known simply as Ethnikos Odos, or National Road, runs from Athens to the Isthmus of Corinth (84 km [52 mi], 1¼ hours), and from there continues (toll only in parts) to Nafplion, Patras, and Olympia; the system is well maintained. Have change ready, as a toll of about EUR 2 is collected intermittently. The highway between Corinth and Patras is two lane for the most part and can be dangerous, with impatient drivers using the two lanes as four lanes. Slow-moving traffic is forced onto the shoulder. No speed limit is enforced, and the asphalt becomes very slippery when wet. The accident rate is high.

An alternative route from Athens to Patras is via Delphi and the Rion-Antirion bridge. Many people also enter the region on the car ferry between Italy (Ancona, Bari, or Brindisi) and Patras.

Southern Peloponnese

Especially off-season, when buses don't run regularly, it's most rewarding to explore this region by car. You can rent a car in Athens or in any of the Peloponnese's bigger towns, such as Kalamata, Tripoli, Gythion, and Sparta.

Even if highways have assigned numbers, no Greek knows them by any other than their informal names, usually linked to their destination. For those traveling on the E92 from Athens to Tripoli, the section of the highway (the Corinth-Tripoli road) now cuts travel time in half, to little more than two hours. From Olympia in the northwest Peloponnese, you may take a smaller local road (74, the Pirgos-Tripoli road). Both approaches have mountainous stretches that occasionally close in winter because of snow, but conditions are otherwise good.