Cars in Greece & the islands

Many tourists travel to Greece by car, either by ferry from Italy and Turkey or through the northern borders of Greece with the other Balkan countries. In particular, ferry routes that also serve cars in Greece are from Patras and Igoumenitsa, two ports in western Greece, to Ancona, Bari, Brindisi, and Venice in Italy. View schedules of ferries from Italy.
This section provides information about cars in Greece: Rentals and road network

Car rentals

Very frequently, tourists also rent a car to travel around the country or explore the Greek islands they visit. There are many car rentals agencies in Greece, in every city, touristy location and Greek islands. They serve millions of tourists every year and car rental prices can be very economical in the low season.
Need to rent a car? Visit our section about car rentals.

The road network

The road network in Greece covers 117,000 kilometres in total (mainland and islands). Roads in the mainland of Greece are modern and newly constructed on a large scale. The main highway of Greece is E75 Athens-Thessaloniki.

A large highway, Egnatia Odos, was also recently finished, crossing all Northern Greece and connecting the port of Igoumenitsa to Alexandroupoli, a town close to the borders between Greece and Turkey. This highway has given a large burst to trade and tourism in northern Greece.

Other highways construction in Greece were also finished over the last years, including the road from Corinth to Patras, from Tripoli to Patras, from Patras to Ioannina and from Chania to Agios Nikolaos in Crete.

While driving on the Greek highways, have in mind that you may encounter toll posts. The toll fares vary from 1.5 to 3.5 euros, as each toll post has different fares.

Although the Greek highways are in good condition and easy to travel, have in mind that the roads connecting smaller towns and mountainous villages are pretty narrow (one line per direction) and can be winding.

The roads on the Greek islands are also narrow and winding. Most roads on the island are asphalted but it is not impossible to encounter dirt roads especially roads leading to non-touristic places.

Download road maps