So the reaction basically everyone had when we said we were driving through Greece was “WHAT?! Are you insane?! You’re going to die!!” Admittedly after reading up online about people’s experiences driving there we were pretty apprehensive. But really our only option to see Meteora was to drive out there, so our desire to see this magical place won out over our fears (and common sense).

See the map below for our route, we started at the top left side of mainland Greece, just across the channel from Corfu in Igoumenitsa, then we drove across to the middle of the country to Meteora. Most of this drive was on this very well kept toll-road which was just like driving on a nice American freeway, with virtually no other cars, it was great. Then we turned off onto the mountain roads that took us into Meteora, these roads were less well maintained so we had to dodge some potholes. We ended up getting stuck behind a truck, mainly because we were too scared for our lives to pass it on the blind corners, but he ended up pulling over to let people pass when there was space. So as long as you have some patience that drive was fine.

From Meteora we drove down to Athens. Most of the way was what I would call a county highway, a two to four lane road that wound through the valley. This was a very interesting drive because of the scenery, here is really where we saw the financial collapse, as there were shells of and abandoned buildings everywhere, it was a sad reminder of the struggle this country has been through. The last two hours of the drive coming into Athens was on a nice toll road again, so well-maintained and not very many cars.

Athens was the part we were most nervous about. After all the research we had done we decided it would be best to drive the car straight into Athens and drop it off before heading to our Airbnb there. A little research showed us that there was a drop location right on one of the main roads. This made the journey so much easier, I would definitely recommend looking for a drop location off a main road. We took the freeway into the city, not too bad, there were a lot of cars, but as long as you drove defensively and watched out for motorbikes, it was totally fine. From the freeway we got off onto the main road, again very easy, lots of cars but if you pick a lane and stick in it it was easy. The drop location was on the main road and from looking at the Google street view of the location there didn’t seem to be a parking lot, so we drove it up onto the sidewalk in front of the shop and left it there for them to deal with, again super easy (and this obviously happens all the time because the guys in the store didn’t seem to mind we were on the sidewalk lol).

All in all in you’re on the fence about driving in Greece I would say do it, but pick your route carefully. Below are a few tips that will make your experience as good as ours was.

(Disclosure: My amazing friend Molly did most of the driving, as we have discovered I am much better at navigating than driving in foreign countries, so some of these tips are straight from her mouth, not mine)

 

Tips and tricks for driving in Greece:

1. Be prepared to spend a LOT of money if you’re not returning the car to the same place – we were shocked at how expensive it was to rent a car one way. Apparently, unlike the US where there is a big pool of cars, they actually send someone down to pick up the car and drive it back to the original location. This racks up quite a hefty fee. All in all I would say driving is definitely worth it, we got to see things as we pleased, and got to see a lot more than if we’d taken the train or flown. Just set your expectation correctly and you’ll be fine.
2. The hard shoulder is a lane – and your new friend, use it to pull into and let faster cars go by, or else they will ride your tail and honk vigorously at you, which is stressful. Once we learned the hard shoulder trick we had a much more pleasant experience
3. If you’re driving in Athens stick to the main roads/freeways – I can’t imagine trying to squeeze a car through those tiny little confusing streets. Stick to the main ones and you’ll be fine
4. Use the toll roads – For the $20 we spent it was welllll worth it! These roads were new, beautifully maintained and pretty much empty, which made the drive very enjoyable
5. On mountain roads be prepared to get stuck behind a truck, or several – in this case you’ll just have to wait it out, some of the locals passed the truck, but there were so many blind corners we just held in there until he pulled off to let some people by, definitely the safest option (you’re welcome Mom)
6. Get the GPS – yes I know, it’s extra, but our phones cut out in certain places, so we were glad, especially on the little mountain roads, for the GPS.