Easter Exodus Sets New Record as 629,000 Vehicles Leave Athens

08:45 11/4/2026 - Πηγή: iEfimerida

More than 629,000 vehicles have left Athens ahead of Orthodox Easter, surpassing last year's total and confirming the holiday migration as one of the largest on record despite rising travel costs.

Traffic police reported that 79,464 vehicles exited the capital on Good Friday alone between 6 a.m. and 6 p.m., with 43,380 heading south on the Athens-Corinth

highway and 36,084 traveling north on the Athens-Lamia route.

Congestion at key toll points eased by Friday evening after morning delays.

Since the start of the traditional Easter travel period — the Friday before Lazarus Saturday — a cumulative 629,214 vehicles have left the greater Athens area, compared with 616,397 during the equivalent period last year.

The combined Holy Thursday and Good Friday total of 251,255 departing vehicles also exceeded the 234,496 recorded on those two days in 2024.

A final wave of departures is expected early Holy Saturday morning as the last city residents race to reach their destinations before the midnight Resurrection service — the emotional climax of the Orthodox Easter calendar, when congregations spill into church courtyards across the country to receive the Holy Light.

The record exodus underscores the enduring grip of Easter on Greek life.

Despite a 10 percent rise in intercity bus fares and broader cost-of-living pressures, Greeks have shown little willingness to forgo the annual return to ancestral villages — a ritual that effectively empties the capital and turns Athens into one of Europe's quieter major cities for the long weekend.

Orthodox Easter falls on Sunday.

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More than 629,000 vehicles have left Athens ahead of Orthodox Easter, surpassing last year's total and confirming the holiday migration as one of the largest on record despite rising travel costs.

Traffic police reported that 79,464 vehicles exited the capital on Good Friday alone between 6 a.m. and 6 p.m., with 43,380 heading south on the Athens-Corinth highway and 36,084 traveling north on the Athens-Lamia route.

Congestion at key toll points eased by Friday evening after morning delays.

Since the start of the traditional Easter travel period — the Friday before Lazarus Saturday — a cumulative 629,214 vehicles have left the greater Athens area, compared with 616,397 during the equivalent period last year.

The combined Holy Thursday and Good Friday total of 251,255 departing vehicles also exceeded the 234,496 recorded on those two days in 2024.

A final wave of departures is expected early Holy Saturday morning as the last city residents race to reach their destinations before the midnight Resurrection service — the emotional climax of the Orthodox Easter calendar, when congregations spill into church courtyards across the country to receive the Holy Light.

The record exodus underscores the enduring grip of Easter on Greek life.

Despite a 10 percent rise in intercity bus fares and broader cost-of-living pressures, Greeks have shown little willingness to forgo the annual return to ancestral villages — a ritual that effectively empties the capital and turns Athens into one of Europe's quieter major cities for the long weekend.

Orthodox Easter falls on Sunday.

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