Easter Return Gridlock Chokes Greek Highways as Hundreds of Thousands Head Back to Athens

08:44 14/4/2026 - Πηγή: iEfimerida

Hundreds of thousands of Greeks returning from the Orthodox Easter holiday brought major highways to a standstill, with authorities deploying additional traffic units as congestion stretched for kilometers across the country's main arterial roads.

The Athens-Corinth national highway bore the worst of the gridlock, with a severe bottleneck running from the Isthmus

of Corinth through Megara and peaking near the coastal town of Kinetta, where motorists were trapped for hours.

The Athens-Lamia route was similarly affected, with heavy traffic between Avlona and Kryoneri slowing the northbound return to a crawl.

Toll data captured the scale of the reverse exodus, showing 61,414 vehicles having re-entered the greater Athens area — 32,948 via the Corinth highway and 28,466 via the Lamia route.

A further 11,516 vehicles crossed toll booths before noon Monday as the final wave of returning residents converged on the capital.

The Hellenic Police remained on heightened operational alert across the national road network. Authorities warned that congestion would worsen through Monday afternoon before easing late into the night.

The return surge follows a record outbound exodus that saw more than 629,000 vehicles leave Athens over the Easter travel period, exceeding last year's total and reflecting the enduring pull of the holiday despite rising travel costs.

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Hundreds of thousands of Greeks returning from the Orthodox Easter holiday brought major highways to a standstill, with authorities deploying additional traffic units as congestion stretched for kilometers across the country's main arterial roads.

The Athens-Corinth national highway bore the worst of the gridlock, with a severe bottleneck running from the Isthmus of Corinth through Megara and peaking near the coastal town of Kinetta, where motorists were trapped for hours.

The Athens-Lamia route was similarly affected, with heavy traffic between Avlona and Kryoneri slowing the northbound return to a crawl.

Toll data captured the scale of the reverse exodus, showing 61,414 vehicles having re-entered the greater Athens area — 32,948 via the Corinth highway and 28,466 via the Lamia route.

A further 11,516 vehicles crossed toll booths before noon Monday as the final wave of returning residents converged on the capital.

The Hellenic Police remained on heightened operational alert across the national road network. Authorities warned that congestion would worsen through Monday afternoon before easing late into the night.

The return surge follows a record outbound exodus that saw more than 629,000 vehicles leave Athens over the Easter travel period, exceeding last year's total and reflecting the enduring pull of the holiday despite rising travel costs.

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