This route is recommended to those who are not in a hurry and who share our view that motorway driving is boring and sometimes frustrating, a kind of waste of time. If you are not convinced, yet there is another reason to prefer toll free routes: paying for motorways could be a waste of money too. The toll rates for the Athens-Corinth stretch is 10 euros (price for RVs) for a distance of 46 km. Is this an exaggeration or a joke?
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The route that I propose has the advantage that it does not pass through inhabited areas thereby avoiding traffic signals, pedestrians and congestion; instead for most of its length it runs parallel to the highway. It detaches from it only twice and that’s where the road gets narrower and more winding but nothing to worry about. For those who are in a hurry but think that the fee for Rvs is unfair, there is an alternative. Take the highway for only 15 km (the stretch with the galleries), and pay only € 2.30!
Coming from Corinth to Athens
I take as a starting point the bridge of the Corinth Canal [37.92665,22.99437]. It is easy to reach it from any direction you arrive and moreover it is a kind of ‘obligatory’ tourist stop.
From here, continue towards Athens; right after the channel keep left following the blue sign for “Athina without tolls” and pass under an overpass. You are now on the old national road to Athens with the highway being on your left. After about 2.5km you pass next to the toll station; you have just saved € 4.60.
Continue for approximately 8.5km; then once you’ve passed an unattended railroad crossing, you arrive at the highway entrance of Ag. Theodoroi (picture on the left) where you see a blue and green sign. Here you turn left ( see next photos). If you decide to enter here the highway you will pay € 1.40! Doing this short detour of less than 10km you have already saved € 3.20. Instead we’ll continue on our toll-free route and just before the toll station we keep right following the blue sign for “Athina toll free”.
We continue with the highway running parallel on our left side for about 1,5km; then we arrive at an intersection (picture on the left) where we turn left follow the blue sign for “Athina”. We pass under two overpasses; from now on the highway will run parallel on our right. We follow the road (photo below) for about 7km.
We arrive at the end of the road where we are obliged to turn left, then we turn right to the first intersection and after a while we are at a crossroad (see the left picture below). Here you decide if you want to take the highway avoiding a 7 km stretch of narrow, winding road. In this case, turn right and follow the green signs for Athina. There is no toll entrance; you’ll pay at the exit. If you exit at Megara, you will pay € 2.30, if you continue to the end of the highway instead the cost is € 5.40.
We, however, continue straight on our toll-free road and after 3.5km we pass again under the highway. There we meet the old national road to Megara where we turn left following the blue sign “Megara” (see the right picture below). The sea view is great!
After a drive of 10km, of which the last three on a large and comfortable road, we get to Megara. We proceed for another 4km or so and then immediately after a flyover, we pass again under the highway and the railroad bridge (see photo below). Just after the bridge we leave the old road and turn left, following the signs for RR Station N Peramos.
With the highway on our left we proceed straight for another 5.5km until we reach the intersection of Nea Peramos, where we turn right. We go down for 1km towards the sea and then we turn left to reach the old national road. After 8km we enter the highway (toll free) that will take us to Athens. Other € 5.40 saved!
From Athens to Corinth
In the opposite direction, there are no great differences; for the sake of convenience I give the directions without photographs.
– We left Athens following the signs to the highway for Corinth.
– When approaching the toll stations [38.04341,23.49570], we bear right and turn at the green sign “Nea Peramos no tolls”.
– We pass under the overpass, we turn right and then we continue for about 7km. We see an establishment of Softex on the right, immediately after a gas Cyclon, after which we turn right towards the station RR Station Nea Peramos
– After 1km we come to a big crossroad [38.01898,23.43239], where we turn left for RR Station N. Peramos – Vlychada.
– We follow the road which is parallel to the highway for 5.5km, until it ends on the old national road. There we turn right towards Megara.
– We pass under the highway and after 500 m we see a crossroad where we we turn left, direction Korinthos.
– We remain on the old road for another 13,5km (this stretch is narrow and winding) and then we turn right [37.97535,23.23359], following the signs to the highway
– We bear left to Agioi Theodoroi; we pass under an overpass and after that we see the highway on our left.
– We proceed parallel to the highway for about 10km, until we see a big curve that makes us go under the highway and the railway. After the railway bridge we turn right onto the ramp.
– We proceed straight on until the end of the road, where we are forced to turn left.
– We go down towards the sea until we reach the old road by turning right
– We remain on the old road until the bridge of Corinth.
– That’s it!
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