If you don’t want to rent a car at the airport; it’s not essential as cars, scooters and bicycles can be rented in Epidavros; we can fetch a maximum of four people with luggage from Venizelos. All we need is advance notice of your flight number and scheduled arrival time. Obviously, if your flight is delayed or cancelled we would appreciate that information too! It’s about a 2 hours drive down to Epidavros, so you can pick up some drinks at arrivals before we set out and we can tell you a little bit about the countryside on the way, if you are interested.

If you do choose to hire a car at the airport, most of the well-known companies have agencies at arrivals. On the other hand, we have experienced better service and rates from a greek company which is just outside the airport called http://www.popscar.gr/ One limitation to be aware of though, they do not have cars with automatic transmission. You will find it useful to have 2 and 2,70 € ready in change as there are 2 stops for tolls on the autoroute between Athens and the exit for Epidavros. The lanes where you pay cash are normally to the right of the bank of toll booths. Choose you lane early and watch out for mavericks! When you leave the airport the first signs to follow are for Athens and then after approx 2 kms the signs for Elefsina. After that looks for signs for Korinthos (Corinth). After approx 70 kms on the autoroute and some 800m after the exit for Loutraki take the exit on the right hand side for Epidavros. The road rises and then drops down again. At the junction turn left, underneath the autoroute, following signs for Poros. This ‘A’ road takes you through some small villages on the Saronic Gulf. Pay attention on the long stretches of road though some of the villages, as there could very well be a policeman with a mobile speed trap. This possibility is advertised by road signs, but there is very little warning. The road outside the villages is largely very winding and not a little hazardous. Those of you with an Anglo-Saxon sense of humour, may be tickled by the signs that warn of ‘Dangerous bents’ along the way!

After approx 32kms is the village of Nea Epidavros, this is not the destination, so drive straight on. After another 5kms at the beginning of Archaia (Palea) Epdavros, there is a taverna and an Avin petrol station. Do not be tempted to take the left turning down to the village and port, but rather continue on another 4kms. At this point you should take a right turn off the road, which is sign-posted Poros. The road drops down and, at the junction at the bottom, again turn left, underneath the road, following signs for Poros.
Continue on about 600m, then you need your wits about you, as this junction is hazardous and habitually negotiated incorrectly by most people. The right of way is the road bending round to the left into the village and port. The road which rises up the hill, sign-posted, as ever, for Poros, is in fact a turning off the road you are currently on. Take this right turn up the hill and signal right again, almost straightaway as you need to turn right after another 80m, up onto a very small, but concreted road, immediately before the taverna which you will see on the right. Should you miss the turning, there is an opportunity to safely turn around about 800m further up the hill at the car park of the nearest AB supermarket. This small and bumpy road takes you up to ‘Pissa’ (which is greek for tar) and to Hibiscus Hill. The house is unmistakable, due to the imposing stone walls which surround it. On the right by the entrance you will see an old olive tree and some space to park the car.

Most ferry crossings can be booked on the internet. If you put in something like ferry crossings Italy to Greece in Google, it comes up with plenty of suggestions. Companies include Minoan and Sfast.

The ferry crossing between Brindisi in Italy and Igoumenitsa is the shortest, in terms of sailing time, but if it is the route you choose, it is advisable to try to secure a night crossing and sleep in a cabin. With the day crossing, you make landfall at about 2300 and must then negotiate a very difficult B road, for about 140kms to Patras. The road is hilly, bendy and the road surface is far from ideal. If you are behind a truck, the overtaking opportunities are very limited. Added to which, you will encounter many motorists who chose to drive in a straight line, rather than following the curves, so it is not unusual to encounter an on-coming vehicle on your side of the road. In short, my advice would be don’t take this route if you can avoid it!

The better choices of ferry crossing are either from Venice to Patras or from Ancona to Patras. The crossing from Venice is long, about 30 hours, but with a cabin it’s not such a hardship and less driving to start with.

From Patras the route is autoroute and the signs to look for are Athens and Korinthos. This is a bit of a misnomer. There are tolls to pay on this road, but in essence it is an A road with 2 hard shoulders, but driven as if it was a dual-carriageway! The only safe way to negotiate this section of road, before Korinthos, is to drive the same way as everyone else, even if it makes you uncomfortable!

You look again for the exit to Epidavros, just after the canal at Korinthos and then the route to Epidavros, is, again, an A road. At the junction turn underneath the autoroute, following signs for Poros. This ‘A’ road takes you through some small villages on the Saronic Gulf. Pay attention on the long stretches of road though some of the villages, as there could very well be a policeman with a mobile speed trap. This possibility is advertised by road signs, but there is very little warning. The road outside the villages is largely very winding and not a little hazardous. Those of you with an Anglo-Saxon sense of humour, may be tickled by the signs that warn of ‘Dangerous bents’ along the way!

After approx 32kms is the village of Nea Epidavros, this is not the destination, so drive straight on. After another 5kms at the beginning of Archaia (Palea) Epdavros, there is a taverna and an Avin petrol station. Do not be tempted to take the left turning down to the village and port, but rather continue on another 4kms. At this point you should take a right turn off the road, which is sign-posted Poros. The road drops down and, at the junction at the bottom, again turn left, underneath the road, following signs for Poros.
Continue on about 600m, then you need your wits about you, as this junction is hazardous and habitually negotiated incorrectly by most people. The right of way is the road bending round to the left into the village and port. The road which rises up the hill, sign-posted, as ever, for Poros, is in fact a turning off the road you are currently on. Take this right turn up the hill and signal right again, almost straightaway as you need to turn right after another 80m, up onto a very small, but concreted road, immediately before the taverna which you will see on the right. Should you miss the turning, there is an opportunity to safely turn around about 800m further up the hill at the car park of the nearest AB supermarket. This small and bumpy road takes you up to ‘Pissa’ (which is greek for tar) and to Hibiscus Hill. The house is unmistakable, due to the imposing stone walls which surround it. On the right by the entrance you will see an old olive tree and some space to park the car.

A common mode of travel in Greece and its many islands is by sea; on cruise ships, passenger and car ferries and hydrofoils. During the summer months, some of the hydrofoils from Pireaus stop at Epidavros, but not every day of the week. Research is needed here. One can be more sure of the services between Piraeus and Poros island. If you chose this route, we can pick you up from Galatas, which is 500m across the channel from Poros on the mainland. Galatas is a 40 minute drive from Epidavros.

There are 2 modes of transport to get to Piraeus from Venizelos Athens Airport. The easiest, but most expensive, as much as 50euros, is to take a cab. The advantage here is that the cab driver can take you close to the ticket office and quay for the Dolphin and show you where to go. This journey, at best, will take 40 minutes; but if the traffic is heavy it could be longer. The other means catching a bus, which leaves directly from outside arrivals to Pireaus. The bus is very cheap, only a few euros, but you get to haul your own luggage off and on, the bus stop is a 300m walk from the boat quays and you will probably need to ask how to get there. The time of the bus journey is more or less the same as a cab.

When you arrive at Epidavros, by sea, and really want to walk up to Hibiscus Hill, that’s not impossible, particularly if you are travelling with a backpack. It’s about half an hour’s walk and a flat route until you arrive at the bottom of the hill up to Pissa. The boat arrives at the port. From there, once on the street, which runs parallel to the port, if you turn right you will go into the centre of the village. Turn left into the main street, which runs parallel to the port street, and then keep heading straight on, without any deviation until you have left the village. If you are on the right track you will pass supermarkets, tavernas, the Post Office and a couple of petrol stations. Alternatively you can head left along the port road, and check out the tavernas and coffee shops, until there is a choice of the road by the beach, to the left, or a road which turns right back into the village. This road will bring you out onto the road which goes out of the village, without doing the shops bit. Once out of the village, still on the same road you continue until you reach the junction between the roads to Epidavros, Athens and Poros. How to get from there to our home is decribed above.