Thousands of Greeks are leaving the urban centers for the Easter Holidays, which is estimated to be one of the largest getaways of recent years.
Ports, highways, long-distance bus terminals and airports are packed with holiday-makers exiting the greater Athens-Piraeus area – where roughly half of country’s residents live – by all available means, causing morning and afternoon traffic jams around main outbound routes from the capital.
More than 47,343 vehicles passed through the Elefsina road toll towards the Peloponnese, while 35,485 vehicle were recorded heading north at the Afidnes toll station, north of Athens, since yesterday.
Increased traffic was observed on Thursday morning on the roads in the country’s largest port, Piraeus, as well as Attica prefecture’s second-busiest port, Rafina.
High traffic volume was also reported early in the morning of Holy Thursday on roads in the wider Athens region.
Easter holidays traffic is also moving at a slow pace on the Athens-Patras National Road from Aspropyrgos, west of Piraeus, to the toll stations of Elefsina, while traffic is also forming starting at the exit of Anthousa in east Attica prefecture to Metamorfosis – a district in the northern part of the greater Athens agglomeration.
Greeks traditionally leave the urban centers on either Holy Thursday or Holy Friday bound for the islands or the countryside to celebrate Orthodox Easter Sunday, which is celebrated on May 5 this year.
