Driving in Greece is not too difficult if you are a confident driver. Athens is probably the most difficult place to drive with the congested fast-paced traffic, main roads with many lanes, and narrow side streets. Driving outside of Athens is less stressful because the traffic will be drastically less congested, and I find that most drivers in Greece are quite patient and tolerant of mistakes.
But there are some things that you should be aware of regarding driving in Greece. As a Greek friend told us, Greeks don’t like rules. As a result, speed limits, center lines, signs, and right of ways seem to be taken as suggestions by the Greek drivers rather than hard and fast driving rules. This being said, there is an order and system to how things are done, even if it is unexpected for a driver not from Greece. Below are the elements of Greek driving that caught me off-guard as an American driving in Greece.
Tailgating is normal.
Cars will come up very quickly and very close to the rear of your car before changing lanes or passing. On the multilane highways, it is not unusual for a car to wait to change lanes until they are directly behind you. On single lane roads, they will get very close to your tailgate so that they are ready to pass you as soon as an opportunity arises. Unlike in the US where tailgating is often an aggressive form of driving, here it seems to be just a normal part of driving to make passing easier. Do not be alarmed or get flustered if a car gets up very close behind you and stays there until they can pass.
Passing happens on every road (even where you think it would be impossible!)
Passing is very common, even on corners or near intersections. Always look out for cars that are driving in the center between the two lanes because they are in the midst of passing – you will need to drive as close to the outer edge of your lane to give them room to finish their passing without causing a head on collision. If a car is passing and sees you coming, they will often flash their headlights a couple times to make sure you are aware that they are in your lane, allowing you time to slow down or hug the side of the road until they finish their passing.
Note: If you see a car coming toward you and there is no room to move to the side before they can return to their proper side of the road, then stop and get out of their way so you don’t cause a collision! I have not had this happen, but use common sense to avoid an accident caused by someone’s bad judgement.
You are expected to give way to faster traffic, even on single lane roads.
If a car catches up to you from behind on a single lane road, which means they are obviously going faster than you, then move toward the outer edge of your lane when it is safe to do so and slow up a bit to allow them to pass. And if need be, pull completely to the side of the road where permissible so that the faster traffic can get by you. There are often wider parts of the road at various places that allow you to give room to a car for passing. If the road does not have wide enough areas or long enough stretches to allow for passing (like on the twisty roads through the hills or mountains) and if you see a turnoff, please be courteous and turn in to allow the faster traffic to pass, then continue on your journey again.
Hint: If a car is tailgating you, that is a sure sign that they would like to pass you, but if it happens, don’t be offended or increase your speed beyond where you are comfortable driving. Just pull to the side when you can and let them pass, then be on your merry relaxed way again.
“Go with the flow” doesn’t work!
Especially outside of the Athens, or unless traffic is extremely heavy, drivers don’t seem to stay apace the other cars or “go with the flow of traffic.” Some cars just aren’t in a hurry and drive much slower than the speed limit, while others impatiently whiz past even if you are cruising along at the posted speed. As a result, there often doesn’t seem to be a consistent flow to the traffic, so if you are thinking you will just follow the pack to determine your pace, good luck! One thing I really like about driving in Greece is that the slow drivers actually stay to the right lanes like they are supposed to so that faster traffic can pass in the left lanes. Once a car has used the left lane to pass one or more cars, it then returns to the right lane in case another car comes from behind and needs the faster lane. So please don’t just settle into the left lane and the hang out there, even if no one is behind you, because you will muck up traffic by stopping the faster drivers from being able to get by. Once you overtake a slower car, move back into the left lane until you have to pass the next car.
Careful on the very narrow streets!
Many streets are only wide enough for one car, but they allow two-way traffic. Some of the streets are just wide enough for you to pass the other car if you both move to the outer edge and go slowly. On other streets, the person with who most recently turned onto the street needs to back out and allow the other to pass before continuing. Also pay attention if you see an oncoming car and look for the wide part in the road (which do occur randomly) so that whoever gets to it first can pause until the other car passes by. If you meet a car on a very narrow road where you are not able to pass each other, then one of you will need to back up to the nearest space that is wide enough, or that allows for a car to turn off the street – this is tougher to know who should be the person to do this, but if you remember passing an area recently that will allow for passage, then you should be the one to back up.
NOTE: If a person flashes their lights at you during this encounter, that typically means they want you to proceed forward and they are going to back up or have a place they can turn off.
Parking facing either direction on the side of the street
Cars will often just pull over and park where they can, and sometimes that is the left side of the street! This means that you will see cars parked along one side of the street pointing both directions. Don’t be thrown off if you see cars parked facing the wrong direction from what we are used to.
Center lines are merely suggestion!
Cars will cross the center line often, especially on the corners so be on the lookout. It doesn’t seem to matter whether or not they see you coming, they will still cut a corner by crossing the line. You will need to hug the outer edge of the road (but not too closely as it could have a sharp drop off at the edge of the tar). Even on straight-aways, it’s not uncommon to see a car hug the center line and occasionally cross over it for no reason at all. This happens so regularly that I just assume I need to keep a safe distance away from the center line at all times.
Last second quick-stops at intersections where you have right-of-way.
One of the most jarring things for me when I drive in Greece is how fast the cars come up to an intersection with the main road from a side street before stopping. It always seems like they are not going to stop at all and will pull out right in front of you as if you weren’t there. Just when you think the car on the side road is going way too fast to stop in time, they come to halt right at the edge of the intersection. The difficult thing is that you have to trust they will stop so that you don’t take evasive action and swerve into the oncoming traffic because you think you are about to get t-boned while everyone else thinks you are overreacting to normal Greek driving. I’ve never had any of these speed-racers not stop in time or appear to be startled as though they didn’t realize I was there. The worst I’ve seen happen is the nose of the car crept over the sideline into my lane just a little and I had to shift slightly in the lane to be sure I didn’t get too close.
Note: Same as the passing above – use your common sense and if a car is truly not stopping, do what you must to stay safe. This is a tricky one because it can take a few heart-stopping incidents before you feel comfortable enough to judge whether someone is doing a typical last second quick-stop, or if they are going to fly out into the intersection and cut you off.
Look out for potholes and uneven surfaces
Once you are off the main highway, the condition of the roads can vary quite quickly. The roads will be much narrower, and some are not maintained as regularly as others. Always be on the look out for potholes when off the main highway, and for areas where the edges of the road have eroded away, which can be hazardous if you have to hug the shoulder because of oncoming traffic.
Most cars are manual stick-shifts
If renting a car, the standard and most common cars are manual stick-shifts. If you want an automatic transmission, be sure the car you are renting specifies that it is automatic. If you are comfortable with a stick-shift, then you will save some money on you rental. I often get the stick-shift, though it can be a bit of a nuisance in the heavy traffic of Athens, or on the twisty uphill climbs prevalent in the many mountainous regions.
Drivers are mostly courteous and patient
Drivers here seem much more tolerant of unexpected behavior and I’ve yet to witness any road rage. (I’m sure it exists, especially in Athens, but I’ve yet to see any.) If a car is going slow, they just pass. If a car is parked on the side of the road and blocking a bit of the lane, they just swerve around (be careful if you are the oncoming car as they will swerve into your lane and expect you to make room!). If someone steps out or turns out in front of them, they (usually!) stop for the person. Now and then someone will honk or flash their lights, but it seems to be more of a courtesy warning and I’ve seen almost no yelling or hand gestures.
What’s your experience?
These are my observations as an American Driving in Greece. Your experience may be different. Let me know your tips and tricks for driving in Greece.