Need info on walking from Patras to Athens

[BobM]

As part of my walk from Rome to Jerusalem, I am thinking of taking the overnight ferry from Bari (Italy) to Patras (Greece), then walking to Athens airport, then flying to Ben Gurion airport (Israel).

According to Google Maps the Patras - Athens walk is 209km on main roads and would take me about 9 days. Does anyone have information on this walk? E.g. (1) how far apart accommodation is likely to be? (2) are there local off-road routes that would be safer and more enjoyable than trudging down main roads for 9 days?

I have some flexibility, but the 9 day allowance is the maximum I can allocate to this sector.

Best Wishes

Bob M

 

[Kanga]

Can't help but am interested. Have friends who restored a house in a village near Patras. Will ask them about the route, but they are strictly car people.

 

[BobM]

Can't help but am interested. Have friends who restored a house in a village near Patras. Will ask them about the route, but they are strictly car people.

Thx, kanga. That is very kind.

I think part of the main road I was planning to walking along may be an "autostrada" (whatever the Greek equivalent is) and walking on it might be banned (apart from being crazy!). The touristy walking routes either go north into Macedonia (the Greek one) or south into the Peloponnese - too much time for my schedule.

Best Wishes

Bob M

 

[domigee]

Hi Bob, I have been looking at the few books I have , written by people who walked to Jerusalem but none of them seem to have gone to Athens.
On my last journey I've had to walk many, many kms on main roads and it is no fun but sometimes there is just no alternative... If there is a motorway though, it could be good news: it means there should be less traffic on 'your' road, hopefully!
Good luck with your planning.
Dominique
PS: from memory, from being a tourist in Greece many years ago, the driving is just as erratic as in Serbia. So great care needed.

 

[BobM]

I think I will have to get a good map and manually look at stages, hoping that there are enough conveniently located villages with some sort of accommodation. That freaks me out a bit, because I like to be very organised, at least one or two days in advance. No tent! No speak Greek!

And I will be away from home for all of January, so I have only Feb + 2 weeks in March to prepare for a March 15 start. No guidebook! No maps! It's crazy!

The worst case would be to have to take the bus or train from Patras to Athens. But that might allow time to visit the monastery on Mt Athos before flying to Ben Gurion.

 

[BobM]

FWIW, I have roughed out some stages for my Patras - Athens airport walk using Google Maps. Of course the distances could be greater if I take side roads to avoid the busier highways.

I don't think it will be a problem re accommodation. Most of the route is along the coast (ie FLAT!), with lots of small seaside (holiday?) villages. I would like a few comments on that from anyone who knows that area. The walk could be quite pretty, since it follows the coast. Maybe there are nice sea views.

DRAFT STAGES PATRAS - ATHENS AIRPORT
Thursday, 9 April 2015 Bari - Patras Ferry arr 13:00 hrs
Thursday, 9 April 2015 Patras - Rio area 8km
Friday, 10 April 2015 Rio area - Aigio 32km
Saturday, 11 April 2015 Aigio - Krathi 29km
Sunday, 12 April 2015 Krathi - Xilokastro 29km
Monday, 13 April 2015 Xilokastro - Nerantza 18km
Tuesday, 14 April 2015 Nerantza - Isthmia 24km
Wednesday, 15 April 2015 Isthmia - Kineta 21km
Thursday, 16 April 2015 Kineta - Salaminas 29km
Friday, 17 April 2015 Salaminas - Athens centre 22km (total 212km from Patras)
( or take train to the airport & save another walking day. There are hotels close to the airport)
Saturday, 18 April 2015 Athens Centre - Airport 29km (if you want to walk the extra 29km through Athens! No thx!))
Sunday, 19 April 2015 Fly Ben Gurion/Tel Aviv.

It looks doable. (fingers crossed)

The data might be useful for anyone else thinking about this journey.

Bob M

 

[Kanga]

@BobM I've spoken to my friends. They say the old highway would be your best starting point. It runs down the narrow strip of land between the mountains and the sea. It is no more than a few kilometres between each village, so almost continual habitation. In some places you will find parallel smaller roads or paths (for instance on the seafront) and if possible take those, because the highway is narrow and winding, and used by trucks, and all Greeks, according to my Greek friend, are terrible drivers.... The biggest difficulty, they think, will be between Corinth and Athens, which is very rugged and steep - they can't envisage anyone walking it.

They find Michelin maps, large scale, are the best but they haven't tried navigating using Google satellite imagery.

 

[BobM]

@BobM I've spoken to my friends. They say the old highway would be your best starting point. It runs down the narrow strip of land between the mountains and the sea. It is no more than a few kilometres between each village, so almost continual habitation. In some places you will find parallel smaller roads or paths (for instance on the seafront) and if possible take those, because the highway is narrow and winding, and used by trucks, and all Greeks, according to my Greek friend, are terrible drivers.... The biggest difficulty, they think, will be between Corinth and Athens, which is very rugged and steep - they can't envisage anyone walking it. They find Michelin maps, large scale, are the best but they haven't tried navigating using Google satellite imagery.

Thx, kanga. That's very helpful. One can't really navigate with Google. Phone/tablet screens are impossible to read in bright sunlight, and the data charges would be astronomical. But Google is good for broad-brush scoping out of a route. Street View is also helpful, where it exists. Here is my Google Maps turn-by-tu https://goo.gl/maps/GscSH

There is a very good US-based website I have used for maps before (www.omnimap.com). I have asked them to recommend maps for me. I found one Greek road atlas (1:250,000) on their site that might be good. I will look at the Michelin maps your friends suggested as well. A scale of 1:100,000 would be better, but I have to keep weight down. The Michelin maps look the best bet for Rome - Bari.
The route is looking more promising now.
Best Wishes
Bob M

 

[Kiwi-family]

BobM, we drove the section from Korinthos to Athens in September 2009. Some observations: the first is that Greece was the only country that someone overtook another car that was overtaking us! Secondly, however, on this portion it wasn't particularly busy. One nice factor about Greek roads is that the rural roads are a lane and a half wide which makes overtaking pretty safe - and means there is room for cars to move more towards the centre of the road safely to avoid a pedestrian walking on the shoulder.

 

[lovingkindness]

Kalimera, BobM. Have you considered walking part of the E4 trail between Aigio and Gythio on the Peleponese? Perhaps travelling from Patraso to Tripoli or Sparti on public transport then hiking north? The E4 is a splendid challenge traversing dramatic scenery. It is on trails rather than roads. With cash in ones pocket accommodation would be readily found.

Cheers
Lovingkindness

 

[walkmag]

As part of my walk from Rome to Jerusalem,

Bob M

Hi Bob have you seen this blog ?

Www.phool4xc.blogspot.com.au

He is currently in Greece heading to Jerusalem

 

[Sheffield James]

Hello Bob,
I notice you look quite well advanced with your plans for Rome to Jerusalem, but are you aware of the 'pilgrims crossing borders' venture ( ref: http://picrobo.blogspot.co.uk/) that aims to walk in relay from Trondheim to Jerusalem during 2015. The website has a contact person for the Jerusalem stage that may be worth checking out with regard to their planned entry point from southern Italy, and then onward to Jerusalem.
Apologies if you have been made aware of this already; I've not been on the forum recently and only made a cursory glance of previous posts before writing this one.

James