Departures for Orthodox Easter to peak in next few hours
A total of 18 ferries were scheduled to depart from the port of Piraeus on full capacity for the Aegean islands and 32 for the islands of the Argosaronic Gulf on Friday, as the last of Easter travelers depart from Athens.
Another 14 ferries are scheduled to depart from the port of Rafina and 10 from the port of Lavrio for the Aegean islands.
On Thursday, 21 ferries left from Pireaus for the Aegean islands carrying 4,275 vehicles and 27,263 passengers, 16 ferries with 11,941 passengers and 2,767 vehicles left from Rafina, and 10 ferries with 3,721 passengers and 1,105 vehicles from the port of Lavrio.
Meanwhile, traffic was building up on the highways near the Greek capital on Friday, as motorists started heading out of Athens to celebrate the Easter holidays in the villages and the countryside. The departure for Easter was expected to reach a peak in the next few hours.
According to official figures released by the traffic police, in the hours between 6 a.m. on Thursday and 6 a.m. on Friday, a total of 119,896 vehicles went through the tolls heading toward Corinth and Lamia. From 3 p.m. and until 10 p.m. on Thursday and from 6 a.m. until 4 p.m. on Orthodox Good Friday, trucks weighing more than 3.5 tonnes are forbidden from using the outward bound lanes.
The particularly increased traffic for this Easter, higher than last year’s, also practically coincides with the start of the summer season for a very large part of the seasonal hotels which start opening from Wednesday, May 1. By the first week of June, the vast majority of Greek seasonal hotels are expected to have opened their doors.
