Athens Marathon 2026: road closures and transport

Update note: what is official today (29 Sep 2026)

On 29 September 2026 the organiser has published the vehicle-ban hours described in the next section. We found no 2026 announcement from the Hellenic Police, OASA or STASY — neither on the organiser pages we read nor in the Greek and English searches we ran the same day. Not finding one does not mean no further measures will exist: it means they have not been announced yet.

The page has three layers and every item carries its label. Layer A: confirmed for 2026, from the organiser’s official pages. Layer B: dated precedent from 2025 (Hellenic Police, OASA, STASY) and 2024 (OASA), which shows what such measures look like but does not apply automatically this year. Layer C: the timing rule — the measures appear only a few days before the race, which is why there is a dated changelog at the end.

If you have a flight, a hotel or a meeting in Athens that weekend, treat Layer A as the fixed frame, Layer B as a warning of what to expect, and keep some slack until the official notice is out.

Layer A: what the organiser has announced for 7–8 November 2026

Everything below comes from the official Athens Marathon pages (athensauthenticmarathon.gr), checked on 29/09/2026. These are the organiser’s statements; the Hellenic Police order with street-by-street limits has not been issued yet.

• Saturday 7 November: total ban on wheeled vehicles 15:00–21:00 (spectators’ guide). The hours agree in the Greek and English versions, but the area is worded differently: the English page says “anywhere around the Panathenaic Stadium”, the Greek page says “in the centre of Athens and in front of the Panathenaic Stadium”. We show both; the police order will fix the exact extent.
• Saturday, 5K and Universities Night Run race pages: a full traffic ban in central Athens from 16:00 and specifically on Vas. Amalias Ave from 15:00. The two organiser wordings for Saturday do not match (15:00 in the spectators’ guide, 16:00 on the 5K and Universities pages for the centre); we show both and do not pick one — the police order will fix the limit. For planning, treat 15:00 as the earliest limit.
• Sunday 8 November, city centre and Panathenaic Stadium (same wording difference as Saturday): total ban on wheeled vehicles 05:00–18:20 (spectators’ guide).
• Sunday, 10K race page: a complete ban in the centre from 06:30 and specifically on Vas. Amalias Ave from 05:00. The two wordings do not match exactly (05:00 in the spectators’ guide, 06:30 on the 10K page for the centre); we show both and do not pick one — the police order will fix the exact limit.
• Sunday, Marathon race page: no vehicles in both directions of Marathonos Avenue from 08:00 — worded as a warning to runners who drive themselves to the start, not as the earliest closure time (in 2025 the police closed the start section from 05:00; the 2026 police order is not yet published). No end time is published; the page says only that the Traffic Police reopen the route to traffic gradually once the last runner has passed within the time limit. The organiser sets an eight-hour time limit and says all finishes will be completed by 18:15.
• All race routes are free of vehicles while the races run. The lane next to the runners stays at the disposal of the Traffic Police, ambulances and support vehicles; spectators and companions must use the metro and buses outside the routes.
• Escorting runners in any vehicle (bicycle, motorcycle etc.) is banned in all races, including the Marathon, on the runners’ lane and the next one (the Greek spectators’ guide states it generally, the English guide stresses the 5K, 10K and Universities Night Run, and the Marathon race page carries the same rule); breaking the rule means removal from the course and disqualification of the escorted athletes.
• Sunday 08:30–09:50: Kids’ Fun Runs in the municipalities along the Marathon course (organiser’s week programme), finishing 15 minutes before the first marathoner arrives at each municipality; the organiser publishes no separate traffic details for them.
• Panathenaic Stadium: about 1,000 metres from the “Syntagma”, “Acropolis” and “Evangelismos” metro stations, with free entry to the spectator stands. The organiser “strongly recommends” public transport (the metro).

Layer C: what has not been announced yet, and when to expect it

Not published for 2026: the list of closed streets with start and end times, the Marathonos and Mesogeion Avenue sections and their hours, the Attiki Odos exits, the controlled crossing junctions, vehicle exemptions, bus and trolley diversions, tram changes, extra metro trains or metro hours, and the information phone line. Traffic measures are issued by the Traffic Police; bus, trolley and tram diversions are announced by OASA; metro reinforcement comes from STASY (OASA relays it in its notice).

The timing rule, with dates: in 2025 the Hellenic Police notice for the 42nd Marathon (race on Sunday 9 November) is dated 5 November — a Wednesday, four days before the Marathon and three days before Saturday’s races. OASA’s notice for 7–9 November 2025 was published on 7 November 2025 at 18:54, two days before the race. In 2024 OASA’s blog notice for the 41st Marathon (Sunday 10 November) is dated Friday 8 November 2024, 19:55; press reports of the OASA/STASY changes (including an earlier OASA announcement on the tram that was later corrected) were online by 15:00 that day — two days before the race.

For the race on Sunday 8 November 2026 that gives an estimate: a police notice around Wednesday 4 November and an OASA notice around Friday 6 November. It is an estimate from two years, not a commitment by any body — they may come earlier or later. Also note that in 2025 the first measures took effect on Thursday 6 November, three days before the race: closures can start before the weekend.

Layer B1: the Hellenic Police measures in 2025 (dated precedent)

Source: the Hellenic Police notice dated 05-11-2025 for the 42nd Authentic Marathon (8 and 9/11/2025). We read its text as reproduced by thetoc.gr (7/11/2025, 17:31, with the full list of streets and hours), Business Daily (5/11/2025, 17:30) and KeepTalkingGreece (5/11/2025); we could not open the police page itself from our tool (HTTP 403). Everything below is 2025, with a 09:00 Marathon start — not 2026.

• 2025 · Thursday 6/11 08:00 to Sunday 9/11 22:00: Herodou Atticou (full length) and Vas. Georgiou B’ (Rigillis–Ir. Attikou) closed; no stopping or parking on Herodou Atticou and around Diskovolou square from Thursday 06:00 to Sunday 21:00.
• 2025 · Friday 7/11 19:00 to Sunday 22:00: Vas. Konstantinou (Vas. Olgas–Eratosthenous, towards Evangelismos), Ardittou (Vouliagmenis–Vas. Olgas, towards Evangelismos) and M. Mousourou closed.
• 2025 · Saturday 8/11: Archimedous (Pl. Plastira–Mousourou) closed 08:00–20:30; closed 14:00–21:00 were Vas. Konstantinou, Ardittou, Vas. Olgas, Vas. Georgiou A’, Vas. Sofias (sections), Akadimias, Vas. Amalias, Syngrou (Frantzi–Amalias), Ath. Diakou, Filellinon, Stadiou and Panepistimiou; no parking from 09:00 Saturday to 18:30 Sunday on Mesogeion (P. Kanellopoulou–Feidippidou), Vas. Sofias, Vas. Konstantinou, Ardittou and others.
• 2025 · Sunday 9/11, centre: Vas. Georgiou A’ 04:00–13:00; Akadimias, Vas. Amalias, Syngrou (section), Ath. Diakou, Stadiou, Filellinon, Panepistimiou and others 05:00–13:00; Vas. Konstantinou, Ardittou, Vas. Olgas, Vas. Sofias (sections), Rizari, Vas. Georgiou B’, Meleagrou, Kleanthous and Archimedous 05:00–18:30.
• 2025 · Sunday 9/11, Marathonos Ave: from the start area to Kato Souliou (Agia Marina) 05:00–13:30; Kato Souliou–Dionysou 07:30–15:00; Dionysou–Lavriou/Kleisthenous (Stavros, Agia Paraskevi) 08:00–16:45.
• 2025 · Sunday 9/11, Mesogeion Ave: Stavros Agia Paraskevi–Katechaki 08:30–18:30; Katechaki–Athens Tower 06:00–18:30, together with Feidippidou (Michalakopoulou–Kifisias), Michalakopoulou (Ilision–Mesogeion) and sections of Kifisias and Alexandras.
• 2025 · Attiki Odos, Sunday 9/11: exit branch to Rafina 07:00–15:00, exit branch to Pallini 07:00–16:30, Exit 15 (Marathonos Ave) in both directions 08:00–16:00.
• 2025 · Crossing the route with vehicles (bicycles and e-scooters included) was allowed only at controlled junctions (ten listed, one of them for Fire Service vehicles only), such as Marathonos & Dionysou, Marathonos & Agia Marina, Marathonos & Lavriou–Kleisthenous (Stavros) and Mesogeion & Katechaki. Vehicles with special accreditation and those of the Police, Fire Service and EKAB were exempt.
• 2025 · The limits could be extended or shortened as the races developed, at the discretion of the commanding officers — the end times were indicative, not guaranteed.

Why 2025 cannot simply be copied to 2026

The programme changed. The 2025 Marathon started at 09:00 (police notice); the 2026 Marathon starts at 08:30 and the organiser’s programme gives a 08:30–18:20 window. The Kids and Special Olympics 1.2 km races were on Sunday 10:20–10:50 in 2025; in 2026 they are on Saturday at 16:00 and 16:20. The 5K and the Universities Night Run start at 17:00 and 20:00 in 2026, and the spectators’ guide ends the centre ban at 21:00; the organiser’s week programme, however, gives the Universities Night Run a window of 20:00–21:10, i.e. 10 minutes past the end of the ban. The police order will set the real limit. On the English page of the same programme the line “8:30–18:20: Marathon Race” is followed by “8:00: Start of Marathon Race”, which in our reading is a typo; the Marathon page and the spectators’ guide (Greek and English) say 08:30.

Practical reading: 2025 shows which streets are candidates (Vas. Konstantinou, Ardittou, Vas. Olgas, Vas. Sofias, Amalias, Akadimias, Panepistimiou, Marathonos, Mesogeion, Herodou Atticou) and roughly how long they stay closed, not the exact 2026 hours. The 2024 pattern was similar: according to ProtoThema English’s 8/11/2024 report of the police measures, on Saturday 9/11/2024 Vas. Konstantinou, Ardittou, Vas. Olgas and Vas. Amalias were closed 14:00–21:00, and on Sunday Mesogeion (Katechaki–Athens Tower) 06:00–18:30 (a machine-translated text, so we keep it as an indication rather than a source of hours).

Layer B2: metro, tram and buses — 2025 and 2024

Sources: OASA’s notices (oasa.gr) for the 42nd Marathon (published 7/11/2025) and the 41st (published 8/11/2024), and ProtoThema (7/11/2025) for corroboration of the 2025 tram and hours. For the standing Saturday 24-hour service: OASA’s 24mmm page. The hours of the Marathon measures differ from year to year, so none of the following is a given for 2026.

• 2025 · Buses and trolleys: temporary route changes in municipalities of the Athens basin, gradually and according to police measures, from Friday 7/11 14:00 to Sunday 9/11 21:00.
• 2025 · Metro: 3 additional trains on each of Lines 2 and 3 and 2 additional on Line 1, on Saturday 8/11 and Sunday 9/11.
• 2025 · OASA’s notice reminded travellers that Metro Lines 2 and 3 and the tram already run 24 hours every Saturday night (a standing service, introduced 13 Sep 2025, not a Marathon-specific measure); Line 1 (Kifissia–Piraeus) started at 05:00. OASA states that Lines 2 and 3 and tram T6/T7 run 24 hours every Saturday; any Marathon-specific change will be in the OASA/STASY notice.
• 2025 · Tram Line 6 (Pikrodafni–Syntagma): on Hellenic Police orders, terminating at the “Fix” stop from Saturday 12:00 to Sunday 21:00; the Syntagma, Zappeio and Vouliagmenis Ave stops did not serve passengers.
• 2025 · Express X95 (Syntagma–Airport): services ran from a temporary departure point at the General Military Hospital, from Saturday 8/11 14:00 to Sunday 9/11 21:00.
• 2024 · Buses and trolleys: route changes from Friday 8/11 14:00 to Sunday 10/11 22:00, plus changes to tram Line 6.
• 2024 · Metro: on Sunday 10/11 Lines 2 and 3 opened at 05:00, half an hour earlier than usual (Line 1 already starts at 05:00); 2 additional trains on each of the 3 lines, on Saturday 14:00–19:00 and on Sunday from 07:00 until the end of the Marathon. In 2024 the standing Saturday 24-hour service did not exist yet (it started 13 Sep 2025).
• 2024 · The X95 also started from the General Military Hospital. In both years OASA gave its information line, 11185.

How to get around Athens on 7–8 November: based on what is official

The advice below rests on Layer A (2026, organiser); where we add our own reading or a 2025 precedent, we say so.

• Spectator at the finish: metro to Syntagma, Acropolis or Evangelismos, then about 1 km on foot to the Panathenaic Stadium. The stands are free, but the track is for finishing runners and organising staff only.
• Car or taxi inside the centre: the organiser’s wording is a “total ban on wheeled vehicles” for the Saturday and Sunday windows. The same page also lists taxi as a way to reach the Stadium, so any exemptions will be set by the police notice — in 2025 only accredited vehicles and those of the Police, Fire Service and EKAB were exempt, and taxis were not mentioned. Our reading: plan to enter or leave by vehicle before or after the windows, not during them.
• Hotel in the centre, on Vas. Sofias, on Amalias or around the Stadium: after 15:00 on Saturday (the organiser’s ban runs to 21:00) and again from 05:00 on Sunday you will not reach the door by vehicle; the police order may set different hours. In 2025 Herodou Atticou and Vas. Georgiou B’ were closed as early as Thursday — ask the hotel about luggage access before the weekend.
• Runner driving to Marathon town: the organiser asks you to be at the start one hour ahead, i.e. by 07:30 at the latest, allowing about 800 metres on foot from the drop-off parking, and notes that Marathonos Avenue closes in both directions from 08:00. Note that in 2025 the section from the start area to Kato Souliou closed from 05:00, so “08:00” is not the earliest limit you may meet. The organiser recommends not using your own vehicle; its buses (for runners only) leave from central metro stations until 06:45 for the first wave, with the last from Syngrou-Fix at 06:15.
• Spectator along the Marathon route (Marathonos, Mesogeion, Vas. Sofias): the organiser asks for metro and buses outside the routes. In 2025 vehicles could cross the route only at controlled junctions (ten listed); expect the same pattern in 2026, but wait for the notice.
• Airport: in 2024 and 2025 the X95 left from a temporary stop at the General Military Hospital instead of Syntagma. If you fly during race weekend, check OASA’s notice and do not rely on the Syntagma stop.
• Saturday evening: the 5K starts at 17:00 and the Universities Night Run at 20:00 (the organiser’s programme shows the race window as 20:00–21:10, while the spectators’ guide ends the vehicle ban at 21:00 — the police order will settle it, so do not plan a vehicle trip at 21:00 sharp). For dinner in the centre, use the metro or walk.
• Saturday night into Sunday: OASA states that Metro Lines 2 and 3 and tram T6/T7 run 24 hours every Saturday (a standing service since 13/9/2025), and 7 November is a Saturday. No Marathon-specific change has been announced; anything that changes will be in the OASA/STASY notice.

Road closures map: what exists and what does not

There is no official road-closures map for 2026 yet. The Hellenic Police notices we read for 2025 are text lists of streets and hours, not maps. The organiser’s race pages say spectators may move only in the ways shown on the special maps (metro, public transport outside the route), but it does not publish a 2026 closed-streets map yet.

Because all race routes are free of vehicles while the races run, the routes the organiser describes already form an official “map” of the roads that will be closed, without hours. Marathon: Marathonos Ave from the start (after km 4 the route loops through Marathonomachon St and the Tomb), Nea Makri, Rafina junction, Pikermi, Pallini and Gerakas to the Stavros junction, then Mesogeion Ave (Chalandri, Cholargos, Katechaki), Michalakopoulou, Feidippidou, the Kifissias–Alexandras junction, Vas. Sofias, Herodou Atticou, the Stadium. 5K: Amalias, Panepistimiou, Riga Feraiou, Akadimias, Vas. Sofias with a turn-around at NIMITS, Herodou Atticou. 10K: Amalias, Panepistimiou, Char. Trikoupi, Akadimias, Vas. Sofias, Feidippidou, Mesogeion to the Police Academy and back, Michalakopoulou, Vas. Sofias, Herodou Atticou. The detailed route description, with a map and GPX file, is on the organiser’s pages; the elevation and km-by-km terrain are in our guide “Athens Marathon course: km by km” Athens Marathon course: km by km.

Changelog and when this page is updated

Our aim is to update this page the same day the official measures appear. If by Friday 6 November there is no notice we can open, we will write “no official notice found as of <date>” and keep Layer A only. Layer B will be replaced only by Hellenic Police, OASA and STASY data.

• 29/09/2026 — Published. Layer A checked on the organiser’s pages (spectators’ guide, Marathon, 10K, 5K and Universities Night Run pages, week programme); Layer B on the 2025 and 2024 notices. No 2026 notice from the Police, OASA or STASY found.
• Planned 4–5/11/2026 — Read the Hellenic Police and OASA/STASY notices (if out), replace Layer B with Layer A and set a new check date.
• Planned Friday 6/11/2026 — Final check for police corrections and for tram and bus changes.
• See also: “Athens Marathon 2026: dates and races” with the programme Athens Marathon 2026: dates and races, “Athens Marathon: a visitor and spectator guide” Athens Marathon: a visitor and spectator guide, “Athens Marathon vs Half vs Poseidon: which to run” Athens Marathon vs Half vs Poseidon: which to run.
• For the history of the route: “Spyridon Louis: the first Olympic marathon (1896)” Spyridon Louis: the first Olympic marathon (1896), “Pheidippides: history vs. legend” Pheidippides: history vs. legend, “Athens 2004 Olympic Marathon: results and drama” Athens 2004 Olympic Marathon: results and drama.