How to get to Mount Olympus

How do I get to Mount Olympus?

Fly or travel to Thessaloniki, then go 90 km south to Litochoro by car, KTEL bus or train. From Litochoro, drive or take a taxi 18 km up to Prionia, the trailhead.

Every way in, with the figures the local sources give:

Fares are one way. The train fare comes from an older page and the KTEL bus fare is sold at the station, so check both on the day.

How do you get from Thessaloniki to Mount Olympus by car?

Take the A1 motorway south toward Katerini for about an hour, leave at the Dion exit and follow the signs 10 minutes to Litochoro. It is about 90 km, with a couple of toll stations.

The route is simple: A1/E75 south, past Katerini, off at the Dion-Museum exit. Keep coins or a card for the tolls. Refuge A gives about 100.7 km from Thessaloniki to Prionia. Litochoro has public parking in the village.

A car is the easiest way to see the mountain in a day. You can do Dion at opening time, have lunch in Litochoro and still drive up to Prionia in the afternoon: the plan is laid out in the Mount Olympus day trip guide. If you'd rather not drive, the Dion and Olympus day trip leaves from central Thessaloniki at 08:00.

Is there a bus or train from Thessaloniki to Litochoro?

Yes. KTEL buses leave Thessaloniki's KTEL station almost every hour, stop in Katerini and end in Litochoro centre. Regional trains run to Litochoro station, 6 km outside the village.

• KTEL bus. Tickets are sold only at the KTEL bus station, per Visit Olympus. From the airport, city bus 01X (01N at night) runs straight there. The Litochoro KTEL office is on +30 23520 81271. The bus drops you in the village, which is the better stop.
• Train. Litochoro station is served only by the regional line T1 (Thessaloniki, Katerini, Litochoro, Leptokarya, Larissa), per Wikipedia. One older page lists the fare at EUR 9 and about 13 departures a day. The station is by the sea, about 6 to 6.5 km from the village: a taxi takes 5 minutes and costs about EUR 8 to 9.
• From Litochoro to Prionia. No public bus. Take a taxi (about EUR 30) or walk the E4 up the Enipeas gorge, 9 km and about 6 hours.

How do you get to Mount Olympus from Athens?

Take an Intercity train to Katerini, about four hours, then a bus, taxi or tour to Dion and Litochoro. Intercity trains do not stop at Litochoro.

This trips people up. Athens to Thessaloniki Intercity trains run past Litochoro but do not stop there. Up to four a day each way stop at Katerini, 17 km from Dion. From Katerini, take the KTEL bus to Litochoro or a taxi. The alternative is to change at Larissa for the T1 regional train to Litochoro station.

Driving, it is about 450 km on the A1 to Prionia. For one day from Athens, the day tour from Athens by train books the trains for you: the listing has the 07:49 from Athens Larissis station, arriving in Katerini around 11:58, with a guide and minibus waiting outside for Dion, the Enipeas gorge and Litochoro. Bring a passport or ID for the train. The listing says the tour runs by bus if the railway strikes.

Train tickets from Athens and back, with a guide and minibus waiting at Katerini station for Dion, the gorge and Litochoro.

★ 4.3 · 13 hours · from $166

Explore the day tour from Athens → Tour details

Can you drive up Mount Olympus?

Partly. On the east side an asphalt road climbs about 18 km from Litochoro to Prionia, 1,100 m. On the west side a 20 km dirt track runs from Kalyvia to the Christakis hut at about 2,400 m. No road reaches the summit.

Litochoro to Prionia is a well-maintained asphalt road through the forest, with views into the Enipeas gorge. Sources give the distance as anything from 14 to 19 km; about 18 km from the village centre is the usual figure. Cyclists use it too. Any normal car manages it. On the way you pass the Stavros refuge (the Dimitrios Boundolas hut), the turn for the ruins of the old Agios Dionysios monastery, and Gortsia, where the trail to the Petrostrouga refuge starts.

The west side is a different world. From Kalyvia, a village about 20 minutes from Elassona, a dirt track climbs to the Christakis hut. Trekking Hellas gives 20 km of dirt road and the Elassona municipality says about an hour by 4x4. This is the approach of the one-day summit climb, which includes the 4x4 transfer. It is not a road for a rental car.

Where do you park, and how much is a taxi to Prionia?

Parking at Prionia is free, including overnight. A taxi from Litochoro to Prionia costs about EUR 30.

Prionia has free parking where you can leave a car for several days, public toilets, a drinking-water spring, emergency phones and a cafe-restaurant open all year, per Visit Olympus. No park entry fee or road toll is charged: a ticket was floated in 2021 but, as far as we can find, never introduced.

A taxi from Litochoro to Prionia is about EUR 30. If you plan to hike down the gorge, take the taxi up and walk back to Litochoro: you don't need a pickup. For a two-day summit trip, book the return taxi for the second afternoon before you set off.

How do you get to the west side of Olympus?

By car via Elassona to Kalyvia, about 20 minutes from Elassona. There is no useful public transport, and the high ground there borders an army training area.

Kalyvia sits on the Olympos-Elassona side, in the Larissa region. The one-day summit climb meets at 08:00 in the central square, and the listing says transport to Kalyvia is not included, so you need a car or a taxi from Elassona. From Thessaloniki the drive goes round the north side of the mountain and takes far longer than the run to Litochoro, so a night in Elassona the evening before makes the 08:00 start easy.

Further south on this side, the Vrysopoules refuge sits inside the Army's KEOACH alpine training camp. Staying there needs ID and permission from the Special Forces Directorate, per Visit Olympus. Few visitors come this way: the classic routes and nearly every tour start on the eastern side from Litochoro.

The summit in one day from the west side: meet in Kalyvia at 08:00, ride a 4x4 to about 2,400 m and climb Mytikas with a guide.

★ 5.0 · 9 hours · from $231

Explore the one-day summit climb → Tour details

Is a tour easier than getting there yourself?

Yes, if you have no car. Every day tour on this site includes transport from Thessaloniki, Katerini station or Athens, which removes the awkward Litochoro to Dion to Prionia legs.

Public transport gets you to Litochoro easily. What it does not do is link Dion, Litochoro and Prionia on the same day: that takes taxis or a car. A tour solves it.

• From Thessaloniki: the Dion and Olympus day trip (bus from the centre), the small-group hike (hotel pickup) or the private hike.
• By train: the minibus tour from Katerini station.
• From Athens: the train day tour, tickets included.
• For the summit: the 2-day Mytikas hike includes transfers from Thessaloniki.

Pick the season before the transport: the refuges and the summit routes open from June to October. The best time to visit Mount Olympus has the months.

Frequently asked questions