Somewhere between the second coffee and the first look at a map of the Peloponnese, the question comes up: how do you reach a stone theatre that sits on the other side of the Saronic Gulf from your hotel in Athens? The theatre at Epidaurus, with its rows of pale seats fanned out against a wooded hillside, is the reason people ask.
How do you get from Athens to Epidaurus?
You get from Athens to Epidaurus by leaving the capital for the Peloponnese, and the one way to do it that can be laid out with confidence is by car, with the Athens Metro or the tramway to get you to the point where the road begins. Epidaurus lies on the Argolid Peninsula at the Saronic Gulf, in the regional unit of Argolis, which belongs to the Peloponnese region. That placement tells you what the journey is: a trip out of Attica and into a different part of mainland Greece, with a change of landscape on the way.
The day has two parts: the Athens end, where the Metro or tramway gets you to your departure point, and the Argolid end, where the road brings you to the town of Epidaurus and then on to the sanctuary. The second is the Argolid end, where the road brings you to the town of Epidaurus and then on to the sanctuary.
The two are not the same place. The Sanctuary of Asclepius, which holds the theatre, sits about five miles from the town, so a visit to the ancient site means going past the town, not stopping in it.
Starting out in Athens
Athens gives you several ways to reach a car rental counter or a departure point. The Metro is the backbone. It runs from 5:30 a.m. to 00:30 a.m., and on Friday and Saturday nights lines 2 and 3 stay open later. That matters if you are collecting a car in the morning or coming back to the city after an evening that ran long.
If you are arriving by air, line 3 is the Metro line that serves the airport. The section between the airport and Douk.
Plakentias has trains every 30 minutes, which is a slower rhythm than the rest of the network, so plan your connection around it rather than expecting a train to be waiting. The tramway, which returned to Syntagma on 19 November 2020, offers another way to move around the center of the city before you head out.
| Service | Hours |
|---|---|
| Athens Metro, daily | 5:30 a.m. to 00:30 a.m. |
| Athens Metro, lines 2 and 3, Friday and Saturday nights | Later than usual |
| Airport to Douk. Plakentias, line 3 | Trains every 30 minutes |
The road into the Peloponnese
, a different scene from the dense neighborhoods you left. Epidaurus sits where the Argolid Peninsula meets the Saronic Gulf, so the water is never far from the road.
Americans driving in Greece need to carry a valid U.S. driver’s license, and insurance companies may require an international driver’s permit. That is worth settling before you leave home, because the U.S. Embassy in Greece does not issue permits. They come from the American Automobile Association or the American Automobile Touring Alliance in the United States.
Arriving at the sanctuary
The Ancient Theatre of Epidaurus is part of the Sanctuary of Asklepios, a UNESCO World Heritage Site. The sanctuary and its theatre were inscribed on the World Heritage List in 1988, and the place has the look of somewhere kept with care. The theatre dates to approximately 340 to 330 BC, built into the slope so that the semicircle of seats rises above the circular stage below.
What you do on arrival is walk. You move through the sanctuary grounds, then up into the seats and look down at the orchestra, the flat circle at the center.
You can climb to the seats and look down at the orchestra, the flat circle at the center.
Which options are there?
The options for reaching Epidaurus from Athens come down to driving yourself, with Athens public transport handling the city end of the trip, and the choice mostly depends on whether you want to set your own pace. The information that can be given with confidence points to the car as the route that works with the sanctuary’s position, a few miles outside the town and away from the center of everything.
Driving yourself
A rental car is the option that matches the geography. Epidaurus is on the Argolid Peninsula, and the sanctuary sits about five miles from the town, so having your own wheels means you can go straight to the theatre rather than working out a link from the town. It also lets you build the day around your own plans, perhaps adding a stop along the gulf, a lunch under a plane tree or a swim somewhere on the peninsula.
Before you commit, settle the paperwork. You need your U.S. license and an international driver’s permit, and the permit has to be obtained in the United States from the American Automobile Association or the American Automobile Touring Alliance. The rental company may not ask, but the requirement stands regardless, which is a good reason to sort it out at home weeks before you fly.
Using the Athens Metro and tramway for the city leg
Even if the main journey is by car, the Athens Metro is how travelers get to the place where the trip begins. It runs from 5:30 a.m. to 00:30 a.m., with Friday and Saturday service on lines 2 and 3 stretching later. The airport branch of line 3 has its own pace, with trains every 30 minutes between the airport and Douk. Plakentias, so a morning departure for a rental desk should take that into account.
The tramway, back at Syntagma since 19 November 2020, gives another way to travel inside the city, and buses cover areas the rails do not reach. One habit to know on city buses is that passengers cannot use the front door to get on or off. You use the other doors, which is a small detail that can confuse a first-time rider.
Building the visit around the theatre
Whichever way you travel, the theatre is the center of the visit. Sitting in a theatre built approximately 340 to 330 BC while a play is performed is a different experience from visiting the stones in silence.
Outside the performance season, the visit is about the site itself, the seats, the stage and the grounds of the sanctuary around them. Asklepios was the god of healing, and the sanctuary was a place where people came in the hope of cures, which gives the surrounding grounds a different feel from a site that was built purely for show. The theatre was part of that world, a place for the minds of visitors as much as their bodies.
What should you know before you travel from Athens to Epidaurus?
Before you go, know that the trip is a drive out of Athens into the Peloponnese, that Americans behind the wheel need both a U.S. license and an international driver’s permit, and that the theatre you are heading for is a UNESCO World Heritage Site with live performances in summer. Those three things shape how you plan.
Paperwork for driving
The driving rule is the one that catches people out. U.S. visitors driving in Greece must carry a valid U.S. driver’s license, and insurance companies may require an international driver’s permit. A counter agent who waves you through has not changed the requirement.
The permit is obtained before you leave. The U.S. Embassy in Greece does not issue them, so the place to apply is in the United States, through the American Automobile Association or the American Automobile Touring Alliance. Allow yourself the time to do it properly at home, rather than discovering the gap in Athens.
What the place is
Epidaurus is a name that covers more than one thing. There is the town of Epidaurus, and there is the Sanctuary of Asclepius, which lies about five miles from the town. When people speak of going to Epidaurus for the theatre, they mean the sanctuary, so set your destination accordingly when you are looking at maps or giving directions to a driver.
The Ancient Theatre belongs to the Sanctuary of Asklepios, and the UNESCO listing of 1988 covers the sanctuary and the theatre together. Built approximately 340 to 330 BC, the theatre is the part that draws visitors, but the grounds around it are part of the same story. Walking beyond the seats lets you take in the sanctuary as a whole, rather than treating the theatre as a standalone stop.
Summer performances
If your trip falls in summer, check what is on. The Athens Epidaurus Festival stages performances at the Ancient Theatre every summer, and seeing one is a different kind of visit, with the seats filled and the stage in use as the builders intended.
At other times of year the theatre is an empty stage, and the experience is more contemplative. You walk down the steps, stand at the center of the circle and listen to the voices of other visitors carry across the seats. Both versions of the visit have their pull, and which one you choose depends on whether you are drawn to the drama or to the ruin.
Getting around Athens first
Your departure from Athens may involve the Metro, which runs from 5:30 a.m. to 00:30 a.m. and later on Friday and Saturday nights for lines 2 and 3. If you are heading to the airport branch, remember that line 3 trains between the airport and Douk. Plakentias come every 30 minutes. On buses, board and leave by the doors other than the front one, since passengers cannot use the front door.
Good to know before you go
Greece uses the euro, so have some on hand for the small expenses along the road, such as a coffee or a bottle of water on the way to the sanctuary. Keep your U.S. license and your international driver’s permit together in the same folder as the rental papers. When you reach the theatre, take a moment to sit in the seats and let the Argolid landscape settle around you before you head back.
Sources
- OASA, Athens urban transport (https://www.oasa.gr/en/), checked October 12, 2026
- Athens Transport, public transport guide (https://www.athenstransport.com/english/), checked October 12, 2026
- Visit Greece (GNTO), Epidaurus (https://www.visitgreece.gr/mainland/peloponnese/epidaurus/), checked October 12, 2026
- Wikipedia, Epidaurus (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Epidaurus), checked October 12, 2026
- U.S. Department of State, Greece travel information, travel and transportation (https://travel.state.gov/content/travel/en/international-travel/International-Travel-Country-Information-Pages/Greece.html), checked October 12, 2026
- Hellenic Train (https://www.hellenictrain.gr/en), checked October 12, 2026
- Wikipedia, Egnatia Odos (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Egnatia_Odos), checked October 12, 2026