Greece truck driving ban: holiday and summer rules

Greece does not impose a nationwide truck ban every Sunday. Instead, goods vehicles over 3.5 tonnes face direction-specific bans on selected motorways around public holidays and during the summer tourist season, with Hellenic Police publishing the exact 2026 roads, dates and hours shortly before each holiday.

When are trucks banned from driving in Greece?

The restriction targets goods vehicles with a payload over 3.5 tonnes rather than light vans, and it applies only on selected national roads and motorways, not across the whole network. Hellenic Police structure each ban around the direction of travel: an outbound restriction typically closes the road the evening before a holiday, and a separate inbound restriction follows on the return day, to manage the flow of holiday and freight traffic along the same corridors. The rule tightens further during July and August, when Greece widens and lengthens the holiday-weekend bans to manage peak tourist traffic on the same motorways.

Carriers routing through the country should also check Greece's HGV speed limits alongside the ban calendar, since both restrictions apply on the same stretches of road. Hellenic Police publishes the binding roads, dates and hours for each specific holiday only shortly beforehand, so the standing framework above, rather than any single year's notice, is what carriers should plan a route around.

How do the Ohi Day and Christmas bans work?

Ohi Day on 28 October and the Christmas and New Year period are the two holiday windows that generate the most specific Greek truck-ban notices each year. In 2025, for example, outbound restrictions ran across two separate windows on the Friday and Saturday before the 28 October holiday, with a separate inbound window on the holiday itself, and the 2024-25 Christmas period followed a similar staggered pattern, with several outbound windows in the preceding days and inbound closures spread between Christmas and Epiphany on 6 January.

Tovima.com covered the 2025 Ohi Day measures in exactly this one-off format, tied to that single weekend. As of this writing, Hellenic Police had not yet published the 2026 Ohi Day or Christmas notice, and 28 October falls on a Wednesday in 2026, so the 2025 weekday pairing does not carry over automatically. Carriers should check Hellenic Police's announcements close to each date and cross-reference Greece's 2027 public holiday calendar or the wider European HGV speed limit guide when building a route around either holiday.

Frequently asked questions

Is there a truck ban every Sunday in Greece?

No, Greece does not run a general truck ban every Sunday. The restrictions are tied to specific public holidays and the summer tourist season, and only apply to goods vehicles over 3.5 tonnes on the national roads and motorways named in each Hellenic Police notice.

What is the fine for breaking the Greek truck ban?

No verified fine amount has been published for this specific violation. Hellenic Police enforce the ban through roadside checks under the general Road Traffic Code, and a stopped vehicle faces standard traffic enforcement rather than a fixed penalty unique to this restriction.

Are there exemptions to the Greek truck driving ban?

Yes. Hellenic Police define a list of exempt vehicle categories and circumstances alongside each holiday notice, and the exact scope can vary from one holiday to the next. Carriers should check the specific notice for the holiday in question rather than assume the exemptions from a previous year still apply.

When will the exact 2026 Ohi Day and Christmas truck ban dates be published?

Hellenic Police typically publish the binding roads, dates and hours only shortly before each holiday, rather than months in advance. This page will be updated once the 2026 Ohi Day and Christmas notices are confirmed.

Carriers needing extra capacity to cover a Greece-bound route around a ban window can request a freight quote to keep deliveries on schedule.