Visit the Rio–Antirrio Bridge
All Bridge visits are welcomed. The only condition is to observe the Project’s safety and operation rules. However, for any visit of the Exhibition Center of the Bridge, it is strongly recommended that you get in contact with the Customers’ Service ( Tel. +30-26340-39010 & 39011 / e-mail: info@gefyralitourgia.gr ) in order to avoid coincidence in hours/dates with other planned visits or activities.
CAUTION: For safety reasons, crossing the bridge with your car IS NOT a visit. Stopping and parking on the Bridge deck is strictly prohibited. All drivers shall refrain from enjoying the view of the landscape and the Bridge itself, while driving.
Coming from Rion, just before crossing the Toll Plaza of Antirion, you can leave your car in the comfortable parking area on your right.
At the edge of the parking area, next to the Toll Plaza you can find the Bridge administration building which houses its Exhibition Center. Its main entrance (photo) leads to the first important stop of every Bridge visitor.
Coming from the opposite direction, you may also find a comfortable parking area in the direction to Rion. In this case, you should use the footbridge and pass over the Toll Plaza in order to reach the opposite side and visit the Exhibition Center.
The model showing the Bridge under construction dominates the main hall of the Exhibition Center’s main room. It shows the method used for the construction of the Bridge. The photographs decorating the walls of the room also contribute in clarifying the construction specificities.
Prominent among the other exhibits displayed is the historic reference to Charilaos Trikoupis, prime mover behind the Rion-Antirion Bridge and founder of modern Greece.
The 50-seat film theater offers you the possibility to watch videos from the preliminary works period, the construction period and the celebrations for the Bridge inauguration.
At the Exhibition Center’s lobby you can find a Gift Shop with Gefyra souvenirs and other articles. Some among them allow you to contribute to social solidarity and environmental sustainability.
The Customers Service, located at the lobby of the Exhibition Center, provides all information useful for the visitors or the users of the Bridge. It is open 365 days per year. To continue your visit by gazing at the pylons, when exiting the Exhibition Center it is worth going up the metal stairs leading to the Bridge belvedere, on the Toll Plaza canopy.
The Toll Plaza roof is used both as a footbridge to pass from one side to the other and as a belvedere of the Bridge itself. You can look over sea traffic in the Straits of Rion-Antirion and the two coasts that became one as of the Charilaos Trikoupis Bridge inauguration (12.8.2004).
Depending on the weather conditions, it is possible to organize special presentations under the Bridge deck for representatives of the technical world, so that the specialized Bridge engineers could explain them the original seismic construction methodology used in this Project.
To go for a walk you can access the Bridge deck either through the two parking areas on the Antirion side (west and east) and walking 200 m approximately, or using the 4 visitors staircases located on both sides of the Bridge, both at Rion and Antirion.
To get the best view, we recommend you to walk down the west sidewalk towards M1 Pylon (the one close to the Rion coast).
The crowing of a full visit to the Bridge is the view of the sun setting behind the Klokova and Varassova mountains.