A Corinth Canal boat tour sails through the narrow cut between the Gulf of Corinth and the Saronic Gulf, with sheer rock walls on both sides. Browse other tours in Greece for more days out from Athens.
This page covers the boats and departure points, the size and history of the canal, the sinking bridge, the ancient Diolkos, timing and a Corinth Canal boat tour as a day trip from Athens.
What does a Corinth Canal boat tour include?
A Corinth Canal boat tour is a cruise between the canal’s near-vertical cliffs on a cruiser or a glass-bottom boat. The 31-metre Anna II has two saloons, toilets and a bar with snacks and drinks.
The Anna II carries up to 195 passengers. Its inner saloon and its outer saloon each hold up to 120 people. A buffet can be created for the passengers, and the boat can also be chartered for your own cruise plan.
Another Corinth Canal boat tour runs on a modern 17-metre glass-bottom boat for 50 passengers. It has two toilets and a large swimming platform. Guests get traditional Greek candy and bottled water on board. Recorded historical archives play in English, French, Italian and German.
The glass-bottom operator warns that the depth limits how far you can see through the glass. Advance reservations are required on that cruise. Private or group cruises can be arranged outside the standard schedule. Another listing says the glass-bottom canal journey returns to its starting point.
On a Corinth Canal boat tour, the captain steers with only a couple of metres to spare on either side. One operator also offers the canal by sail boat, motorboat or a small cruise boat.
A longer Corinth Canal boat tour leaves the canal for the Saronic Gulf and passes the port of Kenchreai. On this 4-hour option you can swim at Siderona Beach and use snorkel gear. A buffet lunch with wine, soft drinks and water comes with it.
Where do the boats leave from, Isthmia, Loutraki or Corinth?
A Corinth Canal boat tour leaves from Isthmia, a village 7.5 km southeast of Corinth. It sits at the south entry of the canal. Two listings also offer Corinth train station as a meeting point or a transfer point.
The Anna II starts from the village of Isthmia on the Isthmus of Corinth. It runs regular organised schedules from there. The same boat makes daily cruises from Isthmia to Aegina and Agistri. A glass-bottom boat meets guests at Isthmia, with daily slots from 10:30 to 11:40.
A Corinthian coast half-day cruise also sets off from Isthmia Port. The canal has a port at each mouth, Poseidonia and Isthmia. A Corinth Canal boat tour can start from the south one.
One listing lets you meet at Corinth train station at 10 am or at Isthmia port at 10:30 am. Another offers a round-trip transfer from the station.
Loutraki is a seaside resort 8 km northeast of Corinth and 81 km west of Athens. The resort sits northwest of the canal and is not part of the Peloponnese. One listing files a 1.5-hour St. Andreas glass-bottom canal passage under Loutraki, with pickup available.
A Visit Loutraki tourism page says the ship Argo makes daily canal cruises, and it gives no departure point. One Corinth Canal boat tour from Athens gives 1-2 hours of free time at the Loutraki beachside after the cruise.
How narrow and deep is the Corinth Canal?
A Corinth Canal boat tour runs through a channel 24.6 metres wide at the surface. The channel is 21.3 metres wide at the bottom. The depth along the canal axis is 8 metres from mean low water level.
Every Corinth Canal boat tour sails through one lock-free channel, dug at sea level. The canal is 6,343 metres long. The harbours of Poseidonia and Isthmia at the two mouths take up 540 metres of that length.
The maximum width safe for navigation is 24.60 metres at sea level and at mean low water. Ships passing through can be no wider than 24.6 metres, with a draft of no more than 7.3 metres.
On a Corinth Canal boat tour, high and low water differ by about 60 centimetres. The cruise ship Braemar holds the record as the longest ship to pass, at 195 metres long. Its width is 22.5 metres. The canal has a one-way system, and ships pass in one convoy at a time.
Who built the Corinth Canal, from Nero’s attempt to the modern cut?
Emperor Nero was the first to try, breaking the ground himself with a pickaxe in 67 AD. The canal that a Corinth Canal boat tour crosses today was completed on 25 July after eleven years of work.
The tyrant Periander of Corinth first proposed the cut in the 7th century BC. An oracle warned, “Don’t fortify the isthmus nor dig it. Because Jupiter made an island wherever he thought was right.”
Nero began work with 6,000 Judean prisoners of war. They dug trenches 40 to 50 metres wide from both sides. Those trenches were wider than the 24.6-metre channel of today’s Corinth Canal boat tour.
According to Suetonius, the dig reached about 700 metres, a tenth of the way across. The modern canal follows the same course, so a Corinth Canal boat tour runs where Nero’s workers dug. A rebellion by General Galba forced Nero back to Rome, and the works stopped for good after his death.
Long before any Corinth Canal boat tour, Ioannis Kapodistrias had the plan assessed after Greek independence. But 40 million gold francs was far too much for the young state.
When the Suez Canal opened in the 19th century, the idea gained fresh impetus. The Zaimis government then passed a law allowing a canal. Work was formally inaugurated on 23 April in the presence of King George I of Greece.
The Hungarian General István Türr set up the canal company. The Hungarian Béla Gerster drew up the study of the project. Builders used dynamite and other explosives from the Nobel family factories in Italy and Germany. Today a Corinth Canal boat tour sails through the cut they made.
The company had 30,000,000 francs of starting capital, but it ran out of money after eight years of work. Work resumed in the late 19th century under a Greek company, with the benefactor Andreas Syngros taking part. Because of landslides, the canal opened to navigation only in November of the year after its completion.
What is the submersible bridge at Isthmia?
A submersible bridge is a movable crossing whose deck sinks below the water, so boats can use the waterway. At Isthmia, a small one links the village to the mainland. Cruise passengers board the boat for a Corinth Canal boat tour there.
In the late 20th century, a submersible bridge was put in at sea level at each end of the canal. That gave road traffic two more ways across the waterway that a Corinth Canal boat tour sails through. One stands beside Isthmia’s eastern harbour, the other beside the western harbour of Poseidonia.
When a vessel crosses the channel, the bridges sink the centre span 8 metres below the water level. With the deck underwater, nothing stands above the shipping channel, so a Corinth Canal boat tour faces no height limit. The sunken structure does limit the draft of vessels.
When the bridge is down, two pairs of guard rails stay visible, with the single-lane roadbeds underwater between each pair. Sinking or raising the Isthmia bridge takes about 3.5 to 4 minutes.
The two canal bridges are submerged about 10,000 times a year. They are sunk only when a ship passes. For safety, the process starts 15 minutes before the ship arrives. Before the Isthmia bridge existed, people and vehicles crossed the canal on a floating raft.
Visitors who skip a Corinth Canal boat tour can still watch the Isthmia bridge sink. They can park next to it, with tavernas on both sides of the canal.
What is the Diolkos, the ancient ship road across the isthmus?
The Diolkos was a paved trackway near Corinth that let boats be moved overland across the Isthmus of Corinth. It worked from about 600 BC until the middle of the 1st century AD. A Corinth Canal boat tour now crosses the same isthmus by water.
Its name joins the Greek words dia, meaning across, and holkos, meaning portage machine. It saved ships the sail round the Peloponnese, where Cape Matapan and Cape Malea were known for gales.
The tyrant Periander of Corinth chose to build the Diolkos instead of a canal, which seemed too big a job. A Corinth Canal boat tour now sails through the canal that he turned down.
Its main task was moving goods, though in wartime it also sped up naval campaigns. A Corinth Canal boat tour carries passengers instead.
The road curved around the land to avoid steep slopes and crossed the isthmus ridge at about 79 metres high. Its grooved tracks show that wheeled vehicles did the hauling.
Experts think that either ship and cargo rode on separate vehicles, or only the cargo crossed. The cargo was then reloaded onto another ship. A Corinth Canal boat tour needs no such reloading.
After the battle of Actium, Octavian had part of his 260 Liburnian galleys carried over the isthmus. The roadway ended at Schoinos on the Saronic Gulf, which is modern Kalamaki.
A surviving section lies at Poseidonia, right next to the submersible bridge. Behind the pilot station at the canal’s western entrance lies a large area of rectangular stone slabs.
How long does a Corinth Canal boat tour last, and in which months does it run?
A Corinth Canal boat tour lasts about 1.5 hours on the Anna II. Listed cruises run from 45 minutes to 4.5 hours. One canal notice set navigation from 8 March to 2 November.
One listing gives 1 hour for a glass-bottom Corinth Canal boat tour. Another listing gives 1.5 hours for a canal passage on a 17-metre glass-bottom boat. One cruise line says the sail through the canal takes about 45 minutes.
A longer cruise lasts 4 hours, and that option also adds Kenchreai and the Baths of Helen. A half-day cruise from Isthmia lasts from 2 to 4 hours. One cruise from Isthmia, passing the ancient ports, lasts 4.5 hours.
One cruise line says that, depending on canal traffic, the trip through can be made twice. The canal operates 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. The exception is Tuesdays from 06:00 to 18:00, for regular maintenance. The same cruise line says its Corinth Canal boat tour does not run on every Tuesday.
A Loutraki tourism page says the ship Argo has made daily Corinth Canal boat tours since April. The canal operator’s notices give the navigation dates. One notice opened navigation from 1 June to 30 September. In that year the Ministry extended canal operation until 31 October.
Another notice opened the canal to navigation in late spring. A later notice set navigation from 8 March to 2 November. An autumn notice kept the canal open until 14 October at 06:00 while slope restoration continued. A notice dated 17 June says the canal is open to navigation again after slope-stabilisation work.
Can you take a Corinth Canal boat tour as a day trip from Athens?
Yes. A Corinth Canal boat tour works as a day trip from Athens. One private tour with a canal boat trip and air-conditioned transport lasts from 4 to 8 hours. The canal cruise on it lasts 1 hour.
That tour’s booking form offers a 09:00 pickup in Athens. Pickup is from any Athens hotel, apartment, port or airport. After the cruise you can add Ancient Corinth or Loutraki.
Another private tour from Athens starts with a scenic drive to Corinth, about 1 hour away. On it you can choose the canal cruise option to sail between the cliffs. The boat cruise ticket is not included and is paid separately to the cruise operator.
That tour lasts 6 to 8 hours, with pickup from an Athens hotel or cruise ship. A third private tour says Corinth is only 1 hour and 15 minutes by road from Athens.
That 5-hour tour lists a 15-minute photo stop at the Corinth Canal, far shorter than a Corinth Canal boat tour. A 6-hour bus day trip from Athens lists 45 minutes there, and a shore excursion from Piraeus lists 20 minutes. The motorcoach drive from Piraeus to the canal takes about 75 minutes.
What do you see from the deck, from the cliffs to the bridges above?
From the deck of a Corinth Canal boat tour, the rock walls rise 90 metres above sea level. Their angle is a near-vertical 80 degrees. The canal is crossed by a railway, a road and a motorway, high above the water, at about 45 metres.
One travel writer calls the walls sheer, sand-coloured limestone. Bushes grow on the limestone cliffs, within arm’s reach of a passing yacht. Nero’s workers left a relief of Hercules at the Gulf of Corinth end, on the north side. It sits under an old bridge foundation.
For much of a Corinth Canal boat tour, masonry faces the canal walls. It runs from the bottom up to 2 metres above sea level. At certain points the canal is wider because of landslides caused by earthquakes, wartime bombing and soil erosion.
A highway across the canal links Athens with the Peloponnese. Mainly tourist ships use the canal, about 40 ships on an average day. Towage is compulsory for all vessels over 800 net tonnage.
The Nafplio glass-bottom Corinth Canal boat tour promises views of the canal’s steep banks and historic bridges. On deck you can relax and take photos.
A Loutraki tourism page describes a Corinth Canal boat tour on the Argo. It offers an up-close look at the imposing landscape and the calm waters of the Isthmus.
What else do travellers ask about a Corinth Canal boat tour?
The Nafplio glass-bottom Corinth Canal boat tour is listed as not suitable for people with heart problems. It is also listed as not suitable for those prone to seasickness or motion sickness.
Is a Corinth Canal boat tour suitable for wheelchair users and families?
One Athens private tour listing says it is not wheelchair accessible but is stroller accessible. The same listing says the tour suits travellers of all ages. A cruise-line excursion says its canal motorboat is not wheelchair accessible.
How rough is the water on a Corinth Canal boat tour?
The canal operator reports currents that change every six hours and run at close to 2.5 knots. The high walls funnel wind along the length of the canal.
Can you see the sea floor through the glass bottom?
A reviewer of one Isthmia glass-bottom cruise says the glass bottom is there but not transparent. The Nafplio trip says the glass lets you see the seabed as you cross.
Has the canal ever been closed for a long time?
A landslide closed the canal, and it reopened on 1 June after further safety measures. A yacht magazine reports that the canal reopened to shipping. It had been closed for months for work on the canal banks.
Can you watch the canal from land?
You do not need a Corinth Canal boat tour to watch ships pass. A viewing balcony sits on the bridge, with a car park next to it. Tourists line the overpasses to watch the ships pass, and visitors also arrive by bus from Athens. Bungee jumpers bounce from the last bridge right above the passing ship.