Katakolo to Olympia

Hellenic Train's line from Katakolo to Olympia runs inland from a small Ionian port, through the town of Pyrgos and up the valley of the Alfeios, to the village beside the sanctuary where the Olympic Games began. The whole run takes about fifty minutes on a metre-gauge diesel railcar, and one return ticket costs €10.

The railway is older than it looks. In the 1870s the plain around Pyrgos was growing rich on currants, and the only way to get them out was by sea. The mayor of Pyrgos asked for a line to the port in 1878, it was built in 1882, and it opened in February 1883. Until then the only railway in Greece ran from Athens to Piraeus. A branch to Olympia came later, the line closed in August 1998, and it was brought back in 2004 for the Athens Olympics.

Today it is the cruise passengers' train. The ships tie up a short walk from Katakolo station, and the morning departure has them at the gates of Olympia by about half past ten, with a train back to the ship in the early afternoon.

Trains for Olympia leave from Katakolo, an unstaffed station of one island platform near the harbour and the cruise quay. The line runs along the edge of the village through Sykia and Ekklisia, then leaves the coast and crosses the flat farmland to Pyrgos, the capital of Elis, with four stops in the town.

Beyond Pyrgos the train runs south on the old Patras–Kyparissia main line, where most passenger services have been suspended since 2011, past Lambeti, Koliri and Varvasena to Alfeios, where the Olympia branch leaves it. From here the line follows the river valley east. The country is low hills, olive groves and small villages, Salmoni, Strefi, Brouma, Pelopio and Koskinas, and the train stops at each of them. It is not a dramatic ride; it is a pleasant one, and the slow approach suits the place it ends.

Olympia station stands in the middle of the modern village, a restored single-storey building with a classical porch. The archaeological site is a walk of a few minutes through the village and over the bridge across the Kladeos.

The trains

The line is worked by Stadler GTW diesel railcars of the metre-gauge 4500 series, articulated units with a power module in the middle, now in Hellenic Train's blue livery. They replaced locomotive-hauled trains like the one in the 1992 photograph above. The railway's first engines were five Krauss steam locomotives named Pyrgos, Ilia and Ermis, delivered in 1882, and later Alfeios and Olympia.

Trains run Monday to Saturday only; there are no trains on Sundays. Only one train a day runs the whole way in each direction, and the rest start or finish at Pyrgos.

Good to know:

• For a day trip from the ship, take train 1382 at 09:15 and come back on 1385 at 13:30. That gives about three and a half hours at Olympia.
• Leave a margin before your ship sails. The 13:30 is the last train from Olympia that reaches Katakolo.
• Katakolo station is unstaffed. Tickets are sold on the train.

Times as of November 2026, from Hellenic Train's Katakolo–Pyrgos–Olympia timetable. Check your date on hellenictrain.gr (opens in a new tab) before you travel.

Hellenic Train sells a return ticket from Katakolo to Olympia for €10. Hellenic Train's staff sell tickets on the train, so you can board at Katakolo without one. The operator's travel office answers questions on +30 213 012 1010 or at traveloffice@hellenictrain.gr.

Fare checked November 2026 on hellenictrain.gr (opens in a new tab); euros.

Do not count on a pass for this line. Hellenic Train's own Interrail page says passes are valid on its trains with no supplement, but it names two historic routes as exceptions: the Pelion train and Olympia–Katakolo. Interrail's table of railway companies for Greece lists the Ancient Olympia train as included, with a reservation required. The two sources disagree, and the staff on the train apply the operator's rules.

For this journey alone, a pass is not worth buying anyway. The return fare is €10. An Interrail Greece Pass pays only on a longer trip that includes the intercity trains.

Checked November 2026 against hellenictrain.gr (opens in a new tab) and interrail.eu (opens in a new tab).

The two ends of the line are the places to spend time: Olympia for the sanctuary and its museum, and Katakolo for the harbour while you wait for the train or the ship.

Staying a night in Ancient Olympia lets you see the sanctuary and the museum without watching the clock for the train back. The village has hotels within walking distance of both the station and the sanctuary.

Planning this trip and stuck on something, or spotted a time, fare or detail that has changed? Send us a message about Katakolo to Olympia. We read every one, and we update this page when something has changed.