Eleftherios Venizelos International Airport
Map: Public Transit to/from Athens
Athens is the transportation hub for all of Greece. Because Athens has a good public transportation system, don’t rent a car until you are ready to leave the city—you absolutely do not want to drive in Athens traffic. If you’re venturing to landlocked destinations beyond Athens, the best option for the rest of your trip is to travel by car. Buses can get you just about anywhere for a reasonable fare, but connections to remote areas can be long and complicated, and straightforward schedule information is hard to come by. Most recommended sights beyond Athens do not have train service: The Greek train system is slated to be privatized (if they can find anyone willing to buy it), and it will take years before it is up to Western European standards. Boats and planes are options for reaching the islands. For specifics on transportation beyond Athens, see the “Connections” sections in each of the following chapters. For general information on transportation by plane, boat, bus, and car, see the appendix.
Athens’ airport is at Spata, 17 miles east of downtown (airport code: ATH, tel. 210-353-0000—press 2 for English, www.aia.gr). This impressively slick, user-friendly airport has two sections: B gates (serving European/Schengen countries—no passport control) and A gates (serving other destinations, including the US). Both sections feed into the same main terminal building (with a common baggage claim, ATMs, shops, car-rental counters, information desks, and additional services). Upstairs, on the second floor (above entrance/exit #3), is a mini-museum of Greek artifacts.
Your best route into the city depends on where you want to go: If you’re headed to Syntagma Square, the bus is generally better (cheapest, very frequent, and scenic). For Monastiraki, Psyrri, or the Makrigianni area south of the Plaka, the Metro is more direct—and isn’t susceptible to traffic jams.
By Bus: Buses wait outside exit #5. Express bus #X95 costs €5 and operates 24 hours daily between the airport and Syntagma Square (3-5/hour, roughly 1 hour depending on traffic; tel. 185, www.oasa.gr). The downtown bus stop is on Othonos street, along the side of Syntagma Square; get off after the bus takes a 180-degree turn around a big square filled with palm trees.
By Metro: Line 3/blue zips you downtown in 45 minutes for €8 (2/hour, usually departs at :03 and :33 after the hour, daily 6:00-23:30; €14 for two people, half-price for people under 18 or over 65, ticket good for 1.5 hours on other Athens transit). To catch this train from the airport arrivals hall, go through exit #3, cross the street, take the escalator to the skybridge, walk to the terminal to buy tickets, and follow Metro signs down to the platforms. In downtown Athens, this train stops at Syntagma (where you can transfer to line 2/red) and Monastiraki (where you can transfer to line 1/green).
To return to the airport by Metro, you can catch a train from Syntagma from 5:37-24:00; airport trains depart at :03 and :33 after the hour. Keep in mind that some Metro trains terminate at Doukissis Plakentias. If so, just hop off and wait—another train that continues to the airport will be along within about 10 minutes.
By Taxi: A well-marked taxi stand outside exit #3 offers fixed-price transfers that include all fees (€40 to central Athens). Note that the cabbie will tack on several legitimate fees beyond what’s on the meter, including the tolls to take the fast road, per-piece baggage charges, and a special airport fee (for details, see “Getting Around Athens—By Taxi” on here).
People on package trips are met at the airport by sign-waving cabbies who take them to their hotel and help get them settled in for about €75. Recently, private English-speaking cabbies have been providing this same service to anyone for about €55—though its value over simply catching a normal cab is questionable.
To reach Piraeus, take bus #X96 outside airport exit #5 (€5, runs 24 hours daily, 2-4/hour, 1-1.5 hours depending on traffic; stops at Piraeus’ Karaiskaki Square, then at the Metro station—marked by the pedestrian bridge; tel. 185, www.oasa.gr). A taxi from the airport to the port costs about €40.
Piraeus, a city six miles southwest of central Athens, has been the port of Athens since ancient times. Today it’s also the main port for services to the Greek islands, making it the busiest passenger port in the Mediterranean. A staggering 13 million journeys begin or end here each year.
All ferries, hydrofoils, catamarans, and cruise ships use Piraeus’ Great Harbor (Megas Limin). To the east are two smaller harbors used for private yachts: Limin Zeas and the picturesque Mikrolimano, or “Small Harbor.”
The vast Great Harbor area is ringed by busy streets. At the northeast corner is the hub of most activity: the Metro station, a big yellow Neoclassical building with white trim, sometimes labeled “Electric Railway Station” on maps. There’s a free and good little electric-railway museum inside, which might entertain trainspotters with time to kill (Mon-Fri 9:00-14:00, closed Sat-Sun). Next door to the Metro station is the suburban train station. A modern pedestrian bridge connects the Metro station to the harbor and serves as a handy landmark.
Just down the street is Karaiskaki Square, which juts out into the harbor. Cheap eateries, flophouse hotels, and dozens of travel agencies round out the scene. The port’s dreary appearance aside, Piraeus’ Port Authority has recently invested in several air-conditioned waiting areas and big electronic display boards showing gate numbers and times for upcoming departures. The port area supposedly has free Wi-Fi, but don’t count on it working.
Gates: Twelve “gates” (docks) stretch for about three miles around the harbor, numbered in clockwise order. Gate assignments depend on both the destination and the company operating the line, but, very roughly, you can expect the following:
| E1: | Dodecanese Islands |
| E2: | Crete; North Aegean Islands (Samos, Ikaria, Chios, Mytilene/Lesbos) |
| E3: | Crete and Kithira (vehicle entrance) |
| E4: | Kithira (vehicle exit) |
| E5: | Bus Terminal |
| E6: | Cyclades (including Mykonos and Santorini), pedestrian walkway to Metro |
| E7: | Cyclades (including high-speed boats to Mykonos and Santorini) |
| E8: | Saronic Gulf Islands (Argosaronikos in Greek, including Hydra, Spetses, Paros, and Ermioni) |
| E9: | Cyclades (including Mykonos and Santorini), Samos, Ikaria |
| E10: | Vehicle exit from E9 |
| E11: | Cruise Terminal A |
| E12: | Cruise Terminal B |
These departure gates are prone to change—carefully check your ticket for the gate number, and ask a local (any travel agent, port worker, or taxi driver) if you’re unsure.
Information: Official tourist information is in frustratingly short supply here, although a TI kiosk is often open just outside Terminal A. Your best sources of information are the many travel agencies scattered around the area; all have a line on current boats, where they leave from, and how to get tickets. The port police, with several offices clearly marked in English, can be helpful (tel. 210-414-7800). You can also call the Piraeus Port Authority ship-schedule line at toll tel. 14541. The port authority website is www.olp.gr.
Baggage Storage: Luggage lockers are at the Metro station (€3). If you’re in a pinch, various travel agencies closer to the port might be willing to store your bags for a fee.
To Downtown Athens: Metro line 1/green conveniently links Piraeus with downtown Athens (covered by €1.40 basic transit ticket, good for 1.5 hours including transfers, train departs about every 10-15 minutes between 6:00 and 24:00). To reach the big, yellow Neoclassical Metro station, use the pedestrian bridge near gates E6 and E7. Get your ticket from a machine (which makes change but takes only coins) rather than waiting in line. Before boarding, don’t forget to validate your ticket in one of the silver boxes near the platform. In about 20 minutes, the train reaches the city-center Monastiraki stop, near the Plaka and many recommended hotels and sights. (For Syntagma, Akropoli, and Syngrou-Fix Metro stops, ride the train one more stop to Omonia to transfer to line 2/red.) Warning: The Metro line between Piraeus and downtown Athens teems with pickpockets—watch your valuables and wear a money belt.
A suburban train also connects Piraeus’ train station (next door to Metro station) with Athens, but it’s less frequent (hourly), less direct (you have to change at Larissis train station to the line 2/red Metro), and no faster or cheaper than the Metro (same €1.40 ticket).
A taxi between Piraeus and downtown Athens costs €10-20 and can take anywhere from 20 minutes to an hour, depending on traffic and on your starting/ending point at Piraeus (€1 surcharge from gates E1-E10; €5.20 surcharge from cruise terminals).
To the Airport: From the Piraeus cruise terminals, you can reach the airport by taxi (around €40) or by bus #X96, which connects Piraeus directly to the airport. In Piraeus it stops along the top of Karaiskaki Square (Plateia Karaiskaki/ΠΛ. ΚΑΡΑΙΣΚΆΚΗ stop, between gates E7 and E8), and also in front of the Metro station (Stathmos ISAP/ΣτΑΘΜΌΣ ΗΣΑΠ stop; €5, runs 24 hours daily, 2-4/hour depending on time of day, 1-1.5 hours depending on traffic).
To Other Points in Greece: For long-distance buses, you’ll have to connect through Athens. To reach Athens’ Bus Terminal A (Kifissou), you can take bus #420 (2-4/hour, catch bus at stop across the street from Gate E6, between Metro station and suburban train station, €1.20 one-way ticket, €1.40 ticket includes transfers). For trains to Patra on the Peloponnese, take the train from Piraeus to Kiato, and transfer there to a bus run by the Greek rail company.
For tips on buying tickets and the lowdown on Greece’s ferry network, see here. It’s smart to know ahead of time which gate your ferry leaves from (for Hydra, most likely E8; for Mykonos or Santorini, most likely E6 or E7—but these can change, so be sure to check).
Arriving at the Piraeus Metro station (end of the line), walk out the side door (with your back to the tracks, it’s to the left) and into a chaotic little square filled with vendors slinging knockoff designer bags. Head up the escalator and walk to the far end of the pedestrian bridge, overlooking the water. You’re standing above gates E6 and E7. Gates with higher numbers are to your left; those with lower numbers are to your right. (For example, Hydra-bound boats usually depart from gate E8, to your left on the far side of the tree-filled park.) Once you have your bearings, descend to the port and walk to your gate. If your boat leaves from gates E1 or E2 on the north side of the port (the Dodecanese Islands, plus some boats to Crete or the North Aegean Islands), turn right and walk to gate E5 (near the end of the pedestrian bridge) to catch a free shuttle bus.
From Piraeus by Boat to: Hydra (4/day, possibly more in summer, 1.5-2 hours, €26), Mykonos (likely 1 fast boat daily but confirm, especially Jan-March: 3 hours, €50-60; slow ferry: 1/day, additional overnight ferry possible, 6 hours, €30-40), Santorini (likely 1-2 fast boats daily but confirm, particularly off-season: 4.5 hours, €55-65; slow ferry: 1/day, additional overnight ferry possible, 7-8 hours, €35-45). The frequency and prices listed here are approximate—in this uncertain economic climate, schedules can change significantly and without warning. Prices are also in flux. Boats to the Cyclades (such as Mykonos and Santorini) tend to run a little less frequently on Wednesdays than the rest of the week, and may not run on Wednesdays at all in the off-season.
Piraeus has two adjacent cruise-ship terminals, at the far-south end of the port: Gate E11 is Cruise Terminal A, and gate E12 is Cruise Terminal B. Each terminal has basic café, gift-shop facilities, and ATMs; Terminal A also has luggage lockers and a TI kiosk outside with sporadic hours.
Your basic options for getting from the terminals into central Athens are a taxi (fast but expensive); public bus (a bit slower, but cheap and handy); the Metro (fast and cheap, though you’ll first have to walk or take a public bus to Piraeus’ Metro station); or a hop-on, hop-off bus tour (expensive and infrequent, but with sightseeing commentary).
By Taxi: Cabbies wait in front of each cruise terminal. The fair metered rate from either terminal into downtown is about €15-20, depending on traffic (includes legitimate €5.20 cruise terminal surcharge—you can try to avoid this by walking up to the main road and finding a taxi there). Some drivers offer a three-hour tour around the city center, including basic commentary and waiting time at the Acropolis (about €120). If this appeals to you, find a driver who speaks good English and would be fun to chat with.
By Bus: Bus #040 goes from Piraeus’ cruise-terminal area to Athens’ main Syntagma Square (€1.20, 4-8/hour, 30-60 minutes depending on traffic). The bus leaves from the stop called Apheteria (ΑΦΕτΗΡΊΑ, “starting point”), which is on the main road between the two cruise terminals. Several different bus lines stop here, so make sure you get on the right bus. To reach the bus stop from Cruise Terminal A, exit the building, bear left, and walk along the road up the low hill. When you reach the main road, turn right and walk along it to reach the Apheteria bus stop. From Cruise Terminal B, exit the building, follow the road to the left of the pretty yellow church. You’ll see the row of buses ahead.
By Metro: The Metro speedily connects Piraeus with downtown Athens’ Monastiraki stop (every 10 minutes, 20-minute trip). The catch is that the Metro station is between gates E6 and E7, a 15- to 20-minute walk from Cruise Terminal A (15-20 minutes more from Cruise Terminal B). The Metro station is a big yellow building with white trim, marked by a pedestrian bridge over the busy street (it’s the only such bridge at Piraeus).
The smartest move: Catch frequent public bus #843 (6-10/hour Mon-Sat, 4-6/hour Sun) to the Metro station from the Apheteria bus stop between the two cruise terminals. Since the route begins here, there’s usually a bus waiting, and your €1.40 ticket also covers your Metro ride (buy ticket at kiosk before hopping on bus). If you take a taxi to the Metro station, expect to pay about €6. For more details on the Metro, see here.
To reach the Metro from Cruise Terminal A, exit the terminal building, keep left, and walk up the incline to the main road. At this road, head right to reach the Apheteria bus stop, and find bus #843; or, if you don’t mind walking the whole way to the Metro (about 15-20 minutes), turn left onto the main road and simply follow it along the port.
To reach the Metro from Cruise Terminal B, exit the building and follow the road to the left of the yellow church to reach the Apheteria stop (for bus #843), or continue walking on the same road around the port to the Metro station (about 30-40 minutes total).
By Hop-On, Hop-Off Bus: Two companies offer indistinguishable all-day hop-on, hop-off bus tours that include a 70-minute itinerary around Piraeus and link to a separate 1.5-hour bus route around Athens (daily April-Oct 8:30-20:00, Nov-March 9:00-18:30, roughly every 30 minutes; before buying a ticket, carefully check the time and departure point for your return; CitySightseeing-€22, tel. 210-922-0604, www.citysightseeing.gr; Athens City Tour-€20, tel. 210-881-4207, www.athens-citytour.com).
The low-profile bus stop (a sign on a post) is about 300 yards around the port past Cruise Terminal A on the main road, on the port side of the road.
Athens has two major intercity bus stations. Frustratingly, both are far from downtown, and neither is conveniently reached by Metro. Buses serving the south, including the Peloponnese, use the bus station called Kifissou, or “Terminal A.” Most buses serving the north, including Delphi, use the station called Liossion, or “Terminal B.” (There has been some talk of combining these two stations, but progress is slow.)
Although most destinations in this book are served by at least one daily direct bus from Athens, connecting between destinations outside Athens can involve several changes (as noted in each chapter). Even though all Greek buses are operated by KTEΛ (KTEL), there’s no useful general website or phone number (each regional bus station keeps track of only its own schedules). There is a list of local phone numbers at www.ktelbus.com, but you’ll need to know the name of the province where you are traveling. You can get details for buses originating in Athens by phoning 14505. Matt Barrett’s website has schedules for long-distance buses to and from Athens (www.athensguide.com), or try this helpful, unofficial website in English: http://livingingreece.gr (under “Best of...” click on “KTEL Buses of Greece”).
This bus station is about three miles northwest of the city center. Getting here on public transit is a pain involving a Metro-plus-bus connection—spring for a taxi ride (pay no more than €15 from central Athens).
In the vast ticket hall (follow signs to EKΔOTHPIA), the counters are divided by which region they serve; if you aren’t sure which one you need, ask at the information desk near the main door. Beyond the ticket hall are a cafeteria, a restaurant, and a supermarket, and the door out to the buses. This immense bus barn is crammed with well-labeled bus stalls, which are organized—like the ticket windows—by region. Taxis wait out in front of the ticket hall, as well as under the canopy between the ticket hall and the bus stalls.
By Bus from Terminal A to: Nafplio (roughly hourly direct, 2.5 hours, €13.10), Epidavros (2/day—one in the morning, one in afternoon, 2.5 hours, €13), Mycenae (go to Nafplio first, then 2/day, 45 minutes, €2.95), Olympia (1/day direct, 5.5 hours, €30), Monemvasia (2-4/day, may transfer in Sparta, 6 hours total, €29.60), Kardamyli (1/day, transfer in Kalamata, 5-6 hours, €25.80). Terminal A info: Tel. 210-512-4910.
Smaller, more manageable, and a bit closer to the city center, Liossion (lee-oh-SEE-yohn) is in northwest Athens, a 15-minute, €8 taxi ride from the Plaka. You can also take bus #024 from near Syntagma Square in central Athens (leaves from alongside the National Garden on Amalias street—facing the Parliament, walk along the busy street to your right).
By Bus from Terminal B to: Delphi (4/day, 3 hours, €15.10).
In Athens, most trains use Larissis Station, just north of downtown (on Metro line 2/red). Greek trains are of limited usefulness to travelers—especially if you’re sticking to the destinations described in this book. For most places, it’s better to take buses or to drive. Complicating matters, the government is planning to privatize the system. As a result, many routes have been cut, especially on the Peloponnese.
One train connection might be useful for you to know about: A new line is being built to connect Athens to Patra (via Corinth, then along the northern coast of the Peloponnese); currently this line is open only until Kiato, where passengers transfer to a bus to reach Patra. International service to Istanbul, Sofia, and Belgrade was “temporarily” suspended a few years ago, and it’s uncertain when it might resume.
Surviving trains are operated by Greek Railways (abbreviated OSE, http://tickets.trainose.gr/dromologia), but their unhelpful website may not have the most up-to-date information. It’s best to call the customer service office, which has English-speaking staff (open 24 hours, tel. 14511).
For more extensive travels beyond Greece, you can study your railpass options at www.ricksteves.com/rail.
Syngrou avenue is Athens’ “rental car lane,” with all the big companies (and piles of little ones) competing for your business. Syngrou is an easy walk from the Plaka and recommended hotels (it’s especially near those in Makrigianni and Koukaki). Budget travelers can often negotiate great deals by visiting a few rental places and haggling. You could go with one of the established, predictable biggies. Or, for a friendly local car-rental company, consider Swift/Avanti, run by can-do Elias and Salvator. They’ll pick you up at your hotel and drive you out of central Athens—so you can avoid the stress of Athens city-center driving (from €38/day for first 100 km, €0.20/km after that, €21.40/3 days with unlimited mileage, and insurance for three days or more; €96.40 in winter for 3-day rental; prices include tax, office open Mon-Sat 9:00-19:00, until 17:00 in winter, open Sun and after hours on demand; Syngrou 50, tel. 210-923-3919 or 210-924-7006, mobile 693-667-4476, www.greektravel.com/swift or www.avanti.com.gr, swift@avanti.com.gr). You can drop off the car at locations outside downtown Athens for about €0.50 per kilometer (for example, €30 for Athens airport, €150 for Nafplio in summer, or €80 in winter; the longer the term of your rental, the less they charge for this service).
Avoid driving in Athens as much as possible—traffic is stressful, and parking is a headache. Before you leave Athens, get detailed directions from your rental agency on how to get back to their office and drop off your car.
Here’s your strategy for getting out of the city: If you’re heading north, such as to Delphi, aim for expressway 1 northbound (toward Lamia; see specific directions on here). To head for the Peloponnese, go westbound on expressway 6, which feeds into expressway 8 to Corinth (the gateway to the Peloponnese). The handy E-75 expressway (a.k.a. Kifissou avenue), which runs north-south just west of downtown Athens, offers an easy connection to either of these.
Assuming you pick up your car on or near Syngrou avenue, and traffic isn’t that heavy, the best bet (with the fewest traffic lights and turns) is usually to simply head south on Syngrou. As you approach the water, the road forks; follow signs toward Piraeus on the left. After the merge, get into the right lane and be ready to hop on E-75 northbound. Then watch for your exit: for the Peloponnese, exit for expressway 6 (which merges into expressway 8 to Corinth); for Delphi, continue straight north to expressway 1.
