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Transport in Greece and Athens

Arrival in Greece

Arrival at Athens Airport

The new Athens International Airport 'Eleftherios Venizelos' is located in Spata. During its first stage of operation, will be able to serve up to 16 million passengers annually, with a final target of servicing 50 million. The airport comprises a system of total parallel runways which allows simultaneous take off as well as landing of aircrafts. During peak hours, the airport, is able to support at least 65 movements per hour or 600 daily with 89 aircraft parking slots, 24 bridges for departures and arrivals plus an utterly credible automotive system of unloading baggage on 15 railways.

Located 27km northeastern of Athens, the new Athens International Airport, is accessible via "Attiki Odos", a six-lane motorway constituting the Athens City Ring Road. Public transport is provided by express airport bus connections with Athens center and the port of Piraeus on a 24 h basis, ensuring efficient transport of air travellers and facilitating linkage to key tourist attractions.

Passengers of the new Athens Airport will be able to use the 3 public transport lines scheduled to accommodate their needs.The new lines are as follows:

E94
(Ethniki Amina - Airport)

Hours of operation: 18 hours
First bus: 06:00
Last bus: 24:00
Frequency: 15 minutes
Duration: 40 minutes
Terminal: Ethniki Amina (Pentagon)
End point: Arrivals Building
Fare: 1000 GRD (€ 2.93)

E95
(Syntagma - Airport)

Hours of operation: 24 hours
First bus: 06:00
Last bus:
Frequency: 25 minutes
Duration: 65 minutes
Terminal: Syntagma Square
End point: Arrivals Building
Fare: 1000 GRD (€ 2.93)

E96
(Piraeus - Airport)

Hours of operation: 24 hours
First bus: 01:00
Last bus:
Frequency: From 01:00 to 05:25 every 40'
from 05:45 to 0:55 every 20'
Duration: 100 minutes
Terminal: Karaiskaki Square (Piraeus)
End point: Arrivals Building
Fare: 1000 GRD (€ 2.93)

Arriving at the airport, taxis will be unloading the passengers on the designated areas of the Departures level at the main terminal. Departing from the airport, the taxi queue will start from Door 4 of the Arrivals Level and extend up to Door 1. The chartered taxis will park and collect their clients on the outer side of the inner curb. The duration of the trip to center of Athens is about 40' and the price will be approximately 5,000 GRD (€ 14.67 ). Final prices for getting to/from the airport have not yet been defined. Still, the tariff to the airport is single and not double.

Arrival by train or bus

There are two railway stations in Athens: The "Larissa Railway Station", which serves national and international trains coming from the north of Greece, and the "Peloponissos Railway Station", which serves only national trains coming from the south of Greece. They are located very near to each other, not far from Omonia square (see map). The stations are served by trolley bus No 001 and many buses.

Bus terminals for buses arriving from various Europeans cities (Belgrade, Prague, Sofia, Budapest, etc.) are located at different places in Athens, depending on the city of departure. Information about the exact time and place of arrival of your bus may obtained from your travel agent.

Transport in Athens

Public transportation

The public transportation network includes trolley-buses, a large number of buses connecting different areas of Athens and Athens suburbs, an underground electric railway and a new metro. Tickets for buses and trolley buses are sold at newspaper kiosks (periptera), at special booths or stands found in the main squares of the city and at several bus stops. They may be used on all local buses. A monthly personal transport card that permits unlimited travel on all public transport can also be issued (photograph required). At the time of printing (December 2000) one ticket costs 150 GRD for buses and trolley-buses , 200 GRD for underground electric railway and 250 GRD for metro. The normal price of the transport card is 6.000 GRD for buses and trolley-buses(for a month) and 12.000GRD for buses, trolley-buses and electric railway(1 EURO = ~340 GRD). There is also an one-day card that costs 1.000 GRD which is used for the whole public transportation.

Maps of the bus routes may be obtained from special ticket kiosks at the city centre (Akadimias str.). Bus hours of operation: 05:00-00:30 every 5 to 30 minutes, depending on the route and the traffic conditions. Some special routes (night buses) also operate after midnight approximately every hour.

The electric railway and especially the metro are, by far, the quickest means of transportation. Presently, there is one line in operation, namely the line connecting Piraeus to Kifissia via Omonia square (electric railway), and two lines connecting Cholargos to Sydagma and Dafni to Sepolia via Syntagma square. It is worth to notice that the electric trailway and the metro have 'common' station in Omonia square with an uderground distance of a few meters. Operating hours: 05:00 - 00:15 every 5-10 minutes. There are also many useful information at the official web sites of OASA (buses , trolley-buses and electric trailway) and METRO . If you have any question you can call 185 , a telephone service about public transportation network in Athens.

Taxis
Taxis are yellow and bear the sign TAXI on the roof. They can be found at special stops or in motion. The flag falling charge is 250 dr., the fare by Km 66 dr. and after 12 midnight 126 dr./Km. The amount payable is indicated on the taximeter of the car, except in cases where there is a surcharge: 500 dr. for transport from ports-airports or to airports, 150 dr. from long distance bus terminals, 100 dr. for each piece of luggage and 400 dr. for radio-taxi call.
Compared to the cost of commuting by bus, getting around by taxi is rather inexpensive in Greece. Taxis can be hailed from the street and the fare is displayed on a meter; however, it can be sometimes quite difficult to find a taxi, especially during rush hour. Taxis can also be hired from various local offices, both in central Athens and in the suburbs.