8 hour layover in Athens enough to visit Acropolis?

You will have to claim and recheck, but...

Last November I transited through Athens on Olympic Air from Skopje with an onward flight to Naxos (all one ticket). They told me I would have to claim my bag, go through customs, and recheck it.

It took a full hour to get through passport control. By the time I got to baggage claim all the luggage from my flight was gone. I went to the lost luggage counter, and they looked it up and told me that someone from the airline had taken my bag, cleared customs, and checked it through to Naxos. Sure enough, when I arrived in Naxos, nervous though I was, it came off the plane.

So that could possibly happen to you, though I don't know if Aegean Air operates the same way.

In any case, assuming your first flight is on time, and assuming it takes you an hour to clear immigration in Athens, and assuming it takes you another half hour to make sure your bag is checked through to Chania, it will be after 8am by the time you are out of the airport. Then you get a driver or taxi to take you to the Acropolis. Say you get there by 9am. (I don't know how bad morning traffic is on a Friday in Athens; maybe it'll be later than that.)

I think you could visit the Acropolis in two hours, so let's say you're done by 11am. An hour back to the airport gets you there at noon for a 1:40 flight. It's domestic, so that might be adequate, but it might by cutting it close.,

It might not take a full hour to get from the Acropolis to the airport, but I'm just rounding up to point out that you can see it may be possible but if I were trying to do it I'd be very anxious.

If visiting the Acropolis is important to you, I'd make it an overnight stay in Athens. That way you can also visit the very excellent Acropolis Museum (https://www.theacropolismuseum.gr/).

Thanks for this break out! My connecting flight actually departs at 14:40 so I have an extra hour in the schedule. But I get what you mean; it depends on whether my initial flight is on time and whether I have to retrieve my luggage. I guess I could call Aegean now to confirm that. I've never been on a flight where i've had to retrieve luggage during a layover when the ticket was booked with the same airline, but you never know...so for now, a plan in progress...

I plan return to Greece at some point to explore Athens more fully, but it seems like a missed opportunity not to at least step outside the airport to have a peek at the Acropolis if I've got 8 hours, especially since I won't be back in Europe until late 2026.

Sorry, my 24-hour clock is an hour off....

I've never been on a flight where i've had to retrieve luggage during a layover when the ticket was booked with the same airline

The issue is that you are arriving on an international flight and departing on a domestic flight. It is standard for you to have to collect your luggage in order to go through customs. This was the only time I've ever had an airline move my luggage through customs for me.

If you are merely transiting (flying in on an international flight and flying out on another international flight on the same ticket, then you don't go through passport control or customs (except in the United States any maybe a few other countries). In that situation, your check bags go directly from the first aircraft to the connecting aircraft.

But that seems like an impossible connection. I'm not even sure why
Aegean offers this set of flights!

If Aegean offers connecting flights on its website in a single ticket, it's because they can do it. So this 1 hour 25 minute connection in Athens is feasible.

Last year, we had two Aegean flights on a single ticket (France→Athens then Athens→Thessaloniki) with a 35-minute connection in Athens (and checked baggage) which went smoothly. We collected our baggage checked in France in Thessaloniki.

I will have checked luggage; do I need to retrieve and recheck my
luggage for this connecting flight?

When you book a flight from Tbilisi to Chania via Athens and have only one booking reference (one ticket), your checked baggage in Tbilisi is supposed to go directly to Chania. You can verify this with the agent who will check your baggage in Tbilisi, who will then place a CHQ tag on your baggage.

When your flight arrives at Athens Airport and you have a connection to another flight, you are supposed to follow the "connecting flight" signs, but you can also follow the "Exit" signs, which direct you to the baggage claim halls, from where you will have no choice but to exit to the public area. In this case, you won't be able to return to take your second flight without going through security.

So I'm curious if an Acropolis visit is more feasible.

Whether your baggage goes directly to Chania or you have to pick it up in Athens to re-check it for the second flight, I wouldn't risk leaving Athens airport to visit the Acropolis. Even if it's feasible in practice.

The issue is that you are arriving on an international flight and departing on a domestic flight. It is standard for you to have to collect your luggage in order to go through customs.

That only applies when the final destination is an airport without customs facilities like Paros, Naxos, Milos, Syros, Astypalaia and several others- there is a list on the Aegean Airline website. Otherwise there is no requirement to re-check luggage in Athens if travelling on one ticket. Chania has customs facilities and takes flights from outside the EU. Luggage arriving from the EU and outside the EU have different tag colours- customs can easily spot them.

You will have to go through passport control in Athens.

I am wondering how awake you will be after what will be for all practical purposes a sleepless night.

Is there no other time during your trip to do the Acropolis? ( e.g., come back to Athens from Chania a day earlier, for presumably what will be your departure for 'home')

Thanks everyone! I ended up calling Aegean Airlines to confirm that my baggage would be checked through to the final destination. They also confirmed that I would be able to change my connecting flight to the 7:50 AM to CHQ and I'd be able to make the connection despite the short layover. So I ended up changing my flight. Athens will have to wait!