Hello,
I will be travelling to Athens mid June. This will be my first time in Europe. We will be travelling all day and will be exhausted by the time we get t Athens from Los Angeles. What would be easiest and most cost efficient way from Athens airport to Hotel? Thank you!
Brett
I know how exhausting it is to fly to Greece from the west coast. Our last trip was 27 hours.
Just curious are you planning any other destinations in Greece. Many of us recommend you get to your first island immediately on arrival in Athens. Jet lagged in Athens is no fun at all. Jet lagged on an island is much better experience.
Getting to your hotel. There is an express bus to Syntagma square however you will have to walk to the hotel with bags. Maybe 6 to 8 euros
You can also take the Metro into central Athens with several different stops so the walk to the hotel may be closer. The metro is safe but is infested with pickpockets. They like jet lagged tourists. 14 to 16 euros for two people if I am remembering correctly.
Best bet would be to take a taxi. It s a fixed rate of 38 euros during the day into the evening. Late night and early morning its a higher rate. The taxi will take you directly to your hotel.
Last October we had an early flight and had to get a taxi at 5am. I wasn't too keen on hoping a regular taxi would work that early particularly as we were at a vacation rental. At a hotel you can rely on them to call a taxi that they have experience with.
We went on line and booked a private transfer. At 4:55 we stepped out our front door and there was the cab waiting. It was a big black Mercedes with an English speaking driver. Same rate as the taxi.
citycab.gr
The Express bus costs 6 euros unless you’re 65 or over in which case it’s 3. As stanbr says it leaves you at Syntagma which might not be ideal. It takes around an hour depending on traffic.
The metro will take you to Syntagma or Monastiraki and costs 10 euros (again half that for seniors) or 16 for two people. It takes 40 minutes.
I think springing for a pick up makes sense. A couple of times recently we’ve used Welcome Pickups. The same price - 38 euros - as a standard taxi but no need to queue. They also have bottles of water in the cab which is a nice touch.
https://www.welcomepickups.com/athens/
Alan
It depends on when you land and where your hotel is. If it's close to the metro, that may be the simplest and maybe the cheapest. It's easy to find the metro at the airport, and there are escalators and/or elevators to street level at most city stations. It also depends on the time of day. If you are arriving on a weekend, when there's little traffic, the bus (again if it stops near your hotel) may be just as good or better. On weekdays, during the day, it's common to have traffic delays throughout the city.
We could easily give y ou the best answer if we had one key fact you did not supply: name of hotel. Please share.
After flying from San Francisco, we did not want to deal with lugging our bags on public transportation; nor even with getting to our hotel from the metro station a block away. We were very pleased with Welcome Pickups, and recommend them highly.
Like others we chose a pick up service after a long flight from Seattle. Our hotel (south of the Acropolis) arranged our ride. It was flawless and the same fee as a taxi. Our driver gave us an overview of the city on the way to the hotel. Great experience!
Looks like this question's been answered but any one of the pickup services mentioned above would be a great way to go. Another benefit, the pickup services wait for you in the airport terminal right outside the door from customs, often with your name on a sign. Who doesn't want their name on a sign?
Plus, no guarantee Syntagma or Monastraki are convenient to where you're going anyway. Subway is 10 Euros so for just a little extra you're getting dropped off right at your residence. Well worth it; budget later if necessary.
new company for Athens airport to hotels
with new cars minivan and taxi
www.airporttransfer.gr
I, too, used Welcome Pickups. It was lovely as I was a solo traveler to Greece on that occasion. I'd never used a car service before, but I was frankly leery of the Greek Alphabet (I didn't need to worry about this), so I arranged a pickup. Actually, I'd always wanted to be greeted by someone holding a sign with my name on it...so another bucket list item checked off. I digress. It was lovely to be greeted after two travel days and just hand my suitcase and stresses over to the driver from the minute I exited the secure area. Photos are exchanged prior to the trip so each party knows what the other one looks like. It was only a few euros more than a taxi and well worth it! Note, I usually just take public transportation, but I enjoyed this entry into a new city so much, someday I will take another private car service.
The OP is MIA - guess he's figured out what he wants to do.
We were there last September. We had our Hotel arrange for a car to pick us up. Well worth it to me I think it was around 45 euros. Much more than the train but took us right to the doorstep of our Rick Steves Tour hotel. The train does have a station about a block from the Hotel Hera. Enjoy Greece we did.
Why not reserve a car service? We use taxigreece dot com. Always reliable and friendly.
