Parking Lots near Acropolis? Best bets for multiple cars.

Eric, there is a large parking lot close to the entrance where buses and taxis drop off. I didn’t pay enough attention to see if cars were parked there as well.

To find it on Google Maps, you can put in Acropolis View Hotel and then zoom way in. You will see the parking lot off to the upper left.

Another option would be to take the metro to the Acropolis Station and walk about 5 minutes. This would take care of parking hassle. Do you really want to try to drive in Athens? The number of one way streets can be pretty challenging.

There is city driving and there is city driving. Are you really sure you want to drive in central Athens? The metro seems like a great option in my opinion. Driving in Philadelphia is not like driving in Athens.

I have not done this, but what I would investigate first is whether there is a convenient lot/garage at a metro station on the route in a suburban area. Riding through Athens did not seem at all like riding through Philly!
Be sure to watch weather since the site closes in extreme heat.

I'd rather avoid driving and parking in the center of Athens at all costs, so with that being said I'll look into parking at a Metro station and commuting in. My concern was that will add even more time corralling 12 people onto a train and the time the train takes to get to Acropolis station, but if that's the smart move/consensus, then it looks like that's the route I will take.
Thank you for the suggestions.

So much to cover. You thank RS forum for helping plan your trip but I do not see any previous postings by you. If you just read others' threads, you may have missed important warnings/advice:

• ACROPOLIS VISITS - For Friday 9 AM late august, it's very late start! Have you checked official website?? You may have to settle for late-day, 5:30 PM, fewer crowds, tho still hot. Then you could go FIRST to the Acropolis Museum 3-5... it has good a/c and audio guides, plus have afternoon snack in its nice a/c glass terrace looking up at Parthenon, then just walk across the South promenade & in thru the South Acropolis entry gate. Do NOT make any plans about transport until you obtain tickets!

Why why Drive in Athens? Athens' few major avenue are jampacked day & night. DRiving can be a nightmare, when you can't read the alphabet on signs, and so many streets are pedestrian-only. There ARE almost no huge Garages or large parking lots..

Best strategy may be a car-service lilke Custom Pick-ups to book a 12-passenger van with driver, to/from Acropoliis. No it won't be cheap, you could do a one-way, then use Metro back to Airport & a Rafina bus from there. Bottom line: there is no easy/econmical answer to moving 12 people around, it's like herding cats. Good lluck!

Your best option would be to find a parking lot near a metro station on line 2 (Red) and take the metro to Acropolis station, but if you prefer to drive in Athens, that's up to you... (good luck with that!)

Note that in Athens, you'll have to forget your US city driving experiences and switch to Greek mode.

There are plenty of small parking lots not listed on Google Maps, but I don't know the entry requirements or prices. A couple of times when I had to park a rental car in Athens, it was on the street (it was a real hassle to find a space).
To find a parking lot not too far from the Acropolis, I suggest looking in the area near the Sygrou-Fix metro station.

For example, these are:

Fix-Gazetas Parking

https://maps.app.goo.gl/zZpc8cWvygpYWp7b7

Fix-Plyntirio Parking

https://maps.app.goo.gl/Y7y4hMJSW1gMwqqg6

(check opening hours)

This area allows you to arrive from the east while avoiding the maze of the Plaka district, where you'll have no chance of finding parking spaces.

Feel free to look for other parking spaces in this area.
From these two parking lots, you'll be about a 15-minute walk from the side entrance of the Acropolis, which is located here:

https://maps.app.goo.gl/UPFxPrhWfgZKJX7Y6

JoLui, thank you!
Really appreciate the common sense approach to parking at a Metro station and taking the train in. I will try to price out alternatives ie. getting quotes from transport companies also, but my mindset is that i'm dealing with myself and my sister in law which have (roughly) 2 year olds to deal with, so a full blown tour of everything is basically out of the question. I'm going for the path of least resistance, but without paying through the nose for the privilege.
As for the Janet response, perhaps you should think about moderating your tone towards people posting... Yes, I haven't posted anything prior about my vacation. But that doesn't mean I can't read all the useful information on these forums and critically think about what applies to me. In fact my best research is usually gleaned from reading posts about the topic and seeing what applies to me. I feel I don't need to bother others for something I can do the research on my own for. To be fair, I didn't ask for your pontification about visiting Greece, I was simply looking for some insight from those who have been there. I'm not interested in getting up at 5am to make sure I'm at the Acropolis at 7:30am, I'd rather wing it and get there in the timeframe that I specified. And going late in the day is a non starter for me for a multitude of reasons: we have two- 2 year olds that a 5:30pm tour isn't going to work for. Also, my Father in law and mother in law are super early risers; they're toast by 6pm, in bed by 8pm. Plus we're probably having a chef cook for us back at our villa that same night, so an early trip to the Acropolis it is. I didn't ask what you thought about what time I should get there. I realize I could be entering a hellscape, but that's on me. I'll deal with it; thank you for your concern.

OK on Acropolis at 8 -- was just worried that those 8 -9 am time slots already are filled up.

Have you asked your lodging provider for suggestions on how best to move your group?

You should contact these alternatives:

A minibus transfer from Rafina to Athens (up to 19 passengers) is offered for €66 in late August with this one:

https://airporttransfersathens.com/

This one charges €123:

https://athenstransferservices.com/

You will save a lot of time, money, and stress

I think you had a simple misunderstanding with Janet. I don't believe she meant that 9 am is late to start exploring the Acropolis.

I think she was worried that July 17 may be late to be looking for morning Acropolis tickets for August.

Regarding ticket availability for the Acropolis, looking at the time slots availabily, almost all morning slots are sold out until mid-August.

Some morning slots are already sold out by the third week of August.

The fourth week of August is still "quiet," but that will likely change in the coming days.

Ticket quotas are allocated to third-party services, so if there are no more tickets available on the official website, you should check these third-party services websites (it will obviously be more expensive).

My concern was that will add even more time corralling 12 people onto
a train and the time the train takes to get to Acropolis station, but
if that's the smart move/consensus, then it looks like that's the
route I will take.

It's probably faster than driving. Don't expect rush hour traffic in Athens to move fast.