Travel time from port to rail station

Bookworm, the time depends very much on what time of day you're traveling -- if you're from a big city , you know that can vary wildly from rush hour to the mid-morning or mid-afternoon "lull." Are you on a tight schedule to make a certain train? Sharing these facts would help others to give better advice; on these boards full details are appreciated up front. Here's what I know:

TAXI RATES - Haven't been to Greece since last year's rate change, but in non-rush hour, I'm guessing about €25. If you get into the official taxi line (don't try street-flagging), the line official can give you a good estimate.

METRO - Here's the Official map: http://www.in2greece.com/mappages/athens-metro-map.jpg -- as u can see, you must take the GREEN LINE then switch to RED line. You have a choice of 2 stations to make the transfer ... OMONIA would be the busiest & most crowded, ATTIKI would be Less -- on the other hand, OMONIA would be likeliest to have up/down escalators and/or elevators to get to the RED platform. You'll have to look for Color-coded signs to steer u in right direction, and be sure you are on correct platform -- in Omonia Station it will be OUTBOUND for 2 stops, in Attiki it would be INBOUND for 1 stop.

LUGGAGE FACTOR -- Bookworm, again it would help if I knew more about you; are you from a big city in USA? Are you accustomed to travel on NYC Metro, DC MEtro, Chicago El, London Underground, Paris Metro, or are you a Subway virgin? I'm an old Manhattan Veteran, so even in my dotage I can wrestle a rollaboard off a crammed #1 train at Penn Station ... but you may be a busses-only traveler. There are several basics: • Get Seat by the Doors -- much easier to get off; doors close fast. • Beware Pickpockets!! Greece is one of lowest-crime nations in Europe, but a hot-spot for thievery is METRO, because of so many tourists new to public transportation. Some say money-belts but my waist doesn't need that bulge! On Metro I use a neck-pouch, with $$, passport, phone etc underneath my shirt. Wear your day-bag crosswise, in front, so both hands are free for your luggage. • Ask-ask-ask -- but ask younger people; most Greeks under 35 have some fluency in English.

The train I'm trying to get is at 8:27 am. I from Honolulu and they don't allow luggage that won't fit under your seat but I have used both DC and Chicago EL with suitcases.

Wow. 8:27 AM is an early train! I can't think what ferry you'd be arriving on in the early morning, except for overnight ferries from Crete or such. Even if you have a ferry arriving at 7 AM, not really enough time. First you must get off a big ferry, then walk to Metro station,buy ticket, board train (20 minutes at least)... Green line ride to Omonia (35 minutes) then time to get from Green Line Platform to Red Line platform (15 minutes) ... time required to catch Red Line, get to Larissa stop, get off & up the stairs (another 15 minutes)... that's nearly 1.5 hours -- it's 8:30 and you havnt even entered the train station. If you're arriving on a 7 am ferry, take a taxi.

I'm actually arriving on cruise ship at 4am. I trying to find out from the cruise line what time they allow us to leave to decide if this side trip is possible.

Thanks so very much for your info. The one thing that's hard to get from books is the perspective of time and distance between places when you've never been there. Due the fact I live on on an island, I very aware how traffic affects both those things.

I appreciate that experience-based insights are hard to come by --- and in turn, it is not easy to give advice, when key details only trickle out piece by piece. Now we know that you're arriving in time to catch a train ... but to WHERE? You want o decide whether "this side trip is possible." That's the first time you said "Side trip." To WHERE? Is it a day-trip in the middle of a cruise itinerary, where you must return to the ship by dinnertime? ... Or is this the END of your cruise? These basic facts are necessary if people are to give you good advice -- which we really, truly want to do -- instead of expending time & effort on suggestions or scenarios that prove irrelevant. A waste on both sides. Please share these important details.

This will be the end of the cruise, so return is not as much a issue but I'm trying to go to Meteora where I will spend the night and return on the evening train the next day.

In that case, I say go for it! As long as you can get off the boat early enough. But now that you say Cruise, and I realize it is not a ferry, I think you must take a taxi -- because the cruise dock is more than a MILE from the Metro station. And if you took a local BUS, you would have to go all the way into Central athens in Rush hour, then transfer. Take the bus. On return, you can take a metro.