Where to leave bags 2 hrs after Viking cruise

Have you asked Viking this question? My guess is they've been asked this ??? before. However, I should add their customer service folks aren't always pleasant to deal with, at least back in 2010 when I took my cruise. Maybe customer service has improved since then.

Yes. I've asked Viking. They said they can not guarantee anything in advance. Then talk with Guest Services when aboard. I can't rely on that. So, looking for ideas.

Two hours is NO time at all ... even if you had a place to stash your bags... it may take 35-40 minutes just to get to Central Athens AFTER you step into a vehicle, ... and that's if you are the very first ones off the ship (unlikely). And does that 8-10 am "extra hours: need to include the drive TO the airport (which in traffic takes 1 hour from central Athens) ?? You need to look at a Map -- https://www.greeceathensaegeaninfo.com/a-ath/maps/07-greater-athens3-lg.jpg If you go from Piraeus, the port, to Central Athens, you must get off the "thru-ways" onto the local, trafficky streets.

What you may have to do to even get a glimpse of Acropolis & Parthenon as you drive by would be to book a car service -- 2 good ones are Welcome Pickups and City Cab (both are services that use licensed english-fluent drivers - you are given a price online & pay by credit-card). They would meet you at foot f gangplank with sign with your name & put bags in the trunk. But a drive-by is all you'd have time for.

“see some Athens” when disembarking from the cruise port and having to be at the airport 2 hours later is totally unrealistic

The best you can do in 2 hours is as Janet suggests, take a taxi and ask the driver to go through the center of Athens (although you won't see much).
Hoping that there won't be too many traffic jams on the road.

Yes we had included driving time from port to city and then onward to the airport by a 2 hr. check-in time. But we are guessing at OUR disembark time and the flight departure time, as you know, flight schedules are not avaible for 10/25 flights until 11/24.

So the better question is IF we had 1-2 hrs (Saturday, 8-10am) how to see a few sights. WelcomePickups sound quite feasible. OK to leave our baggage if we wanted to walk around 10 minutes? Other ideas? We are just trying to see the options to avoid an Athens hotel expense.

Many Thanks,

Ted

The ever optimistic google maps has a trip from Pireaus harbor to the Acropolis and on to the airport taking 1.25 hrs. I suspect 1.5 hrs is more realistic and if you stop and get out of the car for a few photos, add a bit more time......

We are assuming 2 hour airport check-in.

Checked bags? Where does the plane you board at ATH land ? 2 Hours may be fine, but it could be cutting it a bit close. Depends on what you need to accomplish prior to boarding the plane.

I do not see that you need to store your bags anywhere but the back of the vehicle you will riding in.

Thanks to all. There's clearly no time to do our Plan A. And the time available is a total guess until we are able to book flights in November. So for now, Welcome Pickups seems like a great option. Any idea what they would charge for 2 people from Viking port to the Parthenon and Acropolis and onto the airport on a October 2025 Saturday?

Many thanks,

Ted

I'm not aware that Welcome Pickups will hold your bags and hang around waiting for you to check the Acropolis/Parthenon. Be sure of what your options are.

As the Parthenon cannot be reached by taxi, you will have to go as close as possible. Somewhere in a street in Plaka or to the South West of the Acropolis (where the tourist buses stop) from where you will have to walk to have a view of the Acropolis.

It will cost you around €30 with Welcome Pickups if the prices do not increase (and if Welcome Pickups still exists in 20 months)..

It will cost a lot more if the driver has to wait for you (and if he agrees to do so).

Currently Welcome shows a price of 18 euro from Port to City Centre and 40 euro for City Centre to ATH.

Rates in Oct 2025, hard to know --- add 10-20% ? Plus whatever charge for 'waiting' if you stop for some photos.

My guess is 70-100 euro. ( ~$76-110 at current exchange rate)

You would have to pay something to get from the Port to ATH so your marginal extra cost is actually less.

Why not book your flights a day or two later and stay in Athens for one or two nights? The cost of an Athens hotel is a minor expense when looking at the total cost of your trip! There is a lot of information on this website about reasonably priced Athens hotels which posters have recommended after their stays. Two Athens hotels recommended frequently by posters here are Hotel Hera and Attalos Hotel. You write that you want to save the price of a hotel stay; do some trial bookings to see the hotel rates. I bet you’ll be surprised how inexpensive a hotel in Athens can be.
It would be such a shame to miss seeing Athens and it’s amazing antiquities when you are so very close!

You can’t guarantee a time for disembarking the Viking ship. Even booking a later same day flight would be helpful.

I agree with Suki - stay on 2 or 3 more days to see Athens properly. Even if you are using air thru Viking, they will only charge you $100/pp for a deviation. Arranging a hotel on your own will be much cheaper than the Viking Extension. It would be easy to days trips even thru Viator or Get your Guide.

We just did a Viking cruise which ended in Athens this last November. It took us over an hour to get to the airport from the Cruise Terminal. Viking assigns times to get off the boat dependent upon when your flight leaves. Unfortunately, it would be improvable that you would be off the boat in time to see something and then get back to the airport in time for your flight. We had to sit around and wait until they called our number and didn't even get off the boat until 9:00.

We did another cruise with Viking a couple years ago which also had a port stop in Athens. The excursion we took went to downtown Athens to see the major sites. We had an early 8:00 AM departure and with horrible traffic it took us around 1 1/4 hours to arrive downtown. The tour director told us that it was normal morning traffic.

Athens is a beautiful area to visit, but I would suggest extending a day and leaving your bags at the hotel at the airport. It is a beautiful hotel and located DIRECTLY across from the airport check-in counter.

Azamara offers a debarkation excursion where they bus you to Acropolis, you explore a bit and then they either drop you at your hotel or the airport. They must be contracting with a local company to provide this. I would look at viator and see if something shows up there.

Hi Ted, we did a Viking cruise, Adriatic and Mediterranean Sojourn (Rome to Istanbul), in February. Your cruise is one leg of this itinerary. As others have suggested, look into staying a few days in Athens on your own. Or, add on the 2-day Viking post-extension in Athens. The Viking extension is self guided but includes hotel and transportation from ship to hotel and hotel to airport. This was a great cruise in a beautiful part of the world, enjoy!