Closure of Athens airport metro link

Yes, Please do...

we were going to take it on May 1st from city to airport..

plan b

You can still get to the airport by rail using the Suburban Railway. Take the Red Line Metro from Central Athens to the 'Larissa' station. From there you can take the Suburban Railway the rest of the way to the airport.

The bus from Syntagma Square is highly recommended by the destination experts on tripadvisor.

The Airport Express Bus #95 departs from alongside Syntagma Square on Othonos Street every half-hour, 24/7/365. The fare is 3.2 euro. Buy your ticket from the driver and validate it inside the bus in the machine. There is ample luggage storage inside as well. The trip takes between .75 and 1.5 hours depending on traffic.

Paul

I can understand your doubts! As you say it has been announced various times, and it isn't really clear why the new stations should close the whole line.

All I can say is that Kathimerina carried a very definite sounding official statement last week, and that the TV news when we were there at Christmas was predicting the fact it would be closed in February.

I'll be in Athens in March and will report back.

If the line really is closed then, as other people say, there are other options.

Cheers
Alan

I am not making any judgement on this announcement, but in the last several years it has been announced that the Airport Metro line was closed...with later clarification that actually only a number of stations were closed, with the Airport and Syntagma stations still open and trains still running between. Now they may certainly be to a point in construction that does close everything down, but it would not hurt to inquire if you are there.

Thank you tons for the heads up on this, Alan--definitely please let us know if it actually happens! :)

The closure is definitely on. There are more details, including a link to the official leaflet, on the useful About.com Greek Travel site

http://gogreece.about.com/b/2009/02/14/metro-construction-affects-airport-route.htm?r=94

Cheers
Alan

Okay, folks, I just emailed a friend in Athens and here's what I found out. The Metro Line 3 is in fact closed for "several months" (which could mean a year or two) from the airport to Ethniki Amyna. It is still running from there to Syntagma, Monastiraki, etc. Bus X95 would be the best alternative from/to Syntagma IMHO...

We are flying into Athens again in late April so would appreciate an update from anyone who plans to be there sooner. Thanks.

Thanks Alan... will be looking out for your report. We will be in Athens on April 4th, with numerous trips to the airport so whatever info you have will be greatly appreciated. And as I asked in another post, how long is the bus X95 take from airport to Syntagma? I'm trying to figure out which options I have that will work. We are making a one day stop in Athens on our way to Santorini... Then a 9 hour layover in Athens from Santorini for our flight to Rome...

Any update on this? Would love to hear from folks who have been there since the closure.

Thank you!

Suzanne, we were there two weeks ago and the Metro is indeed closed from the airport. There are several other options, the cheapest being bus X95 from there to Syntagma. It takes about an hour or a bit more and can be packed (if it is, wait a few minutes for the next one so you can get a seat-they run frequently during the day).

Another option is to take the Proastiakos-Suburban Railway to Nerantziotissa where you can pick up the Metro green line to Monastiraki.

Finally, take a taxi. It will run around € 40 (agree on a price ahead of time).

We'll be arriving close to midnight, and our departure flight is at 8am (three days later) - so I think we'll be trying the bus. Glad to hear the other options work well - thanks!

I just got back from Athens yesterday, and can recommend the X95 bus to and from the airport. It's certainly the cheapest and probably the easiest way. It seems to run (at least in the afternoon, which is all I was looking at) from Syntagma to the airport about 4 times an hour. You can also buy your tickets from the counter at any metro station.

I'm going in September and they are "saying" that the work will be done in August. That's cutting it close, but is there any local buzz about whether they are on schedule? We'll need to get to the Akropoli station from the airport and are thinking Suburban Railway, changing at Larissis. I don't have the map in front of me, but that's what I'm recalling off the top of my head. Or maybe we should just do the X95 to Sytagma?