getting to Athens hotel for tour from airport - metro or taxi?

I used Welcome Pickups and they were great. Worth it for me after a long day of travel.

Don’t even think about the metro with luggage and jet lag. It is a pickpockets playground. I had a near miss there and my brother-in-law lost everything-wallet, iPhone, etc. Take a taxi or use Welcome Pickups.

Taxis to central Athens have a flat rate of 38€ and we always use them.

NO question...get a taxi!
Review options in RS guide book.
We did the RS Tour in April and were VERY glad we followed the RS guide book/recommendation for a taxi...both ways.
Another member of our tour choose Metro and was pick pocketed...NOT a good start to a GREAT RS Tour!

Enjoy Greece!

I beg to differ… We arrived in Athens around 8:30 in the morning and took the metro with absolutely no trouble. Easy and inexpensive. Totally recommend the metro.
Enjoy the tour, it’s awesome!

I will add that we had our valuables in our money belts and took every precaution.

The Athens metro is good, but with luggage and having just arrived I find it a taxi worth it for the ease. A pre-arranged car, like from Welcome Pickups, is about the same cost as a taxi and I've had very good luck with them.

Or if your hotel is near Syntagma Square, the X95 express bus is set up for travelers (luggage racks, starts at the airport, not a ton of stops). If you want public transit and your hotel requires a metro change, then the bus is easier.

Hi John,
What is the date of your tour? We are doing this tour October 7th. We plan to take a taxi!

Luv2travel-glad you did not get pickpocketed. You were fortunate. But to chance that (and it is a real problem, just Google it) plus the joy of dragging your bags on the metro then walking to your hotel, all the while jet lagged to save, what, 20 Euros for 2 people? Simply not worth it IMHO.

We did the Metro, but our flight was from Rome after being there for several days, so did not have the long flight into Athens to contend with.

It is not difficult

Depends where you are coming from and when your flight arrives, whether a taxi would be worth the expense.

You’re spending thousands of dollars in this trip - spend a wee bit more and take the taxi - you will be exhausted after a long flight - and h omg brain fog while trying to “ keep you wits about you “ and keep your luggage safe isn’t fun and isn’t the way to start a GLORIOUS experience!

I did this tour two years ago. I took the metro and followed the directions given. I had no problem with the metro but will tell you that one of the women in our tour group did get her pockets picked. She did admit that she didn't keep her wits about her. When you get on the metro at the airport it will be empty because it begins there. You're tempted to put your luggage in the empty luggage racks. Don't do that! The cars will soon fill up and you won't be able to see your luggage through the crowds of people. Just keep everything with you and be aware of your surroundings. If any of this makes you worried, just take the taxi, but really the metro was very easy.

We did this tour in 2014 and followed the directions using the metro and had no problems. Make sure to keep all your luggage with you and you'll be fine.

We used the metro to our tour hotel and had no trouble. When you’re doing an RS tour you aren’t maneuvering large pieces of luggage, but we did keep the luggage right next to us. We also used money belts/neck wallets to keep track of money and passports. However, we had been in London for 3 days prior and mitigated some of the jet lag.

I arrived in the morning and took the metro. It was easy and I was solo, so it saved me a lot of money. The trains are only once or twice an hour so I sat on the train for some time before it left. The metros to the airport are specially designed for it, with lots of luggage room. You have to change trains at Syntagma - it's easy, very clear directions. From Acropolis metro stop, it's an easy slightly downhill walk to the Hera Hotel, another couple of blocks down to the Acropolis Select Hotel. AFAIK these are the two hotels RS uses. There is another metro stop closer to the Acropolis Select, but when you exit, it can be confusing to get your bearings and you may be on the wrong side of a busy street and it's uphill to the hotel. Using the Acropolis stop, there are elevators and/or escalators to street level so it's very easy with luggage.