Greece - Athens Airport to Town

Once you're in the airport and have gone through passport control (don't worry pretty much everyone speaks English), you'll want to get into town. 

If you take a taxi, they cost around 40€. They're readily available at the airport although I've never taken one from the airport, only to the airport. If by chance you are traveling between midnight and 5am, there is a significant surcharge for this fare. Once you're in the taxi, say για σας (yia sas), or "hello," and show the driver your phone or hand them a printout of your hotel or destination. 

Again, most speak English, but some of the these Greek names are very hard to pronounce. The Greek language is fascinating - I have been studying it for over a year - and am struggling. (But you'll hear more about the Greek language later.)

There are also buses that will take you to the center of town. The X93 takes you to the bus station, but the X95 is the one I've taken into town, and drops you off (and departs from) Syntagma Square. This is the main square in Athens where many of the protests take place. Considering that Athens is the birthplace of democracy, there is usually some activity here, but is is also a nice place to meet friends (see picture). But back to the x95, it costs 6€ and takes about forty minutes, which is not much longer than a taxi. And they depart every thirty minutes, Tickets can be purchased at a manned kiosk right outside the airport, and I am pretty sure that you need a ticket prior to boarding. But I do recall paying the driver directly also. You can purchase tickets from the kiosk with a card, but paying the driver will require cash, It's been a few years since I took the bus though, so things could have changed, Here is a better link for info on the X95.

Lastly, there is the metro. This will take you into the Athens center, with stops at the two popular squares: Syntagma and Monastiraki. To access the metro, you depart the airport terminal, cross the road where cars and taxis are waiting, turn left and follow the signs up the escalator. You can buy tickets either at the kiosk or the ticket window where a person can help you. Either takes credit cards, and the electronic kiosks have English (and German, French, etc.) and are pretty easy to use. A one-way ticket is 9€, the trains depart every thirty minutes, and they take around thirty minutes to get you into town. I take the metro pretty much all the time, and here is a good link that should clear up any confusion. Again make sure you get the "Airport to Athens" ticket versus the Athens ticket. Entering the turnstiles, you need to tap your ticket  to activate it once you enter the train, and once you depart the train station in Athens at your destination. If you don't have the 9€ ticket, you'll have to pay an extra price to be granted egress. 

So hopefully you'll be on your way into town. or heading towards your destination. But at least you made it to Greece. 






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