Becca

My husband and I will spend our last day in Greece in Athens before flying out the next morning at 4:50 a.m. My original plan was to stay at the Acropolis Select that night and then take the subway to the airport very early the next morning. I read a post yesterday, though, that the subway to the airport is not in service right now. So here are my questions: (1) Would I be better served with an airport hotel (we are wanting to spend the day touring around the Acropolis, which is why I originally picked the Acropolis Select)? (2) If we stick with the Acropolis Select, would we be better off taking the bus or a taxi to the airport? (3) What time do we need to be at the airport for a 4:50 a.m. flight? Thanks!

Becca

One more crazy question - should we even get a hotel that night? Or will we have to be at the airport so early that there is no point in getting a hotel?

thit_cho

I think if you stay in Athens you will have to take a taxi (the upside is that your trip will be traffic free).

I had a similar situation last year, and I ended up at the Sofitel (right at the airport), and my flight was closer to 8:00am than 4:50am.

After touring and dinner, you can take the subway to the Sofitel and spend the night -- if it was me, I'd want to few hours sleep and a shower.

But, the Sofitel is not cheap, and I wasn't able to find any other nearby alternative (but there may be some less expensive options since you'll only be there for a few hours).

Maria_H

We also stayed at the Sofitel, which is 5 minutes walk from the terminal building. Like the last poster, out flight was at 8am, so check-in at 6, wake up and early breakfast at 5am. The Sofitel isn't cheap but is comfortable. For a 4.50 am flight you would have to check in about 2.50 - so unless you have a realy early night, it might not be worth getting a room at all - it depends how good you are at staying up late and whether you will sleep on the plane. The bus takes about 45 minutes from the centre to the airport, so you'd barely get any sleep if you came in from an Athens centre hotel.

lifeofmytime

I'm going to be in Athens for a night in September before flying home. We're staying at a B&B that is fairly close to the airport, and they even provide a shuttle service to the airport (included in the price).

http://www.stay-in-athens.com/location.htm

I can't really recommend it per e, since I haven't been there yet, but it sounds like it might be a good fit for you.

cheryllj

If you stayed at a hotel in Athens center, you'd have to be checking out around 1am to get a taxi and get to the airport in time to check in by 2:45.

I don't see a point in getting a hotel at all, unless you are going to bed at 7pm. I would just eat a late dinner around 10-12 (like the Greeks do) and then head to the airport. Sleep on the plane.

If you must get a few hours sleep before your flight, stay at the Sofitel. But you'd still have to go to bed pretty early to check out by 2:15am.

Becca

Great suggestions! I am going to look into this B&B, which says they have airport pick up and drop off and looks to be around 100 Euros, so comparable to the Acropolis Select and saves us cab money. It would be nice to get some sleep as the next day we have a very long layover in Amsterdam and we are planning to go see a couple of the sites while we are there.

brotherleelove2004

Taxi fares in Athens double between midnight and 6 am, so the ride to the airport would cost around 70 euro. There's an airport express bus from alongside Syntagma Square in Central Athens that will take about 45 minutes so early in the morning. The cost is 3.2 euro each. This bus leaves Syntagma every 30 minutes every day of the year, 24 hours a day.

Be sure that the shuttle service at the B&B is available at that early hour. Otherwise you'll be paying for a taxi at double the rate. ALWAYS set the price of a taxi before accepting the ride.