slug

Hello!

We will be visiting Greece for our honeymoon later this month and were hoping to take the subway to and from the airport in Athens for the first leg of our trip. I made my hotel reservation and assumed that the subway stop closest to our hotel was the same line as the airport, but it isn't. So we will need to transfer at the Syntagma station.

In certain cities (Chicago, Shanghai, etc.) it can be a pain in the ____ (fill in the blanks) to transfer from one line to another when you are dragging a suitcase behind you. Is this the case in Athens?

Also, how heavily used are the subways? Are they heavily congested?

Thanks in advance for your help.

brotherleelove2004

Like the Metro in any large city, the Athens Metro is used by locals and tourists alike so yes, it can get congested, especially at peak business hours. It's no more or no less of a hassle to use it than any Metro system in the world, you'll just have to deal with it.

indytravel

Having recently hosted the Olympics followed by the Para-Olypmics, I thought Athens' Metro was a cut above many Metro systems. My Athens transfers were easy.

Having a (deceased) mom who was in a wheel chair, I'm always looking around at handicap access in cities. Athens had working elevators as well as escalators. The Syntagma station is new, bright and easy to navigate with broad walkways. Has some great displays of stuff found during the remodel too.

For example Paris' subway system leaves a lot to be desired for handicap access as does Boston's.

Caravaggista

Athens Metro is VERY user friendly. You should have no problem navigating it with luggage. It is not a far walk between lines--there are stairs, but as I recall there were escalators as well.

smalti

Hi, slug! (I like saying that!)

I agree with Caravaggista--the Athens subway is very easy to use. It's probably the easiest system I've ever used.

As indytravel mentions, there's an interesting exhibit of excavated items at the Syntagma station, too.

Hope your honeymoon is wonderful!

slug

Thanks so much everyone for taking the time to answer my questions. It sounds as though this should be a pretty easy move between the airport and our hotel after all.

I am looking forward to seeing the exhibits at Syntagma and the Acropolis stop.

For others interested in using the metro, the link to the Athens Metro is:

http://www.ametro.gr/#


Smalti - thanks for the good wishes for the honeymoon. Only nine more days! And I am truly a slug, in spite of my efforts not to be.

Indytravel - You can add Chicago's subway to the list for poor handicap access.

DenverDice

I would concur that the metro is easy and cheap - just stay with your bags and stand near the door if you can. As more people get on, it's more difficult to get out with your bags. It gets very crowded during business hours. Also, use the maps on the walls. I wandered around for like 15 minutes trying to get to the other side of the platform before I realized the wall map was helpful. You don't need to understand Greek at all.

Matrexx

What makes the subway easy is that all the signs are posted in both Greek and English. All stops on the trains are announced in English. It is safe, clean, cheap and very easy to use. The trip from the Airport is 10E for 2 people. We did the airport trip 3 times (flying from the islands and to pickup a car).Use it and not the busses.