Greece Tips Needed
 

My family and I are traveling to Greece in November(wife and 3 kids: 14,10 and 4) and will be arriving in Athens early evening, what's the best way to get to downtown Athens from the Airport? Metro or cab? I've seen a lot of negative comments regarding the taxis, I'd appreciate any suggestions please. And any tips that you may offer to keep my kids interested. Thanks.

The metro is super convenient, safe, reliable, and cheap. My only concern is that I am not sure how late it runs... I believe it stops around 7pm but I am not certain.

See my trip report for directions to the metro station, the fees, how to get tickets, etc.

http://fodors.com/forums/threadselec...p;tid=34809276

Try this website.

http://www.aia.gr/EN/passenger_infor...king/body.shtm

It's the official Athens airport site and gives options of getting to and leaving the airport.

In addition to the metro and taxis, there are also express bus. You can see how close the bus will place you to your hotel vs the metro stop.

The last Metro from the airport leaves at 8:30 PM. It goes all the way to the Monastiraki station. There is also an Airport Express Bus #95 that will take you to Syntagma Square, leaving the airport every 30 minutes all night long, 24/7.

3 kids and 2 adults, a full load of baggage, and arriving (presumably exhausted) in the evening?

Whew! I would just take a cab for the convenience. Fare should be in the 25-30 Euro range.

BUT .. I'd advise having a written street address & hotel name to hand to taxi driver, and get him to agree to a "not to exceed" fare ... they have a way of tacking on "surcharges".

Another scam is to use the higher nighttime tariff #2, which is only supposed to be active between 12 midnight & 6AM , or something similar.

One taxi driver claimed that #2 tariff was for "expressway driving" , complete baloney. He backed down after I challenged him on this point.

Thank you all for the quick response. TexasAggie thank you for the mountain of info. I haven't even gotten to reading half the info on your link and I have already learned so much. I probably will have more questions later as I get a chance to read more.

Thanks again! Any info on the Airotel Parthenon Hotel in Athens?

Hi wandg,

Feel free to ask any questions and I will help as best I can :-) We are planning a return trip to Greece in 2008 so I am always doing little bits of research anyway.