Ceinwen

Will be arriving in Athens the morning of Sept 23, then heading for Rhodes etc. the following day. Will be returning to Athens Oct.10 and leaving Oct 12. Have seen some hotels in the Plaka area that look nice, but wonder how easy or difficult it is to get to and from the Airport or Ferry. Also, should I be booking soon? Any suggestionns for hotels?

PetrosB3

What's your budget?

greg

>>> how easy or difficult it is to get to and from the Airport or Ferry <<<

Have you looked at the map? If your hotel is close to the Monastiraki station, you have direct metro access to both the Piraeus ferry dock AND the Athens Airport.

If the hotel is close to the Syntagma square, you also have direct access to the airport Metro as well as the x95 airport express bus. If you use a taxi, the location does not matter.

>>> Also, should I be booking soon? <<<

What do you think you gain by waiting? If you make a cancelable booking, then if a more desirable one comes around, book that and cancel the first one.

clausar

As greg said, most convenient area would be the Plaka, especially hotels near to the Monastiraki station, that has direct access from/to both the Port of Piraeus and the airport.

You can check hotels around this area your self, using booking.com, and putting either Plaka or Monastiraki in the area search.

A for Athens, Attalos or the Plaka hotel are all very close to the mero station.

Pepper_von_snoot

If money were no object, you couldn't do much better than the Grand Bretagne in Syntagma Square.

The King George is next door.

The Royal Olympic if you want to be close to the Acropolis.

The Attalos is popular amongst the budget set (people who don't travel with Louis Vuitton luggage) and is near the Hippy Market of the Plaka.

You could walk to any number of fun-filled and death-defying activities from these hotels.

I always recommend the Benaki Museum and sitting at a cafe in Kolonaki Square with all the beautiful people.

Just don't blame me when you say, "Oh, scata! Not another Attica vase," when you are roaming around Athina.


Thin, slouching towards Athina

Ceinwen

King George and Ilk are too rich for our blood. Any thoughts about the Amallia, or Athens Gate?

worldinabag

Hi

Are you flying to Rhodes? Long way by ferry! Check out Aegean or Olympic air schedules. You may be able to fly on to Rhodes thus saving yourself a day. If you're flying and you need to stay a night in Athens it may pay you to store your luggage at the airport - http://www.pacifictravel.gr/ - and take only an overnight bag to your hotel. The metro to and from the airport is excellent.

WWK

Look at AVA HOTEL in the Plaka. It's our favorite hotel in Athens. We actually prefer it to Grande Bretagne and it's about half the price for a large room w/ a view straight into the Acropolis! Also, ATHENS GATE, a few blocks away from AVA is very nice, too, though much smaller rooms.

Pepper_von_snoot

You'd have to be daft to take a ferry from Athens to Rodos.

It only takes an hour to fly from Athens to Rodos on Aegean airlines.

We stayed at the Rodos Park Hotel in 2007. Beautiful swimming pool.

WWK, remember all the German frauleins who paraded around like they were on the set of a Russ Meyer film?

Thin

Ceinwen

Flying from California to Athens, so us old farts will need some rest first. Yup, we're flying to Rhodes, but will ferry from Paros back to Athens. Thanks for advice. One more question: Are road, street airport, etc. signs posted in both Greek and Latin alphabet. If only in Greek, we be in a heap of trouble.

Heimdall

Ceinwen, it takes just as long to get into central Athens from the airport as to fly from Athens to Rhodes. ;-)

brotherleelove2004

Road signs are in Greek and phonetic English. Most employees of all tourist-oriented businesses speak English and shops and restaurants have signs in English.

WWK

Pepper_von_snoot: I wish I could forget what I saw at The Rodos Park Hotel!

Ceinwen: If it's within your budget and there are still seats available, fly from Paros to Athens.

DebitNM

We arrived in Athens and had a 5 am flight the next morning so we wanted to spend the night at the airport, so we stayed at the Sofitel. It was a bit pricey but so worth it! It was really convenient in the morning - just walk out the door and over to the terminal.

We arrived after a long flight from NYC and we knew we would be jet lagged and would want to go to sleep early. We did this after we checked in:
Took a public KTEL Attica buses that go to Rafina leave from right in front of Sofitel, and depart more or less hourly throughout the day. [They are different from the express buses parked outside the passenger terminal that go to Athens and Piraeus.] You pay when you get on the bus, and it drops you off in the harbour area at Rafina. Rafina is a pleasant little ferry port, much quieter than Piraeus, and noted for its fish tavernas.

We had a great meal, walked around a bit, took the bus back and turned in early.

We also stayed at NJV Athens Plaza Hotel on our way home [which on Syntagma Square]. We got it through Hotwire and got a great price.

It was also easy to get to the train to get back to airport.

WWK

You could also consider staying in Vouliagmeni, which is only about 30 minutes from the airport.

THE MARGI HOTEL is really beautiful and quiet, which is great when you're totally jet lagged. It's within walking distance of Lake Vouliagmeni in one direction, and boats/cafes in the other.

Also not far from Glyfadi, which has lots of shopping, though probably not what you're interested in when jet-lagged!

Mimar

If you're arriving in the morning, it will probably be too early to get into your hotel room in Athens. Really the best use of your time is to fly on to Rhodes upon arrival. And grouping your days in Athens together makes more efficient use of your time there. We really enjoyed Athens last trip.