nevertooold

Our flight to Athens arrives from Barcelona at 2:35 pm and the blue star ferry departs Piraeus at 5:30 pm.

Is this safely doable on a Saturday in early September?

Thanks for any advice.

nevertooold

Anybody?

P_M

Hi nevertooold, I suggest topping this again first thing in the morning when our European friends are awake. Good luck, I hope someone can help.

danalou55

Hi,

I was in Athens last summer and went directly into the city from the airport which took about 40 minutes, then add another 20 to Piraeus for a total of about an hour. Should be no problem IF your flight is on time.

danalou55

Whoops, I forgot to factor in picking up your luggage and getting through customs, so add another 45 minutes, but you'll hopefully be OK still.

ParisAmsterdam

More than likely. Assuming your flight lands on time.

The subway ride into Athens
is about 45 minutes to Syntagma Square... figure on another half hour max to Piraeus. So about an hour and 15 minutes at the most.
Since you have about 3 hours you should be fine.

The Athenians on the board here or at Trip Advisor will be able to give you more exact times and directions to the ferry from the metro if you need them.

Rob

nevertooold

Thanks P_M, Dan and Rob.

Any confirmation from the European group?

Thanks again.

Heimdall

Doable? Yes. Safely Doable? Maybe.

It takes about an hour to get from the airport to Piraeus on a Saturday. You will need to collect your ferry tickets from an agent at the port even if you booked them in advance. Assuming no flight or baggage delays, you should make it on time. Suggest you go by taxi, ask the driver to wait for you while you collect your tickets, then drop you off at the dock where the ferry departs.

ParisAmsterdam

As has been said, it should be do-able but here are 2 things that happened when I arrived in Athens in May...

I was traveling alone and had only my carry on bag. I had paid an extra 20 dollars to have a seat very close to the plane's exit door. I was the 4th person off the plane and walked rapidly once in the airport. I was the 3rd person through passport control but here's the thing... there was only 1 booth that was manned. I don't know how long it might have taken the other couple hundred passengers to get through. Maybe other passport control officers showed up after I was through but you never know how long something like this can take.

I got to the metro quickly enough (validate your ticket in the yellow machine after purchase!) but it seemed to take ages for the train to depart. It was at least 10 minutes though... maybe a bit more.

So things like this can cut into your time to get to the port. Probably you'll be fine but travel light and check a map of the terminal etc so you waste a minimum amount of time.

Rob

Heimdall

Nevertooold is flying from another Schengen country, therefore won't be going through passport control at Athens Airport.

Metro is a bad idea when going to Piraeus. The X96 bus goes direct to the Cyclades dock area, has little traffic to contend with on a Saturday afternoon, and is cheaper than the metro. I think it would be better to spend a little more on a taxi, though, unless you are confident you can find the ticket agent and make your way to the (Blue Star?) dock with time to spare.

Baby_Bear

I also have a question about trasnfer times. Will be going to Greece in September with family. We have a choice of flights from the US, and would ideally like to pick a flight that gets in early enough to comfortably transfer to Piraeus to board our cruise ship.

Our cruise ship departs from Piraeus at 6 pm on a Friday in early September. I was thinking that we should pick a flight that gets in to Athens from the US no later than 2 pm. We would need to :

1) Clear customs, immigration and luggage formalities
2) Drive from the airport to the port (our Greek travel agents will have a car to meet us, so no waiting in line for a taxi), and
3) Checking in on board the cruise ship.

Is a 4 hour window for all the above reasonable? Too much time? Too little time? I've heard the traffic in Athens is crazy, but I'm from New York, so it's all relative. Would very much appreciate people's insights! Thanks, BB.

By the way - we do have 2 days in Athens scheduled post-cruise. Couldn't go all the way to Greece and not spend time in Athens!

travelerjan

Baby Bear, Google Is your Friend! I just googled "Attiki Road Map" and here's what I found:
http://www.greeceathensaegeaninfo.co...athens3-lg.jpg

As this good road map clearly shows, your driver will NOT have to go into Athens itself ... he can drive on a major road straight south the the coast, then head Northwest into Piraeus. Sure there will be traffic, but more like the Saw mill river Parkway, not the Brooklyn-Queens expressway. And most of the traffic will be Outbound, not inbound as you will be.

Also, as long as you're paying an agency, e-mail them an inquiry about the expected travel time from aiport to Piraeus starting 1600 - 1630 (3-3:30 pm) ON a Friday.

travelerjan

However, the Michelin trip planner tells a diffrent story ... when I put in "Athens Airport" and Pireaus as start & finish, & put quickest it recommended taking the big highways shown, and gave an estimated time of 46 minutes.

http://www.viamichelin.com/tpl/hme/MaHomePage.htm

.. so to be safe, maybe allow double that time, 90 minutes? 2 hours tops?

To get to curb quickest, have one adult at the baggage carousel while the other goes to the ATM machines.

Baby_Bear

Thanks, travelerjan. So, we should assume one hour to clear customs and luggage and pick up some cash, and 90 minutes to drive from the airport to Piraeus, plus 30 minutes to board the ship and check in? The cruise ship said we should be on board by 5 pm for the 6 pm departure - I guess that means we should pick a flight that gets in by 2 pm? That strike you as being reasonable?

Loved the comparison between the Saw Mill Parkway and the BQE! Are you from New York? My last experience of the BQE was two months back and it was a complete nightmare - it was Christmas Eve and I was going to JFK. I had a friend also flying that night, and in a misguided attempt to save some money, we decided to cab-pool - except that after I picked her up from Brooklyn, we got stuck on the BQE in unbelievable traffic! I got to JFK at the time they were closing check-in - luckily, Air France took pity on me and let me check. My friend who was on Jet Blue missed her flight! I sincerely hope the Athens traffic is not nearly as bad!

travelerjan

Baby Bear -- your problem is this: Either your party gets a nonstop from JFK Newark or Philadellphia ... and they all arrive between 9 - 10 a.m.... or you fly somewhere in Europe, have a layover and arrive somewhere between 1 and 3. I just checked my favorite multi-site search engine for you, Mobissimus... and clicked to sort it by arrival time. The only possible afternoon arrivals for change-in-Europe flights are (1) Swiss-Air arrive 1:25 pm, (2) British Airways, arrive 2 pm, (3) Alitalia, arrive 1:15. The BA is a better buy (available at about $100 less than the other), and has a 1 pm return flight while the other return flights (6:30 am or so) force you to leave for the airport at an awful hour like 3:30 am! Go for the 2 pm ... book seats in FRONT of economy... cattleprod the moms to hustle to the passport line, and get to the curb by 3, your car-hire will be there, and then you're OFF!

Regarding me -- click on my name, and my profile appears and you know all (not really) -- in Philadelphia last 5 years, but before that, 30 years in Manhattan, 10 years Fairfield County. Love love love Philly it's an urban delight for tree-lovers & walkers (until the 2 back-to-back blizzards that is).