hazardnc

Our flight arrives in Athens at 8:55 am (assuming all goes well) which means we cannot take the earliest flight to Chani on Aegean Air. The next available flight is at 4PM. I check olympic, and their ealier flight wa sonly 30 minutes earlier and a lot more expensive. Since the ferry schedules are not yet available, I am not sure I can get an ealier ferry.

That is a helluva layover in Athens. Should we (a) just suck it up and find something to do for the long layover (b) take a flight the next day or (c) take a ferry if there is an earlier one?

If we choose (a), what is near the airport that would be interesting?

grandmere

I'd go into Athens, spend the night, and off to Crete the next day.

brotherleelove2004

Actually, the schedule for the Hellenic Seaways Highspeed Cat #5 from Piraeus to Chania is available now on this website:

http://www.ferries.gr/hfd/highspeed5.htm

Unfortunately it doesn't leave Piraeus until 3:45 PM, so you might as well tough it out at the airport and take the later flight. Otherwise you won't get to Chania until around 8:30 PM.

There's nothing close to the airport worth seeing, but you could go into town for a few hours by Metro and have a quick look around, maybe go to the Plaka for a meal.

That or take Grandmere's advice, spend the night and get a fresh start in the morning.

hazardnc

The kids are saying to suck it up and take the later flight that day. Do you think we can leave our bags with Aegean or are there lockers at the airport so we don't have to haul them around while we find something to do?

Eleni

Interesting question.

Part of the answer depends on how resilient you are after what appears to be a night flight from the US. Which means that you will have been either up or on an airplane for a very long time before you land in Athens. When I was 20 I could have landed in Athens, taken the metro into town, enjoyed the day, and then been on the 4 pm flight to Chania without batting an eye. Alas, I am no longer 20, and can no longer do that without repurcussions.

As a result, if it were me, I would take Grandmere's advice, stay overnight, and enjoy my time in Athens. Doing this will allow you a "soft entry" into Greece. You could then adjust your itinerary back one day and spend only one night in Athens on your way home.

If you have good stamina, then the easiest way to spend your layover would be to take your bags to the left lugguge desk on the lower floor of the Athens airport (it will likely be too early for you to check your bags to Chania), and take the metro into Athens. The metro goes into Athens on the hour and half-hour (every 30 minutes). A ticket for 2 into Athens is 10 Euros (12 Euros if you buy two singles). It will take you 45 minutes each way to get to either Syndagma or Monastiraki in central Athens.

Just working through it, you would be on either the 9:30 or 10 am metro into Athens, arriving at either 10:15 or 10:45. From Monastiraki, you will need to take either the 1:21 or 1:51 metro to the airport. This will give you 2.5-3.5 hours in Athens.

So, what can you do for a few hours in Athens at mid-day after an all-nighter? If it were me, with my tastes, I would go to a lovely restaurant and have a fabulous lunch with a great bottle of wine, relaxing, enjoying the sun, and people watching. A nice place within walking distance of the Monastiraki metro where you can do all of these things is Kuzina Kuzina on Adrianou St.

Another option would be to have a quicker meal and then wander around Plaka for awhile until it is time for your train. One of my favorite places in Athens to eat for a quicker meal, is "O Thanasis" on Mitropoleos Street just up from the Monastiraki metro station. They have incredibly good kebab and tzatziki which is good introduction to Greek food.

hazardnc

Thank you, Eleni, what a wonderful description!

I, too, am no longer 20! And while in trips past I was able to muster the energy after a long flight thanks to the excitement of travel, I am not sure the energy is still there. But, I will be traveling with my 19 and 15 year olds, so at least I will not be dealing with younger kids who are tired and fussy and in need of a nap. No, it will be Dad and Mom in need of the nap!

Since we have bought our tickets and have a fixed return, I am tempted to suck it up and do what we can to make the best of the day by taking transport into Athens for a good lunch with wine and then catch the fligh to Chania that day. Perhaps the challenge will force me to do more on my pre-Greece bathing suit workout to make sure I have the stamina!

I guess it is smarter to take the metro than a taxi? With the metro, no worries about traffic jams, I suppose?

Eleni

Most definitely take the metro. It is cheaper, faster, more convenient, and causes less stress about taxi drivers and dealing with non-English speakers. The airport is at one end of the line and Monastiraki at the other end, and all passengers must exit at the end of the line. This means it will be easy for you to find seats for your metro ride because you will be entering an empty train.

sheila

The only time I ever splurged on a guide was in a similar situation in Athens- we were on the way home, but.

There's a guy called George- you'll find him on Matt Barratt's site- and he picked us up and drove us all over- the Parthenon, Monastariki, Lykavittos, Piraeus, Changing the Guard. Lots of helpful commentary. We'd never have seen as much without him.

If I were in the same situation today, having had the overview- and actually, we've stayed overnight in Athens since-I'd just go to the museum, which, somehow we've always missed.

Realistically, you'll be lucky to be clear to be out of the airport by 10, and you'll have to be back by 3.30pm at the latest- a lot earlier if you were married to MY anal retentive husband. You've got at least an hour and a half travel time in and out of the city, so you've got 4 hours to play with. Personally I could spend the whole time at the Parthenon, no bother.

Heimdall

Hazardnc, before making your final decision, you should know that the Olympic domestic timetable for summer 2007 hasn't been published yet. I have been waiting to book my flight from Paros back to Athens on 16 Jun, and they are still showing the winter flight schedule. I just checked again before answering this post.

When the summer schedule is out, there will be three flights between Paros and Athens rather than two. It may be the case that extra flights to Chania will be added as well. In the past Olympic has put its summer timetable on their website at the beginning of March, so keep checking.

Heimdall

BTW, once the €19 Aegean seats are gone, their airfare is often more expensive than Olympic's. So if you can get €19 tickets now, it might be better to go ahead and book the 4PM flight right away. Otherwise, wait a couple weeks and you may find additional flights listed on the Olympic website.

hazardnc

I took the plunge and bought the tickets for same day flight to Chania on Aegean since the fare was just so good.

I like the idea of a nice lunch somewhere (much better than eating at the airport, right?) What is the where is the Plaka in relation to Monastiraki, and would someone please tell me how to pronounce these areas?
I am going to try to learn some key Greek phrases, but this language is as confounding to me as Dutch! Actually, I could read Dutch and understand it but don't ever ask me to speak it!

marginal_margiela

I just nixed my planned trip to Chania for the very same reason: no flight on Aegean until 4PM. My friends and I will not wait at the airport all day. (We don't want to go into Athens because we are staying in Athens for 3 nights at the end of our trip--also travelling to Rhodes.)

Now, it is either Santorini or Thessaloniki. I am on Valium because of this trip.

hazardnc

Well, we can't pass up Crete b/c it looks too special. In fact, the more we read about Crete, the more we have thought about spending our whole time there. But, the kids want to get a taste of the other islands.

When I started my trip planning, I wanted to see Rhodes and Lesvis and Kos - definitely interested in a day trip to Turkey. In the end, it was moving around way too much for us, and I decided we will have to save those other islands for another day.

We do not plan on waiting at the airport for 6 hours -- we're going to take the metro into Athens and have lunch -- but I hope some other fodorites give me more lunch suggestions!

marginal_margiela

You can find many, many restaurants in the Plaka (PLOK Ah) area. Men will come right up to you and say, "Where you from? USA? My brother, Theo, he live in Chicago. You come with me to my cousin's restaurant right down the street here. Very good fish. Very good! You want to buy gold bracelet?"

Have fun.

Eleni

nchazard, here is a map of central Athens that may help you:
http://www.athensguide.com/map/athens.htm

Move down the page and towards the right hand side you will see in big red letters "Psyrri Monastiraki." Right below the big letters, it says METRO STATION in black and MONASTIRAKIOU SQ in blue. This is where the Metro from the airport will deposit you.

Plaka is the entire district between the Monastiraki metro station and where it says "Plaka" in big red letters on the map, with the boundaries being essentially Mitropoleos Street on the north, Vas. Amalias on the east, the Acropolis on the south, and the Ancient Agora on the rest. To give you some perspective, it is about 1/2 mile from the Monastiraki metro station to where it says Plaka on the map.

The restaurant "O Thanasis" is on Mitropoleos Street, just east of the metro station. There are several similar restaurants on the same narrow street. O Thanasis is the second restaurant on the right as you walk east from the station.

The restaurant Kuzina Kuzina is on Adrianou Street at No. 9, which is a little west of where it says MONASTIRAKIOU SQ. in blue on the map.

Plaka is pronounced PLAH-kah.
Monastiraki is pronounced mohn-ah-stee-RAH-kee, with the "r" rolled (a sound that can be difficult for English speakers) If you just can't roll your r's, then mohn-ah-steer-RAH-kee is probably the best approximation, with steer being pronounced like you would for cattle.

As for learning Greek, here is a site with some good basic phrases:

http://www.greece.org/gr-lessons/gr-.../tourists.html

If you click on the phonetic pronunciations, you can hear the word being spoken, which may help. It is nice that you want to learn a few phrases, just to be polite. In general, however, I wouldn't worry about language issues, because most places you are going, there will always be someone who speaks English.

I think you made a great decision limiting the number of places you go, and think you will really be happy you went to Crete, even with the layover.

hazardnc

I just checked olympic Airlines again and still don't see any difference in the flight schedule. Does any know if they usually have a flight to Chania between 10 and 2 in the afternoon?

chatham

Something you might consider. Rent a airport hotel room at day-rate to freshen up , have breakfast and take naps and continue your journey well rested after your long flight. I did this once in Ireland and it worked out very well.

Heimdall

Hazardnc, Olympic flight OA532 leaves Athens at 1235 on Saturdays, but other days seems to leave before 1000. The next flight appears to be at 1530.

In an earlier post you said "I took the plunge and bought the tickets for same day flight to Chania on Aegean since the fare was just so good." Are you having second thoughts?

hazardnc

No - just thought if I could find earlier tickets, I would consider. Cest la vie!