Taxi service in Greece
 

My wife and I will be using taxi service to go from the aiport in Athens to our downtown hotel and from the port to the bus terminal in Athens. Here are my questions:
Question #1: Are there any taxis we should avoid? Some cities have registered and un-registered taxi cars.
Question #2: We understand the fee for a cab from the airport to downtown at midnight is 40 euros. Is this correct? How do we avoid paying unnecessary fees beyond the 40 euros? Is it difficult to find a cab at the airport on a Tuesday around midnight (May 2008)?
Question #3: Any tips on getting a taxi at the port (going to the bus terminal)?
Any other thoughts on taxi service?
Thanks in advance for your help and HAPPY NEW YEAR'S!

Try to get the taxi driver to put the meter on, some are reluctant to do this. When getting a taxi to the port, get the hotel to phone one for you, the hotel will advise you regarding price.

Dear Carolina:
We will be going from the port (after our cruise) to the bus station. Any tips on doing this?

Although it is true, that what an Athens taxi driver charges, probably will not be the same amount as the meter says, I have learned to relax and take the drive as a Greek cultural experience.
One really must put this cost of Greek taxi's into perspective. How much is 40 Euros, maybe $60 US. Here at home I have paid $60 for a freeway taxi ride 20 minutes from the airport to my home. After that I realized that an Athens taxi driver who can navigate those streets and traffic is worth every cent of his 40 Euros.

There will be lots of taxi's at the Athens airport even at midnight.

It is a good idea to have your hotel name and address written on a sheet of paper because some of the taxi drivers do not speak English, but once they understand they will be able to get you to where you want to go.

Which port are you leaving from? There are two, the Cruise ship port or the ferry port.
If it is the cruise ship port then you will need a taxi, if it is the ferry port you could just walk a couple of hundred meters to the metro line and take the train for less than a euro each. We have done that many times it is safe inexpensive and often faster than a taxi.
The bus station is a short walk from the metro line.

I believe the OP is using easyCruise, which berths at Zea Marina. That is a fair distance from the metro station, so taxi would probably be more convenient.

Go to www.greektravel.com and look under Athens then go to George's taxi. Good info on this site about Greece and questions like yours.

In October 2007 we arrived at 2 a.m. at the Athens airport after a 10-hour flight delay. We needed a taxi to get to the condo we had rented - there were plenty of taxis lined up, no problem. The condo was on a tiny side street, very out of the way (initially the owner was to have picked us up ... at 4 p.m.)and the driver had to stop a couple times to ask for directions from other taxi drivers. He was great - very friendly and personable - got us there, and it cost 50 Eruros as I recall. We gave him a pretty nice tip.

We have used George the taxi driver though www.greektravel.com as Lily suggests. Actually we booked George but it was a friend of his that turned up. It was good for us at the time as we hadn't travelled that much, were a bit nervous and it was good to be met at the airport. We did pay more than the normal fare would be. Last time we were in Athens we used the metro instead - cheap and easy. Would recommend that you use the metro if you can.
Kay

We used Jordan Taxi for all of our transportation needs in Athens. Jordan was not available, but he sent a colleague: Nikkos who was very knowledgable and pleasant. Nikkos gave us a full day tour of Athens in his air conditioned taxi which was a blessing in July. Fees were a few euros higher than a metered taxi but it was worth it to have someone waiting everywhere we went.
www.athens-tours.gr

Once again, WOW...the info and tips are great! I'm checking into your suggetions now.

As for the port, we will be landing with a cruise ship (EasyCruise) so a taxi from the port will probably be required even thought we will only have two small backpacks.

Once again, thanks and have a wonderful New Year!