How to get from Athens airport to the city centre

Planning your trip to Athens, Greece?
• How to get to Athens city from the airport?
Best way to get downtown Athens from Athens airport

✍️ Are you planning a solo or a First Time Trip to Athens?
Excellent!
The capital city of Greece has so many experiences to offer to its visitors.
But what do you need to know in advance and how you’ll get to the city center easily?

Athens airport is located in a 27km distance from Athens city center.
There are actually 4 ways to get from Athens airport to the heart of the city center (and this should be the area from Syntagma square, Monastiraki area, Plaka neighbourhood and around) and enjoy its attractions:

• By car,
• by bus,
• by train (Athens Metro and Proastiakos railway)
• by taxi.

Lily's tips for this trip • Your reviews

Photo from my trips and my night walks in Athens

Lily's Tips:
Best Ways to do this:

The cheapest way, the quickest way and the adventurous way to get to Athens city center from Athens airport

✍️ The most inexpensive way to go to Athens city centre is if you by a friend’s car otherwise by the Airport bus and the fastest is by your friend's car, with a rental car or a taxi. Avoid rush hours for more convenient transfers.

• The only Athens International Airport is "Eleftherios Venizelos" (Greek: Διεθνής Αερολιμένας Αθηνών «Ελευθέριος Βενιζέλος», Diethnís Aeroliménas Athinón "Elefthérios Venizélos"), commonly initialised as AIA (IATA: ATH, ICAO: LGAV), is the largest international airport in Greece, serving the city of Athens and region of Attica.
AIA is located between the towns of Markopoulo, Koropi, Spata and Loutsa, about 20 km (12 mi) to the east of central Athens.

Which is by far the cheapest tranfer from Athens airport?

The cheapest option is by far the car of your relative or a Greek friend of yours.
You can even ask your hotel if they offer free transfer from the airport.
That would be awesome!
In case you can go downtown with the car of a friend of yours or a relative, everything is fine.
But if you use a rental car, you could rent your car online before your arrival to Athens airport or at the Rental Car Agencies that you'll find in Eleftherios Venizelos airport.
Compare their prices and services and hire the vehicle that best suits your needs and preferences.
Your journey from Athens airport to your destination in downtown Athens will take approximately 35-40 minutes depending on the traffic levels and the exact location of your final destination.

Which is the second cheapest option?

If you don’t have any friends or relatives in Athens - Greece yet (yes, why not soon if you are willing too?) and if your hotel doesn't offer a free transfer from the airport, the local bus is definitely the cheapest way for you to go downtown.

All bus routes are available 24 hours a day - 7 days a week.

The most popular bus routes are X95 and X96.

Bus Route X95 will take you from the airport to the Syntagma square in Athens city center. Syntagma square is close to Plaka neighborhood and a big Metro station is available there.
The bus takes about 60 minutes to reach the famous square, depending on the roads’ congestion.

Bus Route X96 will take you from the airport to Piraeus port, from where you can take the ferries to the Greek islands in the Aegean Sea.
The bus takes about 90 minutes to reach the port.

Busses X93 and X97 are also available and they will get you (from Athens airport) to Kifissos KTEL and Elliniko Metro Station. Both will take you to their last stop in about 45 - 50 minutes.

Bus Tickets: Tickets are available from the airport ticket offices or onboard.

Departure point: You can catch the bus from the designated area at the Arrivals Level (between Exit 4 and Exit 5, picture below).

It's ticket costs €6 per person (for a ticket of one passenger, one way direction) or just 3€ if you are under 18 or over 65 years old.

Athens Airport Bust Station - Departure point

Athens Airport Bust Station - Departure point

You can always get more information about Athens Airport Busses here or here

More Athens Airport transfer options:

Athens METRO: Athens Metro train, will cost you €10 per passenger with one way ticket (or 18€ for a round-trip), but you should check the departure hours timetable in front as the journey takes around 50 minutes, and there are no trains after 23:35.
In a 10-minute walking distance from the terminal, the airport train station building is located at the Departures Level and is connected to the main terminal via a passageway.
Get your way to the train station following the signs “Train”, ascend one level via either elevator or escalator, cross over the pedestrian bridge, purchase a ticket from the station’s ticket offices paying 10€ for a one-way ticket (5€ for students and elders) and 18€ for a return ticket and get to Syntagma Square in about 40 minutes.
Athens airport metro line 3 departs from the airport every 30 minutes from 06:30 am to 11:30 pm.
If you like to go straight away from Athens airport to Piraeus port, you have to change metro line at Monastiraki station and follow the green line to Piraeus (Line 3) until its final stop.

Yellow TAXI: A yellow taxi ride from Athens airport to the city center will approximately cost you about €40 (one way, daytime price between 06.00 a.m. – 24.00) and it will lasts (in no rush hour) about 40 minutes.
The yellow Athens airport taxis are queuing up at the official taxi rank, outside Exit 3 of the Arrivals Level. The taxi fare is flat, at 38€ during daytime (05:00 am – 00:00 am) and 54€ during the night shift while the total journey to Athens city center lasts 35-40 minutes under normal traffic conditions.
Don't let any taxi driver tell you another way or you should ask him about the cost of your ride before getting in his taxi.
Definitely taking the taxi from the airport is the most expensive way to reach your hotel or your final destination.

The Fastest Option: The fastest option between all the ways above that you can get to Atehns city center from Eleftherios Venizelos Airport is your car or a rental car (if you know the streets and you are familiar with driving in Athens) or the car of a friends of yours who arranged to come and pick you up and right after an airport Athens taxi ride or a yellow taxi.

Check more information on How to get to Athens city center from Athens airport here

Find Athens hotels and early room deals here

Lily's tips for this trip |Your reviews

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Lily (WasHere)