So you finally managed to get to Athens, but how does one get around Athens? Well, that’s what we’re trying to answer in this article.

1. Getting Around Athens By Metro

This is probably the best way to get around Athens. The metro is clean, cheap and fast. To use the metro, all you need to do is buy a ticket at the metro station, where they also have automatic ticket machines, validate it when entering so you won’t get a fine and the keep it with you as long as you’re using the metro.

You can also take the metro all the way to the port of Piraeus. If you do that, the metro will eventually come up to the surface near Agora and you may catch a nice view of the Acropolis.

Another particular and interesting thing about the Athens metro is that some stations have small museums built inside them. Such is the case with the Syntagma station and Acropolis station where one can enjoy artefacts found in subway excavations.

One thing to beware in the metro, as anywhere else in the world, is pickpocketing. Keep an eye and at least a hand on your pockets.

2. Getting Around Athens By Car (Plus Athens Car Hire Services)

Getting a car and driving it through Athens is a pain in the you-know-what. However, if you still want to do it we can offer you some tips on how to best handle this. For example, in case you use an Athens car hire service and get your car from the airport you risk paying an expensive overcharge. However, if you plan to rent one it is best to do that from abroad, before reaching Athens. This way you’ll get a much better rate. All you need to do is use a specialized site or give an e-mail or phone call to one of the major international companies that operate in the car hiring field that have offices at the Eleftherios Venizelos airport such as Avis, Budget, Hertz, etc.

Another tip would be to take full insurance and ask the Athens car hire agency a couple of times whether the cost includes absolutely everything you must pay.

3. Getting Around Athens By Bus

Athens’ bus service is cheap and unreliable. Even though you could practically reach any point in Athens by bus, it is a huge hassle to find out which bus you need to take to reach a certain destination. On top of that, most buses are overcrowded and they often change routes to avoid excessive overlapping with new metro stations.

You can ask more about the Athens bus system by calling the information desk at 210-185.

The cost of a ticket is about half an Euro and you can get them at kiosks spread all around Athens. Once you get on a bus, you’ll have to validate the ticket otherwise you’ll risk a fine running anywhere from 5 Euros to 20 Euros.

One thing to note is that routes #60 and #150 are routes that serve the commercial area of Athens right in the center of it free of charge.

4. Getting Around Athens By Taxi

Most taxi drivers in Athens are by all means honest and will try their best to give you a comfortable ride through the chaos developing on the streets of Athens. However, you should be wary of taxi drivers from certain parts of the city that are more touristy, such as the Piraeus port, the Eleftherios Venizelos airport and other such areas as they might try to overcharge you.

Taxi fares are also inexpensive. Whenever you get into a taxi you must check the meter. It needs to be set on 1. If it is set on 2, it means the taxi will charge you double and that’s only allowed from midnight to 5 in the morning or if you take a ride outside city limits. There’s also a small tax of 2 Euros for servicing a port, airport, rail or bus station as well as a luggage tax or half an Euro per 10 kilos. These are 2009 prices.

In case the taxi driver picks up other people on the way you shouldn’t worry because he’ll figure out a way to honestly split the charge fairly between you all.

5. Getting Around Athens By Foot

Getting around Athens by foot is very easy and very relaxing. That’s if you can withstand the high temperatures in case you visit Athens during summer, of course. Most of the things you need to see are in the center and close to each other anyway. Monastiraki, Plaka, Psiri, Syntagma, Ermou Street, Omonia and the Acropolis are all one next to the other. The one thing you need to look after are scooters and motorcycles whose drivers often bend traffic rules in their favor so they’d save some time.

This concludes our article on getting around Athens. Hopefully this has been at least a bit helpful to you and we always appreciate comments containing new tips and suggestions on how to get around Athens.

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