Getting to Athens

Throughout the year millions of visitors getting to Greece and Athens. For the majority of them, the best way to arrive to Athens is by air, but there are, or course, the alternative routes by train, car or ferry boats which leave from various ports of Italy like Venice, Ancona, Bari , Brindisi and Otranto as well as the train journey through the Balkan Peninsula. Visitors to Athens and Greece in general from the European Union countries and Schengen countries ( Sweden, France, Germany, Iceland, Italy, Greece, Luxembourg, Netherlands, Norway, Portugal, Spain, Austria, Belgium, Denmark, Finland) do not need a visa and they can travel with their ID’s. For more information about visa requirements you should visit the local Greek Consulates and Embassies

.There are offices of the Greek National tourism Organisation in many European cities from the offices you can obtain useful information map of Greece and brochures about Greece .For US citizens the official site of the Greek Embassy www.greekembassy.org gives many information and details. Though most tourists use Athens as a stop over before visiting the Greek islands like Paros, Naxos, Kos, Santorini or Crete island, the capital of Greece is worth for more than a couple of days of staying and has a lot of beauties and attractions to offer.

Getting to Athens by airplane

Arriving at the Athens airport

The new airport of Athens Eleftherios Venizelos located in Spata and is one of the best airports in Europe. The airport serves flights to Greece daily from several international airlines from all over the world ,It has a modern design and was build by a famous German construction company. Within the airport there are many facilities and shops, restaurants, bars, fast food, pharmacies, duty free shops, internet, banks, ATM’s, money exchange offices, news and magazines kiosks and all that makes any traveller to feel comfortable. The metro and the Proastiakos Suburban rail as well as taxis and buses to and from Athens are to be found opposite the main exit of the airport, the bus journey is cheap and takes between 40 and 45 minutes to the city centre at Syntagma (Parliament) Square (of course depending on the time and traffic), therefore the best way is to take the Athens metro that connects the airport with Athens and Piraeus. There are car hire agencies at the airport and if you want to rent a car.

TRAVEL TO ATHENS BY TRAIN

Train travel is not so much in fashion anymore due to the complexity of the journey through the Balkans. For those arriving from western Europe by car or train a good recommendation is to use the Greek ferries route from Italy to Greece.

TRAVEL TO ATHENS GREECE BY CAR

If you are driving to Greece coming from the European continent and you prefer to take the ferry from an Italian port, you need to head towards Italy and the Italian ports of either Ancona, Venice Bari or Brindisi, those ports have daily connections to Corfu Igoumenitsa and Patras. Patras is about 207 km away from Athens. Be aware though that driving in Greece is not as easy as you think, Greek drivers are speeding and overtaking many times without any warnings. There are some good highways a like the Corinth- Athens and the Athens Larissa, Corinth to Tripolis and the Egnatia highway.