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Express bus or metro to Athens


coralsmum
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Hi, our ship is due to dock at 07.00 on a Monday and we are wondering which from of transport to use to get into Athens. The express bus is convenient for the cruise port, but will it get snarled up in traffic? The alternative means a 20minute or so walk to the metro station but then a straight run into Athens. Anyone with any advice as to which would be the quickest route as we are hoping to get to the Acropolis before 8am. Thanks, Sue.

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Hi, our ship is due to dock at 07.00 on a Monday and we are wondering which from of transport to use to get into Athens. The express bus is convenient for the cruise port, but will it get snarled up in traffic? The alternative means a 20minute or so walk to the metro station but then a straight run into Athens. Anyone with any advice as to which would be the quickest route as we are hoping to get to the Acropolis before 8am. Thanks, Sue.

I have no experience with the bus, just the metro. Our ship also docked at 7am and we wanted to beat the crowds to the Acropolis. We were successful - we arrived before the hoards. We got off the ship as soon as it was cleared & headed to the metro (electric) - about a 15 minute jaunt. On the way back to the ship, we took the bus (stop near metro) back to the stop near our ship. Also utilized the metro to get to the National Archaeology Museum (love that museum).

Edited by dogs4fun
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Thanks for your reply. I had realised there were buses connecting the cruise port with the metro station but heard some people found they didn't run frequently. Hopefully someone will be able to give their experience on the express bus too. Thanks again, Sue.

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Hi,

 

We took the Express Bus in the morning and the "metro" back in the afternoon. Below are some of the other Threads on this topic with lots of helpful insight. Be sure to find the most up to date schedule, pretty sure when I was there, the earliest express bus was at 8am or so. I believe the first one now leaves at 7, and the next one is an hour later (see http://www.oasa.gr/news.php?id=funk93). (Many suggest taking a cab in if the times don't line up with your plans).

 

http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=2060775

 

http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=2040424

 

http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=2049284

 

http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=2036787

 

http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=2165508

 

Hope this helps! Enjoy Athens!!

Edited by syesmar
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I would just second the idea of a taxi if you want the speediest option. The 20 or so euro fare is worth it to get to the Acropolis early. Taxi will drop you closest possible to the ticket booth.

 

Traffic isn't too bad that early in the morning. It seems much worse in the afternoons, so leave enough time to get back to the ship.

 

 

The walk to the metro from your ship could be 20 minutes but it could be longer. The furthest pier positions can be 30 minutes or longer....

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I would just second the idea of a taxi if you want the speediest option. The 20 or so euro fare is worth it to get to the Acropolis early. Taxi will drop you closest possible to the ticket booth.

 

Traffic isn't too bad that early in the morning. It seems much worse in the afternoons, so leave enough time to get back to the ship.

 

 

The walk to the metro from your ship could be 20 minutes but it could be longer. The furthest pier positions can be 30 minutes or longer....

 

I thought that there are courtesy buses from the ship to the metro station ? Is this incorrect ?

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Forgot to mention earlier that I took a local bus back to the ship after the "metro" ride. We were at E12....I do not recommend walking to the station from here! As cruisemom42 states, it would be quite a walk. (In the thread links are details with bus numbers, etc).

 

Happy Travels!!

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I would just second the idea of a taxi if you want the speediest option. The 20 or so euro fare is worth it to get to the Acropolis early. Taxi will drop you closest possible to the ticket booth.

 

Traffic isn't too bad that early in the morning. It seems much worse in the afternoons, so leave enough time to get back to the ship.

 

 

The walk to the metro from your ship could be 20 minutes but it could be longer. The furthest pier positions can be 30 minutes or longer....

 

I thought that there are courtesy buses from the ship to the metro station ? Is this incorrect ?

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gcgold,

According to a pamphlet I received at the port, there are complimentary buses for cruise passengers. To be safe, I showed my Day Pass to the driver.

I would doublecheck the times, etc, before departure. Here's some info the pamphlet gave last summer: Buses connecting the Metro Station (on the map says "Electric and Suburban Railway") with Gate E12 are 827, 828, 831, 843 & 859.

Enjoy your trip!

Edited by syesmar
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I did not see anything about complimentary shuttle to the metro last time I was at Piraeus port (October 2014).

 

To be fair, I was on a small ship, it was past prime Med season (the express bus had also stopped running), and I had already made other arrangements so I can't really say I looked too hard....

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Hi,

I went back and found the little “traveler’s guide” from the port and want to clarify that the free port bus to the suburban railway is only from Gates E1 to near the station (near E5), so on the opposite side of E11 and E12.

 

This website has a little info here: http://www.olp.gr/en/cruise-greece/transportation

Map: http://www.olp.gr/en/cruise-greece/posts-ships

 

The pamphlet also gives local bus numbers from Gate E9 to the Electric & Suburban Railway as 826, 832, 833 and 875. From E12 to the station are 827, 828, 831, 843 and 859. As always, verify before visiting, as things can change.

 

Happy Travels!

Edited by syesmar
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Hi, thanks for all the replies and good information. Thanks for all the links syesmar - I had already seen some of the posts but not all. The link to timetables etc is very useful. I think we will try for the express bus if we can get off the ship early enough, so thanks again to everyone for your help. Sue

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I'm still a little confused as to one thing, and that is whether the bus runs from the cruise terminals to Athens center every 30 minutes or every hour. There are a lot of references to the service being run every half hour, but then the bus site only shows buses running at 7, 8:05, 9:15, etc.

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roothy123,

 

I'm not positive, but I believe the "every 30 minutes" referenced is also referring to the return from Athens. Eg, it leaves Piraeus at 7, arrives Athens at 7:30 and returns from Athens at that time, 7:30, and leaves again from Piraeus at 8:05. So 30 minutes in one direction, and 30 in the other. I believe this is right, according to the timetable, and the finer details are a bit "lost in translation", since the website clearly states "every 30 minutes" yet the timetable only shows departures on the hour. I took this last summer, so hopefully someone with more recent experience will chime in.

Edited by syesmar
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Hi, our ship is due to dock at 07.00 on a Monday and we are wondering which from of transport to use to get into Athens. The express bus is convenient for the cruise port, but will it get snarled up in traffic? The alternative means a 20minute or so walk to the metro station but then a straight run into Athens. Anyone with any advice as to which would be the quickest route as we are hoping to get to the Acropolis before 8am. Thanks, Sue.

 

 

You are going that far for vacation, so just take a cab. The amount of money you save is not worth the hassle of public transportation, plus a cab will get you closer to the Acropolis entrance.

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  • 2 months later...

I DO know that the X80 did not run this past winter, but other than that, I don't know when it does run. I was even having trouble finding a real schedule for it.

 

oasa.gr is transportation website plus ametro.gr & tramsa.gr

 

Those are a couple websites you might want to look at. One of them, however, was really hard to use, as I don't know any Greek. Here's more info I've compiled, although I can't speak to the accuracy of it:

 

I think you can also take # 40, but not sure if picks up same place as X80. From Athens, the 40 picks up at Filellinon St, Makrigiani or Singrou Fix metro, every 30m or less in afternoon. Someone else says bus 843 (stop on Apheteria between terminals A & B) can be taken to the Electric Railway (Ilektrikos - basically metro). Ticket for bus & metro 1,40€ for 90 minutes. Railway entrance is opposite port gate E6; ped bridge goes over busy port road. If take Metro back, bus stop back to port is across street as exit Metro; cross street or take pedestrian bridge. If take green line TO Athens (every 10-20m, called ISAP M1), must transfer to blue line for Syntagma, but green line does go to Omonia, Monastiraki & Thissio.

 

Tom's Port Guides may have info on how to get to the city from the port.

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  • 2 months later...
I DO know that the X80 did not run this past winter, but other than that, I don't know when it does run. I was even having trouble finding a real schedule for it.

 

 

 

oasa.gr is transportation website plus ametro.gr & tramsa.gr

 

I wrote to the bus company and they informed that Bus X80 will stop running after October 31.

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I DO know that the X80 did not run this past winter, but other than that, I don't know when it does run. I was even having trouble finding a real schedule for it.

 

 

 

oasa.gr is transportation website plus ametro.gr & tramsa.gr

 

I wrote to the bus company and they informed that Bus X80 will stop running after October 31.

 

Thank you.

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  • 3 weeks later...
I would just second the idea of a taxi if you want the speediest option. The 20 or so euro fare is worth it to get to the Acropolis early. Taxi will drop you closest possible to the ticket booth.

 

Traffic isn't too bad that early in the morning. It seems much worse in the afternoons, so leave enough time to get back to the ship.

 

 

The walk to the metro from your ship could be 20 minutes but it could be longer. The furthest pier positions can be 30 minutes or longer....

 

can you estimate how much time we will need to see the Acropolis? I am arranging a culinary tour in Athens (3-4 hours) and need to figure out if we should do Acropolis and Parliament first then food tour, or the other way around. We should have about 8-9 hours in port. Would like to just use taxis to get from place to place unless there is a better way. Is it easy to grab a cab anywhere?

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we used the x80 to go to Athens and the metro to return, both are fine, but the x80 does take quite a while to get to Athens, but you could treat it as seeing the sights on the way. As someone said it will depend on when you are travelling as the bus stops for the winter at the end of October. The metro would have been quick but hubby spotted a LIDL sign and insisted we get off and get some supplies! the walk from the metro to ship is about 20 minutes which was fine as it wasn't a hot day when we were there.

someone said you should take a taxi as you've gone a long way for your holiday-well Europe isn't a long journey for us brits!

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can you estimate how much time we will need to see the Acropolis? I am arranging a culinary tour in Athens (3-4 hours) and need to figure out if we should do Acropolis and Parliament first then food tour, or the other way around. We should have about 8-9 hours in port. Would like to just use taxis to get from place to place unless there is a better way. Is it easy to grab a cab anywhere?

 

It's tough to give an estimate, as it varies considerably by your interest. Probably the quickest possible "tour" that takes in just the sites at the top of the hill would be 90 minutes. (Plus time up the hill and back down).The first time I went on a guided tour -- we spent about two hours including the guide's explanations and some time on our own. It was not enough for me. When I returned, I spent a full half day, but this also included the Theater of Dionysus and a couple of other sites not at the top of the hill.

 

Whatever you do, don't short yourselves the time. Greek food is good, sure, but the Acropolis (particularly the Parthenon and the Erechtheion, as well as the Propyleion and the small but exquisite Temple of Athena Nike) are truly world wonders.

 

Also, if going on your own, a guidebook or audioguide is a must. There is very little signage.

Edited by cruisemom42
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