Athens DIY. What we did. (w/photos)

[firstcarib]

Yes, you did a great job of explaining using the metro to get to Athens/and the other directions as well. Loved the pics.

 

I had researched taking the HOHO bus. The price is 22 euros.

 

How long did it take on the metro to get to where you got off in Athens?

 

Ive been looking at the HoHo buses too. Has anyone got any info...is it easy to get one line (Blue?)from the Port , then change onto the other line(Red?) to see the sights in Athens? We often do these buses to give a good overview of a city, then return to the parts we liked the look of, but time is short on this stop, & we just want a flavour of all Athens. Then we can come back another time:D

[jb12]

Do they have signs in English st subway stations?

[sadiemay]

We DIY'ed in Athens last week and had similar experiences so I can answer a few questions.

 

First, the '20 minute walk' from Terminal B to the Metro station which Rick Steve's describes is closer to a 30 minute walk (and we don't dawdle!). We were fortunate to run into fellow cruisers who were doing the same thing so we didn't bail early thinking we were lost. I would do it again but just would have liked to have known that it's about a mile and a half walk in my estimation.

 

Time from Piraeus to Monastariki by Metro is 20 to 25 minutes.

 

If you plan to buy tickets at the main Acropolis gate, get there early. We arrived at 10:30 and the line was about 45 minutes long. We heard from others on our cruise that there was no line by 12:30 p.m. so maybe we should have gone in the afternoon.

 

Rick Steve's audioguides worked great. We did the Acropolis one and the walking tour of the Plaka/Syntagma Square.

 

We were in Athens the day after their elections last week and you would have never known it (except for the media camped out at the hotels lining Syntagma Square).

 

We liked Athens much better than we had expected to. Acropolis is amazing (couldn't believe we were there!) and the Plaka is a lovely area. The graffiti is ubiquitous and many on our cruise thought Athens was 'dirty' because of it. It's definitely too bad but some of it is quite artistic so it didn't bother us.

 

When returning to the Port on the metro, we opted for a 8Euro cab ride back to Terminal B.

 

We will be in Athens for the first time, at the end of September. You said, "If you plan to buy tickets at the main Acropolis gate". Is there a better place to buy our tickets so we won't spend so much time in line?

[CuTiAngel]

Do they have signs in English st subway stations?

Yes. Signs are bilingual in both English and Greek. The subway was very simple to use, compared to many other major cities.

[4getmenot]

We will be in Athens for the first time, at the end of September. You said, "If you plan to buy tickets at the main Acropolis gate". Is there a better place to buy our tickets so we won't spend so much time in line?

 

Yes, if you take the metro to Akropoli. Right after you exit the metro station and before the climb up the hill, there will be a small ticket booth and a small gate. The line was <5 minutes for us when the main gate line was close to a hour.

[CuTiAngel]

Yes, if you take the metro to Akropoli. Right after you exit the metro station and before the climb up the hill, there will be a small ticket booth and a small gate. The line was <5 minutes for us when the main gate line was close to a hour.

 

I passed by that small ticket booth at the start of the hill out of the Akropoli metro station as well. That morning, there were only 2 people in line. Should have got the tickets there.

[hfitzger]

If you buy the all day ticket (about 4 Euro) that will cover the bus (from near the port over to the station) and all days transportation (including getting back to the ship). It's hard to beat 4 Euros for the cost of an all day tour (just get a tour book such as the Rick Steves guide and follow the suggested walking tour).

 

Hank

 

Can you buy the 4E ticket at the kiosk to buy the bus ticket (leaving port going to train station)? Wasn't sure if the 4E all day transportation ticket could only be bought at the train station even though it is also good on the bus.

[BENZBMW]

 

 

Ermou Street is basically pedestrian only and lined with non-souvenir style stores. I was amazed how many shoe stores there were and it was tempting. At the end of the street, we saw the Parliament building and turned around to Monastiraki Square to take the Metro Green L1 straight to Pireaus. Back in Pireaus, we followed the water and went back to ship terminal.

 

With the whole mishap about finding the Metro in the morning, we ended up skipping the National Archaeological Museum. One major reason was that we got put off a bit by the amount of graffiti we came across, and I did some negative reading on the neighbor around the museum. We felt like we already saw what we came to see, and was happy to call it a day.

 

It’s said that Greece

was in the middle of the political turmoil but we did not encounter or witness any riot or anything different from normal life.

 

Hope you enjoy reading the post! After I’m done with all the port DIY posts, I will put up the ship review with the links to these posts.

 

(If anyone who can tell me an easy way how to make the images a bit smaller, I'd appreciate it. So far I'm just typing in the URL of the image in the "Insert Image" field.)

In order to reduce the size of your photo. depends on the software thet you are using. Try the function "re-sizing" and select a smaller size .

:)

[deladane]

Can you buy the 4E ticket at the kiosk to buy the bus ticket (leaving port going to train station)? Wasn't sure if the 4E all day transportation ticket could only be bought at the train station even though it is also good on the bus.

 

I was wondering the same thing! Does anyone know the answer where you can buy the 4 E ticket before boarding the bus? Thanks!

[CuTiAngel]

From my research last year, people said the 4 Euro all day ticket could be purchased at the kiosks you see all over town. I didn't end up buying one at the kiosk so someone else may want to confirm this.

 

I was wondering the same thing! Does anyone know the answer where you can buy the 4 E ticket before boarding the bus? Thanks!

Edited February 13, 2013 by CuTiAngel

[Debathome]

Thanks for sharing your day with us. These types of posts make me more comfortable in doing the day on our own and not feeling pressured into doing a ship's tour. We have so many tours and busy itinerary that I would like to take the day in Athens to stroll and sit at a streetside cafe. The Ho/Ho bus sounds like a great idea. :)

[CuTiAngel]

You're welcome. Ship tours have some advantages as far as convenience goes, however, looking back now close to a year from the trip, most of the memorable stuff were from our on-our-own tours. Enjoy your upcoming cruise! :)

 

Thanks for sharing your day with us. These types of posts make me more comfortable in doing the day on our own and not feeling pressured into doing a ship's tour. We have so many tours and busy itinerary that I would like to take the day in Athens to stroll and sit at a streetside cafe. The Ho/Ho bus sounds like a great idea. :)

[lanochka]

We DIY'ed in Athens last week and had similar experiences so I can answer a few questions.

 

First, the '20 minute walk' from Terminal B to the Metro station which Rick Steve's describes is closer to a 30 minute walk (and we don't dawdle!). We were fortunate to run into fellow cruisers who were doing the same thing so we didn't bail early thinking we were lost. I would do it again but just would have liked to have known that it's about a mile and a half walk in my estimation.

 

Time from Piraeus to Monastariki by Metro is 20 to 25 minutes.

 

If you plan to buy tickets at the main Acropolis gate, get there early. We arrived at 10:30 and the line was about 45 minutes long. We heard from others on our cruise that there was no line by 12:30 p.m. so maybe we should have gone in the afternoon.

 

Rick Steve's audioguides worked great. We did the Acropolis one and the walking tour of the Plaka/Syntagma Square.

 

We were in Athens the day after their elections last week and you would have never known it (except for the media camped out at the hotels lining Syntagma Square).

 

We liked Athens much better than we had expected to. Acropolis is amazing (couldn't believe we were there!) and the Plaka is a lovely area. The graffiti is ubiquitous and many on our cruise thought Athens was 'dirty' because of it. It's definitely too bad but some of it is quite artistic so it didn't bother us.

 

When returning to the Port on the metro, we opted for a 8Euro cab ride back to Terminal B.

 

Hello, thank you for posting this information! I have a question. Did you buy or rent audio guides or should we get it in US? Or are they available to rent at the ticket booths? Thank you very much!

Lana

[lovestx]

Hello, thank you for posting this information! I have a question. Did you buy or rent audio guides or should we get it in US? Or are they available to rent at the ticket booths? Thank you very much!

Lana

 

We downloaded Rick steves audio guides to our iPods and phones before leaving on our trip. Not sure if you could have rented audio guides at the Acropolis as we didn't need them.