The Ship into Athens

[nutella2]

We are hoping to take the metro to the Acropolis and wondering exactly how to get to the metro station from the ship? We hear that it is a bit of a walk and a little tricky to find.
Thanks you!

[camelia]

Hi Nutella, check under the Pireaus -> Athens topic on this page (I just bumped it up for you).

Have a great cruise! We're also going to the Med this summer (well... in just 2 weeks now!) and I can't wait!

A fellow Canadian cruiser
Véronique

[Jacqueline]

The ship will often offere shuttles or you can just take a cab. Save your energy for the sightseeing.

Jacqueline
Constellation 3/20/04
HAL Westerdam 7/30/04
Tahitian Princess August 2003
Grand Princess Western Caribbean 2003
Brilliance of the Seas Baltic 2002
Ocean Princess- Alaska 2001
Celebrity Zenith- Bermuda 2001
Grand Princess Med 2000

[MACKINAC]

Here's a response I sent you via the "Fix" board when the regular board was down:

posted 06-03-04 01:03 PM
This is about your question regarding the Metro from Pireaus to the Acropolis. It is a long walk to the Metro station – 20 to 30 minutes – but it’s worth it. The Metro ride is easy and cheap (less than 1 Euro) and it takes only about 25 minutes to get to town.

To get to the station, just keep walking bearing left along the harbor. It is on Karaiskaki Square. The station is in an old building and the signage is terrible. However, if you keep asking for the “MAY-TRO” someone will direct you there. The metro sign is not like London’s. It’s a green circle with blue lines.

There is a map of the harbor at [url="http://maps-of-greece.lerosisland.com/map_of_piraeus_port_greece.html"]http://maps-of-greece.lerosisland.com/map_of_piraeus_port_greece.html[/url]. It’s hard to read, but I think the purple rectangle “MS PIREAS” is the station.

We got off at the Monastiraki station which is pretty close to the Roman forum and within easy walking distance to Plaka and the Acropolis.

Make sure you have a 1 euro coin for each person. You have to buy your tickets from a machine at the station, then "punch" validate them in the machines at the gate to the train as you enter. When we were there, the machine took only euro COINS. Hang on to the ticket. A conductor checked ours when we went.

One other complication. When we were coming back from the Monastiraki station, the southbound line was closed. We had to go North for one stop to Ominia Station, get out, walk across the track and take the southbound to the end. This will probably be fixed by the time you go.

Have fun.

[trixie54]

Can you catch a taxi to the Metro easily, or are they just looking for fares to Athens?

[nutella2]

Thank you so much for the information! I'm printing it off to save for the big day in Athens. Sounds like the most difficult part is finding the sign for the metro!

[MACKINAC]

TO TRIXIE54:
You can easily get a taxi. In fact, we had to walk by about 40 or 50 taxi drivers and many were hard sell and wouldn't take no for an answer!