Athens Airport → Piraeus Port

How it works

Direct on Line 3 (Blue) with no changes, from the airport through Syntagma and Monastiraki to the Piraeus terminus beside the port. STASY's timetable puts the airport to Piraeus run at 61 minutes, and trains leave the airport every 36 minutes, from 06:10 until 23:34.

Good to know

• •Pickpockets ride this line. Front pocket only, hand on the zip, particularly boarding at Syntagma and Monastiraki.
• •The 3-day tourist ticket (€20) includes the airport leg in both directions plus unlimited city transport, which is the better buy if you are stopping in Athens first.
• •The Piraeus terminus is closest to gates E6 to E10, the Cyclades boats. Use the free port shuttle for E1, E2, E11 and E12.
• •Validate on the way in and again on the way out. Metro barriers want the ticket at both ends, unlike the buses and trams.
• •The return ticket (€16) stays valid for 30 days, so it is worth buying on arrival if you are coming back the same way.

How it works

A direct coach from the airport down the coast through Glyfada and Faliro to Karaiskaki Square in Piraeus, terminating beside the central ferry gates. The airport publishes the journey as 90 minutes. It runs 24 hours a day, every day of the year, which is what makes it the answer for anything landing after the trains stop.

Good to know

• •Luggage goes in a central pen on the bus. Keep your day bag with you.
• •In August, traffic from Glyfada through Faliro can push this well past the published 90 minutes. Build slack into your ferry timing.
• •This is the cheapest and often the only way across in the middle of the night, when both trains have stopped.
• •The airport express fare is its own ticket. OASA excludes the X95, X96 and X80 from the €9 airport ticket, so a train ticket will not get you onto this bus.

How it works

Regulated yellow taxis from the official rank. This is the part most guides get wrong: the airport's published flat fares of €40 by day (05:00 to 24:00) and €55 at night (00:00 to 05:00) apply only to the Athens city centre inner ring. Piraeus lies outside that zone, so there is no flat fare and the trip runs on the meter. Expect it to come to more than the city-centre fare.

Good to know

• •Because there is no flat fare to Piraeus, either agree a price in euros before the boot closes or ask for the meter. Do not accept the word approximately.
• •Drivers are required by Greek law to issue a receipt for the amount you pay. Ask for one.
• •Four passengers maximum in a standard yellow taxi. For five or more, or a lot of luggage, you need a minivan and that means a private transfer.
• •Uber, Bolt and FreeNow all dispatch the same regulated yellow taxis. By Greek law these apps cannot send a private driver, so you get the app and the paper trail but the same car and the same fare.
• •If your ferry leaves from E1, E2 or the cruise terminal, a taxi to the gate is far less painful than the walk from the metro in summer heat.

How it works

Book in advance online. A driver meets you at arrivals with a name sign, tracks your flight so a delay does not cost you the pickup, handles the luggage, and drives to a price agreed before you travel regardless of traffic.

Good to know

• •Worth the premium over a taxi for families, cruise passengers, or any ferry inside four hours of landing.
• •The driver knows the port layout. Ask to be dropped at your specific gate, especially for E1, E2, E11 and E12.
• •Quoted prices vary by operator and vehicle. Confirm the total, the vehicle size and the waiting policy at the point of booking rather than on the day.