Getting Around
Athens Airport to City Centre: Every Option Compared
Metro, express bus, or taxi — here's how to pick based on your luggage, budget and what time you land.
Athens International Airport (Eleftherios Venizelos, code ATH) sits about 35km southeast of the city center — far enough that the transport choice genuinely matters, especially after a long-haul flight. Prices below are current as of 2026, but Greek transport pricing is revised periodically, so treat the exact figures as a guide and confirm on the official sites linked at the bottom before you travel.
Metro Line 3 — the best all-rounder
The metro runs directly from the airport into the city center, reaching Syntagma in around 35–40 minutes, with no interchange needed for most central hotels. A single airport ticket costs around €9–10 (a flat fare regardless of how far you're traveling on the line), with a return ticket around €16, valid 30 days — worth buying if you know you'll be using the metro for your departure too. Reduced fares of roughly 50% apply for children aged 6–18, over-65s, and students with valid ID; under-6s travel free.
The metro runs roughly every 30 minutes, from around 6:30am into the evening — it does not run 24 hours, so it's not an option for very late or very early flights. This is the best option if you're not overloaded with luggage and aren't landing in the middle of the night.
Express buses — cheapest option
Airport express buses (the X95 to Syntagma, and the X96 to Piraeus port for anyone connecting straight to a ferry) run around the clock, which the metro doesn't, making them the fallback for late-night or very early arrivals — frequency drops to roughly hourly overnight rather than every 20–30 minutes during the day. A single ticket costs around €5.50–6, cheaper than the metro but noticeably slower — 60–90 minutes is typical, stretching toward 90 minutes during Athens rush hour (roughly 7:30–10am and 4–7pm). Tickets are available from machines at the stop or from the driver.
Taxi — easiest with luggage
Airport taxis operate on a fixed fare to central Athens — around €40 during the day (roughly 5am–midnight) and €55 overnight — which removes any haggling or meter anxiety and covers the whole journey regardless of exact destination within central Athens. It's the most comfortable option with bags or with kids, and worth the extra cost if you're landing exhausted. The official taxi rank sits just outside the Arrivals hall, staffed 24 hours; look for the yellow cars with an illuminated roof sign and visible driver ID.
Ride-hailing apps and pre-booked transfers
Uber operates in Athens but functions more like a licensed taxi dispatch than in some other cities — fares are broadly comparable to the fixed taxi rate. A pre-booked private transfer (fixed price, a driver waiting with your name at Arrivals, flight tracked in case you're delayed) typically starts around €40–45 and is worth considering for groups or families, where splitting one transfer often beats several individual metro or taxi fares. Either way, you'll want data on arrival — see our guide to SIM cards, eSIMs and WiFi.
Which should you pick?
Landing during the day with reasonable luggage and a central hotel: take the metro. Landing at night, very early, or with a lot of luggage: take a taxi or a pre-booked transfer. Traveling on the tightest possible budget and not in a hurry: the express bus. Traveling as a family or group of three or more: run the numbers on a pre-booked transfer before defaulting to individual metro tickets or a taxi — it's often the cheapest per-person option once you're splitting a fixed fare four ways.
A few things worth knowing before you land
Athens International Airport has a single terminal, so navigation on arrival is straightforward regardless of which airline you flew. Free WiFi is available throughout, though it's worth having a local SIM or eSIM ready for anything beyond checking a map — see our connectivity guide linked above. If you're arriving very late and unsure whether the metro will still be running, check the current last-departure time before you land rather than assuming — Greek transit schedules are occasionally revised, and recent changes have affected some evening Line 3 services, so it's worth a quick check on the official site rather than relying on an older blog post's timetable.
Heading straight to a ferry?
Some airport buses run directly to Piraeus port, skipping the city centre entirely — useful if you're connecting straight to an island. See our Piraeus guide for finding your gate once you're there.
Heading back to the airport for departure
Everything above works in reverse, with one planning note worth building in: departure traffic can be unpredictable, particularly during the morning and evening rush windows described above, so the express bus's 60–90 minute journey time can occasionally stretch further on a bad traffic day. If your flight is genuinely time-sensitive, the metro's more predictable timing is the safer bet for a departure, precisely because it isn't affected by road traffic. Whichever option you choose, Greek airport security and check-in queues can run long during peak summer months, so arriving with more buffer than you'd build in at a smaller airport is generally the safer assumption.
Getting cash and paying for transport
All the transport options above accept card payment — metro ticket machines, express bus drivers, and official taxis all take major cards, so arriving without cash isn't the problem it might be in some destinations. That said, having a small amount of euros on hand is still worth it for tipping a taxi driver or buying a coffee at a kiosk before you've had a chance to find an ATM. ATMs are available throughout the arrivals area if you land without any local currency at all.
All major international rental agencies operate desks at Athens International Airport, and picking up a car here is straightforward if you're planning to explore beyond the city itself — the Peloponnese, day trips outside metro range, or a longer road trip. That said, a car is actively unhelpful for the city center itself: parking is scarce and expensive, many central streets are narrow, one-way or pedestrianized, and Athens traffic can be genuinely stressful for anyone unfamiliar with it. Most visitors are better off skipping the rental for a purely Athens-based stay and picking one up only if and when they're heading out of the city for a multi-day excursion — see our Peloponnese day trip guide for one common reason to rent.
Which metro station for your hotel
Line 3 runs through several stations useful for different parts of the city, so it's worth knowing which one suits your specific base rather than defaulting to Syntagma. Syntagma is the most central and best for Plaka, Kolonaki or Syntagma-area hotels. Monastiraki (reached via a short walk or one additional stop) suits Psiri, Monastiraki and the western edge of Plaka better. Evangelismos is the better pick for Kolonaki's upper reaches or hotels near the National Garden's eastern side. If your hotel is in Koukaki, none of the direct Line 3 stops are especially close — a taxi from Syntagma, or a transfer to Line 2 at Syntagma toward Acropoli or Syngrou-Fix station, is usually more practical than walking the whole way with luggage.
Traveling with kids or extra luggage
Families with young children, strollers or multiple bags tend to have a noticeably better arrival experience with a taxi or pre-booked transfer than with public transport — the metro and bus both involve stairs, gaps, and standing room during busier periods, none of which pair well with a stroller and a jet-lagged toddler. If budget is the main constraint rather than comfort, the metro is still manageable with one reasonably packed bag per person; it's specifically the combination of multiple large suitcases and young kids where a taxi earns its cost back in reduced stress.
If you land before check-in time
A common problem for early arrivals: your hotel room won't be ready for hours, but you don't want to drag luggage around all morning. Most central Athens hotels will store bags for free even before official check-in — worth asking regardless of how early you arrive. If you're not checking into a hotel immediately (an Airbnb with a stricter check-in window, for instance), staffed luggage storage services operate at several points in the city center, including near Syntagma and Monastiraki, for a modest daily fee. Either option beats trying to sightsee with a full suitcase in tow.
If you're arriving somewhere other than Athens
Everything on this page assumes a flight into Athens International Airport itself. If your trip involves flying into a different Greek airport first — Thessaloniki for a northern Greece itinerary, or a direct island flight to Santorini or Mykonos — none of the transport options above apply, since those airports have entirely separate transfer systems. See our Santorini & Mykonos from Athens guide if you're weighing a direct island flight against routing through Athens first.