In this post I would like to gather some personal considerations and some useful informations about Athens I collected during my trip at the beginning of May. Let’s start with some useful information.
From the airport to the city: – Blue metro line: It’s the suburban metro you need to take from the airport to get to the city center (the two most central stops are Syntagma square and Monastiraki Square). The ticket costs 9€ per person (one way, of course). If you are with a friend you can get one ticket for two people at the same price (9€ per person). The journey takes approximately  40 minutes and trains from the airport run every half hour. I took this line with my friend to reach the city and we had no problem at all: while at the airport we asked for information and we found immediately the directions about where to go and which was the train. The stops along the way were announced in Greek and English, and also signs at each stop were always both in Greek and English.
– Bus X95: express bus which goes from Athens airport to Syntagma Square. We preferred the metro because we didn’t know anything about the Athens city traffic, but at the hotel I was told that the journey takes about 60 minutes (and obviously it depends on the traffic).
The metro and tram network covers the whole city and you can reach all the places of tourist interest using public transportation. For the tickets you have three options:
– 90 minutes ticket: valid on subway, buses and trams. It costs 1.40€ for a duration of 90 minutes;
– 24 hours ticket: costs 4€ and it’s valid on metro, bus and tram for the next 24 hours.
– Weekly ticket: valid for one week, it costs €14.
To buy your underground ticket you can use the vending machines or the counter located in every station. For trams (and buses), tickets can be bought from the automatic machines or at every little “box office” at each stop. Always remember to validate your ticket because the controls are frequent and fines are heavy.
For a trip to the beach
From Athens you can go easily to the beach without going to the islands (which, in my opinion, deserve a dedicated stay). To go to the beach near Athens, there is tram number 5 which leaves from Syntagma Square and takes you directly to the sea. Going to Glyfada takes about 40 minutes. The ticket costs 1.40 euro one way and you can buy it directly at the bus stop where there are vending machines (the sea) or the stalls with staff (in Athens).
Shops close at 08:00 pm. In Plaka, the old town, the shops close between 21:00 and 22:00.
There is a “cumulative tourist ticket” which is valid for 5 days. It costs 30 euro and it’s valid for seven different sites:
– Ancient Agora
– Roman Agora
– Olympeion (Temple of Hadrian)
– Acropolis
– Lyceum of Aristotle
– Kerameikos
I’d like to conclude this post with some personal consideration.
I never felt unsafe. Do not be fooled by the Greek physical features that may appear slightly different from ours: in Greece the influence of other peoples and cultures has always been strong and “different” traits are simply physical features (often ones we may define “typically Turkish” ) and I think the difference is not a sign of danger. (I know, I know … For many, this is fairly obvious. But it’s really such only for those who travel to many different countries and often come into contact with different cultures).
I found people who were very willing to help those in need, regardless of the fact that they needed a “mere direction” or a more serious help (an old man falling, collected by 3 people who ran to his aid), regardless of whether he was a tourist or not.
The main tourist attractions are all within easy walking distance, most of the times you don’t need to take public transport (from Monastiraki to reach the Acropolis took us about 20 minutes going very quietly on foot).
The knowledge of English is fairly widespread: even if they don’t speak it fluently, they know the basic expressions and I did not find any problems in receiving the information I needed.