KTEL

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You are probably wondering “What the heck is KTEL?”. It’s a type of Pullman here in Greece, not one of those you can privately hire, but a public one, used as a bus. There are the Attica KTELs, which are orange or orange and white?/beige? that are for the Attica region and there are the green ones or green and white?/beige? that connect Attica with the rest of Greece.

Attica KTEL (orange or orange and white/beige) (photos 1 & 2)

There are two starting points in the center of Athens, one in Pedion Areos (at the Mavromateon Street) and the other in Agion Asomaton Square in Thissio (next to the metro station).

Buses from Pedion Areos depart for eastern Attica and regions such as Sounion, Nea Makri, Marathonas, Markopoulo, Oropos, Kalamos, for the ports of Rafina, Agia Marina and Lavrion and for the beaches of Porto Rafti (beaches Kakia Thalassa, Avlaki, Daskalio) and of Nea Makri (beaches Mati, Zouberi, Agios Andreas (Saint Andrew), Schinias).

Buses from Thissio depart for regions such as Megara, Nea Peramos, Elefsina, Vilia , Erythres and for the beaches of Porto Germeno and Alepochori.

There is also a route connecting the airport with the port of Rafina and Markopoulo Mesogaias.

Finally, there’s a route connecting Athens with Thessaloniki and boarding can take place either in Mavromateon Street and Ioulianou or in the central bus station of Kifissos.

The tickets aren’t the same as the ones used by the metro/suburban/buses/tram, they are different and their prices vary, depending on the destination. You can purchase the ticket inside the KTEL bus.

Useful links:
* http://ktelattikis.gr/en/
* http://ktelattikis.gr/en/en_airport_timetable

Other KTELs from Athens (green or green and white/beige) (photo 3)

There are two stations connecting Athens with the rest of Greece. One is KTEL Kifissou (at 100 Kifissou Avenue), and the other one is KTEL Liosion (at 6 Rikaki str., Athens). Their ticket price also depends on the destination, but there are kiosks at each station where you can buy tickets. There isn’t an official website.

Useful link:
* (greek) http://www.dromologiaktel.gr/loc_dk/ktel-athina.asp

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Taxis

Upon arrival at the airport there are many taxis outside waiting to take you to your destination. Taxis here work the same as any other country. The minimum tariff in Athens is 3,50€  (it is probably different on the rest of Greece). The price also depends on the hour you are taking it (it is higher at night) as well as your destination (if it is the KTEL bus station or the airport or a harbor, it’s different). There are also many apps offering their services.

Important info:
Taxis in Athens are yellow. They have a different color in the rest of Greece (silver or burgundy).

Useful link:
* (hopefully accurate in calculating prices) http://www.apostaseis.gr/loc_ap/kostos-taxi.asp?lang=en

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Extra info:

Uber

No, there aren’t any Uber in Greece. We had them for some time, but it caused a lot of dispute so it was decided that it stopped operating.

So, this was the final part of this post. As promised it wasn’t too big. I really hope it was helpful. I may have gone on and on about the difficulties in getting around, but don’t let me deter you from coming to Athens. As you can see we have many means of transport to ensure that every place is as accessible as it can get. But I also thought you should know beforehand how things are here.

Till next time! 😉

xoxo, Myrto