Best way to get from cruise port to Athens

[StarSeven7]

We're stopping in Athens for the day on our RC cruise in August/September.  We've been to Athens before and arrived via ferry to Piraeus and took the metro into Athens.  This would be my first choice but it looks like it's quite a long walk from where the cruise ships port to the metro station in Piraeus?  Is there another method of transportation that would be better than the metro for getting into Athens?  Our ship doesn't get into port until 12 noon so I'm concerned about traffic being busy that time of day.  Also, there will be 6 of us, 4 adults and 2 kids, so I'm not sure if larger taxis would be readily available?  Thanks!

[MeHeartCruising]

3 hours ago, StarSeven7 said:

We're stopping in Athens for the day on our RC cruise in August/September.  We've been to Athens before and arrived via ferry to Piraeus and took the metro into Athens.  This would be my first choice but it looks like it's quite a long walk from where the cruise ships port to the metro station in Piraeus?  Is there another method of transportation that would be better than the metro for getting into Athens?  Our ship doesn't get into port until 12 noon so I'm concerned about traffic being busy that time of day.  Also, there will be 6 of us, 4 adults and 2 kids, so I'm not sure if larger taxis would be readily available?  Thanks!

Well, I’ve walked from the cruise terminal to the Piraeus metro station twice and would do so again if the weather was nice.  But, yes, it’s a little ways away, so you’d need to be people who don’t mind that.  It took me about 20 minutes to get there walking at a decent pace.  There were about 20 of us from the terminal doing the walk and sort of helping each other with the navigation (which is easy if you’ve studied the map a little). 
 

Our ship docked at Terminal B and we rode a shuttle bus to Terminal A.  From there we walked to the Metro. 
 

Are there better ways?  Everyone has their own opinion.  I enjoyed the walk.  It didn’t take too long.  I wanted to visit the Agorra first and then go up to the Acropolis this trip and I was at that entrance 20 minutes before they opened at 8am.  The second time, I did Rick Steves walking tours, and had plenty of time.  

[StarSeven7]

55 minutes ago, MeHeartCruising said:

Well, I’ve walked from the cruise terminal to the Piraeus metro station twice and would do so again if the weather was nice.  But, yes, it’s a little ways away, so you’d need to be people who don’t mind that.  It took me about 20 minutes to get there walking at a decent pace.  There were about 20 of us from the terminal doing the walk and sort of helping each other with the navigation (which is easy if you’ve studied the map a little). 
 

Our ship docked at Terminal B and we rode a shuttle bus to Terminal A.  From there we walked to the Metro. 
 

Are there better ways?  Everyone has their own opinion.  I enjoyed the walk.  It didn’t take too long.  I wanted to visit the Agorra first and then go up to the Acropolis this trip and I was at that entrance 20 minutes before they opened at 8am.  The second time, I did Rick Steves walking tours, and had plenty of time.  

Thanks for your response!  I don't mind a 20 minute walk but I saw some estimates for 40 minutes so that definitely adds some time!  It looks like the next best option is the X80 express bus, so I"ll have to decide between those two.

[cruisemom42]

There is a HOHO bus (with several stops in Piraeus before continuing to Athens) and also an express bus (x80) that picks up from both terminals and takes you into Athens with a stop near the Acropolis as well as one at Syntagma Square. Both, IMO, are easier from the cruise port than using the metro -- although there is a local bus that can take you to the metro rather than having to walk it. 

 

While the previous poster mentions a 20-minute walk, it can be as much as 40 minutes and I'd prefer not to waste so much time getting into Athens. 

 

More info here:  How To Get From Piraeus To Athens - Taxi, Bus and Train Information (davestravelpages.com)

[StarSeven7]

3 minutes ago, cruisemom42 said:

There is a HOHO bus (with several stops in Piraeus before continuing to Athens) and also an express bus (x80) that picks up from both terminals and takes you into Athens with a stop near the Acropolis as well as one at Syntagma Square. Both, IMO, are easier from the cruise port than using the metro -- although there is a local bus that can take you to the metro rather than having to walk it. 

 

While the previous poster mentions a 20-minute walk, it can be as much as 40 minutes and I'd prefer not to waste so much time getting into Athens. 

 

More info here:  How To Get From Piraeus To Athens - Taxi, Bus and Train Information (davestravelpages.com)

Thank you!

[VMax1700]

X80 bus from outside the terminal. Day Return fare €4.10. Bus every 15/20 minutes.

[StarSeven7]

18 minutes ago, VMax1700 said:

X80 bus from outside the terminal. Day Return fare €4.10. Bus every 15/20 minutes.

Thank you! I was thinking that seems to be the best option.

[VMax1700]

The return bus leaves from outside McDonald's on Syntagma Square.

This is the ticket kiosk at Terminal B.

 

Th

 

[StarSeven7]

31 minutes ago, VMax1700 said:

The return bus leaves from outside McDonald's on Syntagma Square.

This is the ticket kiosk at Terminal B.

 

Th

 

Thank you so much!  Super helpful!  I'm not sure which terminal we will be docking at - we're on Royal Caribbean, not sure if they're always at the same terminal?

[VMax1700]

34 minutes ago, StarSeven7 said:

not sure if they're always at the same terminal?

I believe they allocate the terminal based on the size of the ship etc.  Really doesn't matter which one though as bus stops at both.  Terminal B can be an advantage as it is the 'terminal' and the bus is usually sitting waiting for passengers.

[cruisemom42]

The map posted first shows the three Terminals (A, B, and C) for cruise passengers -- and you can see how long the walk is from Terminal B to the metro/train station.

 

The second map shows the stops for the X80 express bus, although unfortunately the legend is on top of the Terminal B area -- still, if VMax1700 says they stop there, I believe.  (I've only ever arrived at Terminal B, on smaller ships.)

 

 

 

[StarSeven7]

Thank you @VMax1700and @cruisemom42,that's very helpful info!

[MeHeartCruising]

18 hours ago, StarSeven7 said:

Thanks for your response!  I don't mind a 20 minute walk but I saw some estimates for 40 minutes so that definitely adds some time!  It looks like the next best option is the X80 express bus, so I"ll have to decide between those two.

 

I'm sure the walk can take some people 40 minutes.  It's all a matter of how fast one walks and/or stops to take pictures along the way.   

[StarSeven7]

2 hours ago, MeHeartCruising said:

 

I'm sure the walk can take some people 40 minutes.  It's all a matter of how fast one walks and/or stops to take pictures along the way.   

Very true! 

[cruisemom42]

4 hours ago, MeHeartCruising said:

 

I'm sure the walk can take some people 40 minutes.  It's all a matter of how fast one walks and/or stops to take pictures along the way.   

 

It's not just a matter of how fast you walk. It is legitimately a 40 minute walk -- or longer -- if you are at one of the farther cruise terminals, as shown here from Google maps. Note walking time is given as 48 minutes, and I generally have found Google walking times to be on the optimistic side.

 

[MeHeartCruising]

20 hours ago, cruisemom42 said:

 

It's not just a matter of how fast you walk. It is legitimately a 40 minute walk -- or longer -- if you are at one of the farther cruise terminals, as shown here from Google maps. Note walking time is given as 48 minutes, and I generally have found Google walking times to be on the optimistic side.

 

 

Agreed.  However, as I noted in my initial reply above, when I did the walk in 20 minutes, it was from Terminal A.  The port or the cruise line provided us with a shuttle bus from Terminal B to Terminal A.  I do not know if they still do this.  Google maps shows the walking route from Terminal A to be 21 minutes.

[StarSeven7]

Thanks for the helpful replies everyone!  I remember when we walked from the ferry (it was from Naxos so I guess somewhere E6-E10 on the map above) the walk seemed pretty far, at least while schlepping our backpacks!  The cruise terminals are even farther out so it's probably best to just hop on the bus instead of wasting our time walking!

[hlperez]

Has anyone actually taken the X80 bus this year?  I read somewhere that it's not running.

[VMax1700]

6 hours ago, hlperez said:

Has anyone actually taken the X80 bus this year?  I read somewhere that it's not running.

It is running ok.  We were in Athens in June and it was running quite frequently.

[hlperez]

Thank you

[Twilightstar18]

On 7/5/2022 at 12:15 PM, hlperez said:

Has anyone actually taken the X80 bus this year?  I read somewhere that it's not running.

We just took it last week. Thanks to all the detailed posts as well as @VMax1700's photos we were able to find the stop and ticket kiosk. The more complicating detail for us was that we were docked at Terminal C which I had not previously read about. It is probably the most convenient terminal because it's right by the entrance, but because we were looking for the X80 stop it took a bit of running around. Terminal B is next to Terminal C. Theoretically we could have been stopped by the security going into the Terminal B area- my mom who was following us but did not plan on going to Athens was and told us about it later. We went through the parking lot and showed a picture of the kiosk to someone at the terminal who pointed in the direction of the bus stop. The bus stop is straight ahead from the main entrance of Terminal B, not to the left where the parking lot is and which leads to the gates. The bus was running about every 30min so even though we got there at 8.10 am, somehow we did not leave until closer to 9. We got off at the Acropolis with no problems and the driver pointed us in the direction to walk.

On the way back, we had planned on looking for the stop at Syntagma square. However due to the heat, decided to use the same transit pass to get on the metro from Monastriaki to Piraeus and then the bus back to the terminal. We've done the walk before from the train station back to port on a previous trip, but had forgotten how long the walk was until we took the bus back this time. 

[Hlitner]

I will take the topic back to "the walk" since DW and I do love long walks :).  If you look at the area map (posted above in Cruisemoms post #11) you will notice it shows three terminals, A, B and C.  For walking purposes there are some major differences.  From Terminal A, we can do the walk (to the train station) in about 20 minutes and slow walkers would likely need about 30.   But from Terminals B and C the walk is somewhat longer than it appears in the map.  It would take most folks about 10 - 15 minutes longer from those Terminals.  There is usually an internal port shuttle bus (Free) that moves folks between Terminals B,C over to terminal A.  If this bus is operating it shortens the walk but many folks might not be happy waiting for that bus (frequency seems to be whenever the driver wants to work).

 

If folks are not in a hurry, the walk is kind of nice since you are strolling around the outside of the large harbor/port,  There are quite a few benches along the route so there are plenty of opportunities to rest.  There is also a public bus (I think it is #843) that runs along this same route quite frequently.  If you are returning to Pireaus vis the metro (Green Line) you can cross the street in front of the train station and take that bus back to the stop near the port.  Keep your metro ticket since that bus would be included so no need to pay an extra fare.  It would be the same while heading from the port to the station, but you would need to pay the bus fare (I think it is 1 Euro) unless you somehow have managed to get your hands on the Metro ticket to Athens.  I have been told you can buy tickets in small convenience stores, but you might have an issue finding such a store and it might not be worth the grief.

 

Hank

[iancal]

Depends on how much luggage you have.  We have taken the bus a number of times to and from the airport to Glyfada and from the airport to Piraeus.   It was a non event for us but we only have one smaller bag each so luggage was not a concern.

[lorrdean]

On 7/5/2022 at 5:15 PM, hlperez said:

 

can anyone tell me please the cost of this bus seems to be 4.10 euros, is that one way? or return?

[VMax1700]

1 hour ago, lorrdean said:

can anyone tell me please the cost of this bus seems to be 4.10 euros, is that one way? or return?

That is for a day ticket, so return (and return again if you have a late sail away!).