Does anyone know how far the port of Piraeus is from Athens. Isn't it about 1.5 hours?? Any info appreciated. Thanks, Lil' Lori

I have spent about a year living in Athens. The original Athens Metro Line 1 (25.6km) from the port of Piraeus, through Athens centre and on north-eastwards to Kifissia, is the Green Line.
Piraeus is the port of Athens. You can take the Green Metro or Subway line from the port of Piraeus to downtown Athens. Tickets are 0.70 €.
You can take a taxi from the ship to the Piraeus Metro station and save a 20 minute walk. Cost will be a little over 5€
A note about taxis The meter *must* be running when they start off (there is an immediate charge of 1.00 euro) and it should show a (tariff) "1", . This is compulsory and you should insist. If the meter is not running you can say "Monno may metreeti" - meaning, only with the meter. It is quite normal for taxis to pick up other passengers en route, but everyone still pays the full fare for their trip (this is an accepted, though illegal, practice). Minimum fare is 2.70 euros.
Athens is a HUGE city. I will assume you want to go to the Acropolis. Simply get off at the Monistraki stop or the 7th stop. You will see the Acropolis from train. You can spend all day in the Monistraki area. The Monistraki Train / Metro station is
1 block or 1/10 mile from the entrance from the Acropolis heading South.
½ mile East is Syntagma - the Greek Parliament building and the tomb of the unknown soldier guarded by Greek soldiers wearing skirts. Women wait for hours hoping for a breeze.
30 yards West is the Placa, a touristy shopping district, but cool to walk through.
3/10 of a mile due North on Athenas Street is the Central Market with a lot of great little working class restaurants, authentic Greek food….reasonable non tourist prices.
6/10 of a mile due North of the Central Market is the National Archeological Museum which opens at 1:00 pm on Saturday.
3/10 of a mile North West of the Archeological Museum is Victoria Square….where you catch the train back to the port Pireaus
Google Athens Greece Metro to get a map of the Metro. You can't get lost. There is only one train in Piraeus. Simply get on the train that everyone else is on. It will leave the station. Trains run frequently, are safe and efficient.

quote:

Originally posted by Lil' Lori:
Does anyone know how far the port of Piraeus is from Athens. Isn't it about 1.5 hours?? Any info appreciated. Thanks, Lil' Lori

I am a Greek American and have been traveling to Greece off and on since 1976.

Even though the distance is only about 5 miles, I know from experience travel time from Syntagma square (Town center) to Pireas can take up to 45 min by car provided the traffic is good and not rush hour. The advice to take the bus and better yet the new Metro is right on the money. Beware of taxi drivers, they even try to take advantage of us Greeks by going the "long way"...foreigners...well they are red meat...

We've just come back from a cruise around the Med including Pireus. It's so simple to go by Metro to the centre of Athens. It's out of the terminal and turn left. Keep the ferries on your left and keep going until you get to an overbridge (about 20 minutes walk) this bridge takes you over the road to the station. Trains are very frequent, fare is 70 cents single and Monastiraki station is 7 stops (about 10-15 minutes.

We were in Athens last week - jumped off the tour bus in downtown Athens for a short walk down the main tourist shopping street so didn't have much time to get back to Piraeus and took a taxi.

Tour guide had indicated the taxi fare from Athens to the dock should be 15 euros - taxi driver wanted 25 which would be a gouge - we settled at 20 euros and no tip at the end. Two pax - wife and self.

We'd tried a couple other cabs and they were all at the 25 euro pricing with some mention we didn't quite get about a distinction between two types of cabs.

Anyway without having time to dope out something better the 20 euros was ok and got us back to the Galaxy handily.

Dick Williams
Kansas City MO

One caution about the metro line between Pireaus and downtown Athens. We really like this line because its cheap, fast, and pretty convenient. But, unfortunately, many gypsies and other street thieves also know that this line is convenient. The line is often a popular place for very skilled pickpockets and groups of gypsies. These street crooks will not physically harm you, but they are very good at their craft. Make sure you carefully protect your purses and wallets and do not let anything distract you from being alert. This is a good practice for anywhere in Europe, but on this particular line all your antennae should be operating at full throttle.

Hank