From Athens airport to the city
1 h route4 stopsBest: Check your flight time before deciding: it’s the only thing that matters hereUpdated July 2026
Athens’ metro reaches the airport and runs into the heart of the centre, and that makes almost everyone assume the matter is settled. The missing fact is the one that decides: the airport branch doesn’t run twenty-four hours. The first train leaves early in the morning and the last goes before midnight, so if your flight lands in the small hours, that train doesn’t exist for you.
The same goes for the suburban rail, which isn’t twenty-four hours either. The only thing running at all hours, every day, is an express bus. So the question here isn’t which is best, but what time you land: that decides it, and there’s nothing more to argue.
The route, stop by stop
4 STOPS- 01
The metro, and its hours
The blue line, the M3, leaves the airport and runs straight into the centre, stopping at Syntagma, the parliament square, and at Monastiraki, which is the door to Plaka and the Acropolis. No changes, comfortable and predictable. For the vast majority of people, at the vast majority of hours, it’s the answer.
Now the two catches. The first is the timetable: the airport branch starts around half past six in the morning and finishes around half past eleven at night. It isn’t twenty-four hours, even though the city metro runs longer. Check your flight time against that before assuming anything.
The second is the ticket: the airport one is a special ticket, dearer than the ordinary city fare. A standard city single won’t do. Buy it at the station machine and make sure it’s the airport one.
- 02
The express bus: the 24-hour one
The X95 runs from the airport to Syntagma square and it’s the piece that solves the problem: it runs twenty-four hours, every day. By day it comes every fifteen to twenty-five minutes and at night hourly. That’s all you need to decide, because it’s the only option when the metro is shut.
What you pay for that availability is time: it’s between fifty minutes and an hour, and it depends on traffic, which in Athens can be considerable. At rush hour, the metro beats it clearly. But at three in the morning, with the city empty, the bus flies and besides you have no alternative.
The practical rule is clean: land between seven in the morning and eleven at night, take the metro. Land outside that window, X95 and go to bed.
- 03
The suburban rail: for the port, not the centre
A third train goes unnoticed and for some people is exactly what they need: the suburban rail, which leaves the airport and reaches the port of Piraeus via Larissa station. It takes about forty-five minutes to Larissa and around an hour to the port, and runs hourly.
Here’s the play: if your plan is to catch a boat to the islands, this takes you from the plane to the port without having to enter Athens, haul your bags through the metro and change lines. It’s the connection that saves a whole morning. It has the same limit as the metro (it isn’t twenty-four hours either, starting around six and finishing around eleven at night) so check the timetable.
And one orientation detail you’ll be grateful for: the airport’s train station is on the DEPARTURES level, not arrivals. You reach it by a walkway in three to five minutes following the signs for trains. Plenty of people look for it downstairs and can’t find it.
- 04
The taxi, and when it makes sense
The taxi comes in as the fourth option and has its place, though it isn’t the first answer. The airport is a long way from the centre and the trip isn’t short. At rush hour, Athens traffic is the memorable kind, and there the metro wins outright because it runs on its own track.
Where it does fit: when there are three or four of you with suitcases, because the metro’s airport ticket is dearer than the city fare and multiplied by four the gap narrows. And when you arrive in the small hours and don’t fancy waiting for the hourly bus.
Always take the official ones from the terminal rank and know that the run into the centre has a set fare, which differs between day and night. Ask the fare before setting off and don’t accept offers from anyone approaching you inside the building.
Frequently asked
How do you get from Athens airport to the city?
It depends on the hour, and that’s the only thing that matters. The metro (line M3) runs straight into the centre stopping at Syntagma and Monastiraki, but the airport branch is NOT 24-hour: first train around 06:30, last around 23:30. Outside that window there’s only the X95 bus, which does run 24 hours, takes 50-60 minutes and goes to Syntagma. Note: the airport metro ticket is a special one and dearer than the city fare.
How do you get from Athens airport to Piraeus port?
On the suburban rail, which leaves the airport and reaches the port in around an hour via Larissa station: it saves you entering Athens and changing lines with your bags if you’re catching a boat. It runs hourly and isn’t 24-hour either (roughly six in the morning to eleven at night). The station is on the DEPARTURES level, not arrivals: you reach it by a walkway in 3-5 minutes.