Metro, Athens

To reach the Acropolis from Pireus, I recommend you take the train... the station is about 20 minuteson foor from the port - turn left once you exit the port and follow the water. TRains run roughly every 20 minutes and allow you to reach Athens in a quarter of an our. There are two stops that people recommend: Thisio and Monastiraki .

Thisio is on the green metro line, you don't need to change train and the station is about 15 minutes from the Acropolis. It's all uphill, but the good thing is that the entire area is traffic-free. Monastiraki is another station on the samel ine and is right in the busiest heart of the Plaka, but the Acropolis is a bit farther off.

To reach central Athens you can take a bus (X95) located at the arrival end of the building. It costs only 5 Euro and the duration is about 45 minutes. The end point is Syntagma Square.

The other way of doing it is by taking Metro (blue line). Strangely, it cost more; i.e. 8 Euros. It's crowded after some 6 stops and the frequency is worst than bus. If from Athens to the airport, it's even worse as the local also use it to travel to nearby points. I tried this and had to wait very long and had to stand all the way until the final three stops. Paid more than the bus and get poorer services; just avoid metro for transportation to/fro the airport.

THERE ARE PEOPLE GETTING PICKPOCKETD ON THE METRO IN ATHENS EVERY DAY. I WAS A VICTIM AND YOU WILL BE TOO. IF YOU WANT TO GO ON, TAKE A DUMMY WALLET OR NO VAUABLES WHATSOEVER. NO ONE WILL HELP YOU IF THIS HAPPENS. EVERYONE KNOWS IT IS HAPPENING AND SAYS NOTHING. THEY WILL CROWD YOU IN, SEPARATE YOU AND TAKE YOUR MONEY. STAY OUT OF THE METRO IF YOU ARE A TOURIST. IF YOU HAVE TO TAKE IT THEN HOLD ON TO YOUR WALLET IF IT IS IN YOUR POCKET. WOMEN HOLD ON YOUR PURSE AND KEEP YOUR HAND OVER YOUR ZIPPER. KEEP THIS INFORMATION PUBLIC. PASS IT ON TO EVERYONE YOU KNOW THAT IS TRAVELING TO GREECE. THIS CAN HAPPEN IN ANY CROWDED AREA, BUT IT WILL HAPPEN IF YOU TAKE THE METRO. TELL EVERYONE YOU KNOW AND LET'S CHANGE THE METRO AND GREECES POLICY ON KEEPING THIS FROM THE PUBLIC!

Athens has very good public transportation. You buy a ticket from a machine, time-stamp it as you enter a station, and it is good for 1 ½ hour on any form of transportation—tram, metro, or bus. You can transfer from one to another.

Be sure to validate (time stamp) your ticket before getting on. It’s an honor system and nobody takes your ticket, but they do random spot checks and ticketless people pay a huge fine.

The Metro stations are really nice, and their staff was helpful in sending us to the right platform, etc.

1.40 Euro (0.70 for seniors)

Attico metro operate since 2000 and it is the best transportation in Athens(fast and easy). 23 modern stations that serve more than 600000 passengers every day.There are archeological finds during the making of metro in Panepistimio Syntagma Acropolis and Dafni station and it is also connected with El. Venizelos airport (proastiakos)

Athens, just like numberous European cities have built great metro's around there great cities. The metro in Athens is the cheapest European one yet ... each fare is 1 Euro, and a all day pass is 3 Euro ... machines are everywhere and they have several different languages you can choose from, very easy to buy.

Make sure you validate your ticket as you enter, just like many European cities, the metro is on the honor system, but if you get caught it's a 60 Euro fine.....

From the Airport it cost 6 euro's to get into town very easy to use, as you leave the airport just follow the signs, they are all marked in English !!!!

The Athens metro has 3 lines. One goes out to the airport. Another goes down to Piraeus. The third will take you to the Acropolis.

The good news is that all the lines intersect. More good news is that it is cheap. €1 from Acropolis to Piraeus. But it is more for some trips - I believe the airport fare is €10.

You can get tickets from vending machines or booths. I used the booths - they were quiet.

Signs are in both scripts, so don’t worry about understanding. They have plenty of maps on the stations, and also on the train.

One BIG word of warning. They don’t have ticket barriers. You have to validate your ticket in machines provided before you get to the platform. Don’t forget! The fine will be 60 times the fare - so €60 on a €1 fare. Got that?

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The Athens Metro system is new and modern. There are three lines: Red, Green and Blue. The red line will take you to the vicinity of the Acropolis (Akropoli station). The green line is the longest, and goes as far as Piraeus.
Syntagma is the central station, and allows transfer between the red and blue lines. There are other stations where transfers are possible between the red and green lines (Omonia), or the green and blue lines (Monastiraki).

While digging the underground tunnels and stations, the diggers came across various ancient archeological findings. They came up with the brilliant idea to put these ancient objects on displays in glass boxes in the Metro stations themselves. So, in Syntagna station and a few others you can see a "mini-archeological-museum" and admire ancient vases and figurines.
A neat way of integrating the ancient and the modern in Athens!