Saronida, our venue town, is not very well connected with the metropolitan Athens area. There are some options that will be listed below, but, generally, if you can afford it, renting a car really worths it as it will allow you also to investigate the surrounding areas.
Getting to Saronida from the airport:
Using a taxi to get to Saronida is your best option.
Do not take a taxi from the taxi range if you can avoid it!
Uber operates in Athens with regular taxis only but generally getting an Uber will save you from the occassional scammy Athenian driver. No black vans are offered. You can arrange a pick up with a bigger car/van from other services, listed below.
Taxi in Athens is cheap compared to the rest of Europe.
Apart from Uber, the European flavor of taxi hailing apps FreeNow is also available and a very good option for Athens.
This is their logo if you choose to download their app beforehand:
Welcome Pickups is a Greek startup that does well internationally and I trust them for booking a transfer in advance: https://www.welcomepickups.com/athens/
A google search will reveal many other options.
If you arrive in Athens but you head downtown first, then the metro is a good option. Runs every 35′ from the airport, arrives at Syntagma Sq. (the most central station in Athens) in about 45′ and costs just 10 euro.
Using the public transport in Athens (metro, trolleys, tram, buses in any combination) for 90′ will cost you 1.20 euro only!
The metro network is not as dense as in other metropolises. Google Maps is quite good at directing you on how to use the public transport. As a local I haven’t used other popular apps like Moovit or CityMapper here so I can not advise.
If you get a taxi from the airport to the city center there is a fixed price to central Athens (within the traffic regulation ring), that is 40 euro during the day and 50 euros between 00.00 – 05.00. This includes tolls. There is a small charge 0.4 euros per luggage over 10kg.
This is the traffic regulation ring of Athens. Taking a taxi from the airport anywhere in this ring will cost you a fixed fee as above:
This is the map of the track-based modes of transport in Athens:
The Blue and the Red lines are modern and fairly new, while the green one is more than a century old. You will notice the difference as you ride them. Petty crime is uncommon in the metro but better be careful. The green line feels a bit more sketchy. Fuscia is the tram. Safe, picturesque on the seaside part of it and sloooooowww.
Gray is the regional train. Far from what you may have experienced anywhere in Western Europe.
Greece is a mountainous and relatively poor country so back in the ’50s the strategic decision was made to emphasize on cars and roads rather than trains. So the railway system is very limited and only recently upgraded to resemble the European Standards. I do not expect that you will need to use the Regional train, unless you choose to head North to Olympus, or closer to the nice town of Chalkida.
“There are no trains going to Saronida!” I almost hear you say.
That is correct.
If you want to reach Saronida by public transport from downtown it is doable and many people heading to the beach do it:
You get the Red Line to the southern terminal station of “Elliniko”
There you board the 122 bus that terminates at Saronida
Easy.
but it will take you around 1.5 hours.
To contrast, riding a car from the center to Saronida takes 45 mins. Not having a train connecting Saronida to the city center may be inconvenient but also spares the town from huge crowds (as is the case with, say, Como). It is a worthy trade-off
So it is NOT advised that you stay in down-town Athens and commute daily to Saronida for the tournament.
You will need to book in Saronida for at least those days. More info about that in Accommodation page
Apart from the 122 bus that connects Saronida with the urban part of the city, there is also the 123 bus that does a cyclical route with the neighboring town of Anavyssos. On that route lie a couple of the hotels that are good options for accomodation, so, if you do not have a car and if the organising team can not give you a lift, then you may have to use this bus line
This map is courtesy of the organisation that runs the public transport in Athens, their site is not very modern but you can see exactly where the bus you want to use is in real time, so for 123 line that is not very frequent that can be very useful
here is the site, they have an app too. https://www.oasa.gr/en/telematics/ . No linking directly to the route you want to see :/
Taxis are also available from Saronida. Uber and FreeNow operate but coverage may vary. It is fortunate that the event is not happening during the peak tourist season. Apart from the apps, there is a taxi range with “local” taxi drivers. Well before the event we will compile a list of phone numbers of local taxis that you can use to arrange trips.
As organizers, we recognize that transportation may not be the strongest suit of the event. We are planning to mobilize also private means of transport to help everyone to have a trouble-free experience. Knowing the transportation needs of participants will help us prepare better. We can not promise that a private driver will be available all the hours for anyone who needs her, but good communication and planning ahead will get us far. Please DM me for relevant matters.
More info: