How to get from Athens airport to the city center?

Athens International Airport sits 30 km east of central Athens. Four options reach Syntagma Square: Metro Line 3 (Blue Line) costs €9 one-way and takes 40 minutes, with trains roughly every 36 minutes from 06:10 to 23:30. The X95 express bus costs €5.50 and runs 24/7, with a journey of 60 to 90 minutes. A fixed-rate taxi charges €40 by day and €55 between midnight and 05:00. Suburban Rail (Proastiakos) connects to Larissis Station from around 05:50.

Metro Line 3 suits travelers staying near Syntagma, Monastiraki, Plaka, or Psirri. The first train from the airport leaves at 06:10, after which services run roughly every 36 minutes (typical departures at :10 and :46 past each hour) until 23:30. The ride reaches Syntagma in 40 minutes and Monastiraki in 42. One-way tickets cost €9, return tickets €18, and the reduced fare for children, teenagers, and visitors over 65 is €4.50. The standard €1.20 city ticket does not work on the airport route.

The X95 express bus runs 24 hours a day from the airport to Syntagma Square. Tickets cost €5.50 (€2.70 reduced) at the booth between Arrivals Exits 4 and 5. The journey takes 60 to 90 minutes in traffic. Three other express lines serve different destinations: X96 to Piraeus port, X93 to Kifissos and Liossion intercity bus terminals, X97 to Elliniko metro station serving the southern suburbs and the Athenian Riviera, with night service to Dafni.

Official taxis charge a flat €40 from 05:00 to midnight and €55 from midnight to 05:00. The rank sits opposite Arrivals Exit 3. The ride takes 30 to 45 minutes. Greek law caps each cab at four passengers including children. Many drivers refuse cards, so travelers carry cash.

Suburban Rail (Proastiakos) covers a fourth route, linking the airport to Larissis Station and Piraeus. The first train from the airport leaves around 05:50, with services running every 15 to 25 minutes through the day. Between 23:30 and the first morning service, only the X95 bus or a taxi can reach the city. The same ticket allows a transfer to Metro Line 3 at Doukissis Plakentias.

After 23:30 the airport metro shuts. The X95 does not. Through the small hours it pulls up every 30 minutes at the stop between Exits 4 and 5, then heads to Syntagma Square for €5.50. The taxi rate climbs at midnight: €55 will be on the meter from 00:00 to 05:00, instead of €40. A bus crawls into the center in 60 to 90 minutes once traffic clears. A taxi gets in around 35. Heavy suitcases plus a 2 a.m. landing usually tip the choice toward the cab.

Greek law does not let Uber dispatch private cars. So both Uber Athens and FreeNow send the same yellow taxi that waits at the rank, charging the same flat €40 from 05:00 to midnight and €55 from 00:00 to 05:00. Welcome Pickups and similar booked transfers sit at €43, and the trade is an English-speaking driver and a name sign at the gate. Uber Taxi tacks an in-app surcharge onto the meter. The saving over a rank cab tends to evaporate. For anyone who would rather skip the post-flight taxi queue, the €3 premium on a pre-booked transfer feels worth it.

For visitors planning to use public transport for several days, the OASA 3-day tourist ticket replaces three separate one-way fares and a city card in one purchase. The flat €20 fare covers one round trip between the airport and central Athens, usable on Metro Line 3 or any of the X95, X96, X93 and X97 express buses, plus unlimited rides on every city metro, bus, tram and trolleybus for 72 hours from first validation. A single airport return on the metro already costs €18 on its own, so anyone planning even a couple of extra rides inside Athens recovers the difference quickly. Tickets sell at the airport metro station booth and at any OASA ticket machine in the city, and reduced-fare versions exist for children, teenagers and visitors over 65.