Accessibility and local transportation:
Athens is comfortably accessible from all European countries and most international destinations around the world.

Athens International Airport: [1] The Athens International Airport Eleftherios Venizelos, opened in March 2001, is dedicated to customer satisfaction and provides high security standards and top quality service for all travellers. It is connected daily with over 50 cities around the world. The Athens International Airport is located 33 km southeast of Athens and is easily accessible via Attiki Odos [2], a six-lane motorway constituting the Athens City Ring Road. Public transport to Athens and the port of Piraeus is provided by express airport bus connections on a 24-hour basis.

Athens Metro: [3] Athens Metro network consists of 2 lines (Line 2 and Line 3) and 23 stations, serving 500,000 passengers daily with trains arriving every 3 minutes at rush hours and every 5-10 minutes at all other times. An additional line (Line 1) of the ISAP network (www.isap.gr [4]), which already existed in Athens connecting the Port of Piraeus to the northern suburb of Kifisia, commutes another 415,000 passengers per day. The Athens Metro connects Syntagma Square to the Athens International Airport in 27 minutes.
Hours of operation:
Lines 2 and 3 operate daily from 05:30 – 24:00.
Line 1 operates daily from 05:00-00:30.
Useful tips:
While inside the train, announcements are made before every stop.
Metro tickets are sold at the stations’ cashiers and by automatic tellers.
Remember to validate your ticket before you move on to the platform.

Suburban train: [5] The suburban train of Athens, a modern project inaugurated in July 2004, connects the centre of Athens (Larissis train station) to the Athens International Airport via 9 stations in 41 minutes. The suburban train operates from 04:26 to 23:36, with departures every half an hour. The coaches are modern and offer plenty of facilities for the comfort of passengers.

Tram: [6] The tram was enthusiastically welcomed in Athens, in July 2004, approximately 40 years after the old tram routes were terminated in the Greek capital. Its 5 routes operate daily on a 24-hour basis, serving 47 stations. Tram vehicles arrive every 8 minutes between 06:00-01:00 and every 40 minutes between 01:00-06:00.

Buses: [7] The broad bus network of Athens covers almost every point of the city and the suburbs with 7,500 stops. The fleet consists mainly of modern buses, environmentally friendly, with air conditioning and facilities for the elderly and passengers with special abilities.
Useful tips: Tickets must be bought before boarding (from bus terminals and from the majority of kiosks) and validated in the designated machines (orange coloured) within the vehicles. To stop a bus for embarkation you must make a hand signal to the driver. To disembark you have to notify the driver by pressing the “stop” button in time. The OASA Call Centre (185 – dialing from within Greece) operates from 07:00-21:00 on weekdays and from 09:00-17:00 on weekends.

Taxis: Taxis are yellow with a red-letter taxi-sign on top. Have in mind that taxis in Athens can be stopped on their way with a hand signal (just like buses) and they often take more than one passenger at a time embarking and disembarking at different points. For exclusive use of a taxi you are advised to call a “radio taxi”. In any case you can request a taxi from your hotel’s concierge.

Museums:

Benaki Museum: [8] Benaki boasts one of the most extensive collections in Greece, covering several periods ranging from the prehistoric, ancient and roman periods to the Byzantine and the neo-Hellenic period. Among its particularly interesting collections are those of Toys, Games, Chinese and Islamic art.

Museum of Cycladic Art: [9] Devoted to the study and promotion of ancient Greek art, the Museum of Cycladic Art hosts two permanent collections. The Cycladic Collection, with marble statuettes and ceramic pots from the prehistoric period of the Cycladic islands (3200-2000 B.C.); and the Ancient Greek Collection, which exhibits objects of art from the 15th century BC to the 4th century AD. The museum also hosts several temporary collections in its new wing, which is housed in the magnificent neo-classical Stathatos Mansion.

National Archaeological Museum of Athens: The National Archaeological Museum of Athens with its numerous exhibits allows you to monitor the history of Ancient Greek art, which dates between the Neolithic period and the Roman period.
National Gallery of Athens: The National Gallery showcases Greek paintings and sculptures from the 19th century to the present. There are also 16th-century artworks and contemporary pieces painted by European masters, including paintings by Picasso, Marquet, Utrillo as well as four El Greco paintings.

Byzantine Museum: The Byzantine Museum is dedicated exclusively to the art style, which flourished since the founding of the city of Constantinople (330 AC), the capital of the Byzantine Empire, until its fall in 1453. The museum has been recently restored and almost tripled in size.

Archaeological sites: The Acropolis The Parthenon, a monument that constitutes the symbol of Greece worldwide, towns the “sacred rock” of Athens, the Acropolis. The Parthenon, a marble temple dedicated to Goddess Athena, along with the other monuments of the Acropolis, are all excellent pieces of art, reflecting the Classical period and the Golden Age of ancient Athens in the 5th and 4th centuries BC. Near this archaeological site one can also visit the Museum of the Acropolis.
Herodeion: (Odeion of Herodes Atticus) Built in 161 AD by Tiberius Claudius Atticus Herodes, the Odeon was built in the memory of his late wife. Today, concerts, plays and ballets are still performed in it. You can either admire its beauty and architecture in the morning or treat yourself with the lifetime experience of attending a concert. Herodeion’s natural setting of the Arcades in front, the Parthenon in the back and the moon up in the sky will certainly fascinate you!

Panathinaikon Stadion: Originally built in the 4th century BC for the athletic competitions of the Great Panathinaia (ancient Greek festivities), the Panathinaikon Stadion took its final form during its most recent restoration at the end of the 19th century. It is made of marble and the Greeks also call it “Kallimarmaron” (meaning “made of beautiful marble”). It was the venue for the first modern Olympic Games, in 1896.

More information about museums and archaeological sites in Athens can be found at http://odysseus.culture.gr/index_en.html [10]