Travel to and in Athens
Usually, the cheapest flights are with RyanAir, Aegean Air or EasyJet. Lufthansa is often the cheapest of the major airlines: use an aggregation service such as Opodo.com or Kayak.com to search for cheap flights after looking at www.easyjet.com and http://en.aegeanair.com/.
It is quite feasible to choose a flight that arrives at Athens at 2am as there is a 24 hour X95 bus to Syntagma Sq. If you are arriving during the day, then the easiest way to get to central Athens is the metro (45 mins on the blue line). Do your tourist thing, and then get the metro to Piraeus (20 mins on the green line). See below for travel "In Athens" and further down for how to get to Piraeus.
To get to any islands by ferry, you will need to get from the airport to Piraeus (the port of Athens) and get a ferry or hydrofoil.
If you are inexperienced in travelling in Greece, you may find it less stressful to arrive in Poros on the Friday and to spend Friday night in a hotel in Poros. Then you know that you won't be late for the sailing trip. The "7 Brothers" is extremely convenient but not particularly cheap: www.7brothers.gr/en-index.html.
Maximum free cabin luggage dimensions for standard passengers |
IATA recommendation |
55 x 35 x 20cm |
BA |
56 x 45 x 25cm |
Easyjet |
56 x 45 x 25cm |
Ryanair |
55 x 40 x 20cm |
Thomas Cook |
55 x 40 x 20cm |
Virgin Atlantic |
56 x 36 x 23cm |
Lufthansa |
55 x 40 x 23cm (57 x 54 x 15cm for foldable garment bags) |
American Airlines |
56 x 36 x 23cm |
United Airlines |
56 x 35 x 22cm |
Delta Airlines |
56 x 35 x 23cm |
Air France |
55 x 35 x 25cm |
Emirates |
55 x 38 x 20cm |
Wizz Air |
42 x 32 x 25cm |
Germanwings |
55 x 40 x 23cm |
Flybe |
55 x 40 x 23cm |
US Federal Aviation Authority "standard" bag |
55.8 x 36.8 x 22.9cm |
In Athens
Metro map here: www.stasy.gr (Oh dear, it's in Greek. Better get used to that in Greece.) Try this one instead - or look at the copy below (click on it for a bigger one):
The Student Travellers Hostel is clean and cheap, and accepts advance bookings and arrivals at 2am http://www.studenttravellersinn.com/ which is within walking distance of Syntagma Sq. in the middle of Athens.
Ferries and Piraeus
The Greek ferry system is a wonder and a delight.
The port of Piraeus is huge - there are dozens of very big ferries every hour. You should allow an hour and a half to find your way around the port and to buy your ticket, and the ferry takes 2 hours or so (the hydrofoil is faster). There is (or was) port-wide WiFi for free, but it only lasts 20 minutes until it is not free any more.
The best way to get to Piraeus from the airport is the X96 bus to Pireus. (It takes an hour if the traffic is OK. It often isn't OK so be careful to allow enough time). See the map below (click on it for a larger version). There are lots of bus stops around Pireus harbour, you want the bus stop No.4, or the Metro Station (also called ST.ISAP on the X96 bus map) .The bus runs 24 hours a day and is every 30 minutes or 15 minutes, depending on the time of day.
In Piraeus, orient yourself with the footbridge across the big road between gates 5 and 7. This bridge leads directly to the terminus of the green metro line - which is where you will arrive if you are coming from central Athens. If coming direct from the airport on the X96 - if you go under the footbridge you have gone too far. Ask the driver to tell you to get off at the metro in Piraeus to avoid this. It is only a 10 minute walk to the right place from there so that stop is fine.
You can buy the ferry ticket at the port from any of a multitude of booths or travel agents. Ask for a ticket to Poros (NOT PAROS). Get a single. (We will all buy the tickets back from Poros after we meet up on Saturday afternoon in Poros.)
Once in Piraeus, to get to Poros you want the ARGOSARONIC ferries, sometimes just called SARONIC. This is the name of the area, not the name of the company. These ferries all leave from the quay between Gates 8 and 9. (You can enter the port at any gate: there is no control on entry.) Several companies offer ferries on this trip. The route goes Piraeus - (Aegina) - (Methana) - Poros - (Hydra) - (Ermioni) - (Spetses). The places in brackets may or may not be visited depending on the company and the time of day, but they all go to Poros. Or did. Better make sure when you buy your ticket at one of the many booths and shops around the quay in Piraeus.
Timetables are basically secret (not intentionally, just due to inefficiency); however our charterer Greek Sails has got hold of the timetable for some relevant ferries for us and this will be posted here as soon as I get them.
It should be about 23 euros each way for the Poros-Athens trip. It is a holiday in itself, passing the island of Aegina and with a good view of the Saronic Gulf.
Hydrofoils
Note that Hydrofoils (known as "Dolphins") are twice as expensive but are twice as fast as the much-larger car ferries. For other islands in the Cyclades, there are also "Fast Cats" which are nearly as fast as hydrofoils and also as cheap as car ferries.
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Car Ferries
These are the cheapest ferries from Piraeus to Poros.
All internet links to ferry timetables eventually take you to the same system
When we meet up at the beginning of the trip in Poros on Saturday afternoon, we buy our return ferry tickets for a week later (before the ferry shop shuts). Getting advance timetables is like pulling teeth.