Get Off At Monistiraki? Syntagma? Akropoli?

[Marysunshine]

When we take the train from Piraeus to the Acropolis, which stop do we get off?

[MeHeartCruising]

Generally, you want to get off at either Monasteraki or Akropoli. Monasteraki has an advantage in that you don't need to change trains. But you'll need to walk thru the Agorra to get to Acropolis. The Agorra itself is a very historic ruin site and may very well be on your agenda anyway. So that might factor in. However, the approach to the Acropolis via the Agorra seems to be a bit longer and maybe a little more of an incline to walk. But it's not bad. There is a charge to enter the Agorra, but it's a ticket that also lets you into the Acropolis.

 

If you want to go directly to the Acropolis first, you might want to transfer trains and get off at the Akropoli stop. It's a shorter walk from the opposite side of the Acropolis from the Agorra. If you're really trying to get to the Acropolis as soon as possible in the morning, this probably is fastest, assuming you don't have to wait much time in between trains. They run fairly quickly on most typical days.

 

Depending on your agenda for the day, you may want to arrive via one stop and return from another one, including maybe Syntagma. On my most recent trip last summer, I got off the train at Monasteraki and toured the Agorra for about an hour before heading up to the Acropolis. Then I walked down the other side and visited the Acropolis Museum and then headed up to the Syntagma area. Finally, I actually walked back down to Monasteraki to return back to the ship. I covered a lot of ground that day on foot.

 

I hope this helps.

[texancruzer]

We got off at Monistiraki. We actually didn't know we could change trains and keep going....... but it worked out great for us. We came out of the metro and looked right and BOOM there it was. We walked across a nice plaza, thru a neighborhood and up some steps. We then came to a street that wound up to the top. We were told later that this was the harder route. We DID NOT have to pay to go thru any area tho.

 

We took this route our last visit too even tho we took the ship shuttle into town (in order to ensure we would not get stuck on the ship in case of a metro strike)

 

The easiest way tho is to change trains and go up the "front" way :D Either way you can't miss it ....LOL

[MeHeartCruising]

TexanCruzer makes a good point. I could very well be wrong when I said you have to go thru the Agorra from that side. There may very well be other paths up from Monasteraki that I didn't know about. I was planning on going to the Agorra, so only pursued that option. I should have said that if you want to also do the Agorra first, you can do so from the Monasteraki stop.

[DonRobertoSanJuan]

How is it to walk from Thiseio station to Acropolis?

[MeHeartCruising]

DonRoberto, the guide book I used actually indicated Thisseio as an option too. Looking at the map, I think you'd only want to use this stop if you definitely planned on passing thru the Agorra on your way to the Acropolis. Thisseio is definitely further away if your primary goal is getting to the Acropolis fast. But It looks to be about the same distance to the Agorra entrance as the Monasteraki stop is. You would enter the Agorra by walking down Adrianou Street -- just from different directions depending on whether you arrived via Thisseio or Monasteraki. Adrianou is a nice street lined mostly with cafe restaurants with outdoor seating. The entrance to the Agorra is midway down the street between Monasteraki and Thisseio.

[4774Papa]

Generally, you want to get off at either Monasteraki or Akropoli. Monasteraki has an advantage in that you don't need to change trains. But you'll need to walk thru the Agorra to get to Acropolis. The Agorra itself is a very historic ruin site and may very well be on your agenda anyway. So that might factor in. However, the approach to the Acropolis via the Agorra seems to be a bit longer and maybe a little more of an incline to walk. But it's not bad. There is a charge to enter the Agorra, but it's a ticket that also lets you into the Acropolis.

 

If you want to go directly to the Acropolis first, you might want to transfer trains and get off at the Akropoli stop. It's a shorter walk from the opposite side of the Acropolis from the Agorra. If you're really trying to get to the Acropolis as soon as possible in the morning, this probably is fastest, assuming you don't have to wait much time in between trains. They run fairly quickly on most typical days.

 

Depending on your agenda for the day, you may want to arrive via one stop and return from another one, including maybe Syntagma. On my most recent trip last summer, I got off the train at Monasteraki and toured the Agorra for about an hour before heading up to the Acropolis. Then I walked down the other side and visited the Acropolis Museum and then headed up to the Syntagma area. Finally, I actually walked back down to Monasteraki to return back to the ship. I covered a lot of ground that day on foot.

 

I hope this helps.

Good advice. If you go to Akropoli first, you will be close to the new Acropolis Museum, which is great (go to the third floor first), then up the hill to the Acropolis.

[lovestx]

How important is it to get to the Acropolis early to avoid crowds (in June)? My plan has been to go there first and do the other sites, including the museum, later but maybe I am wrong.

 

We dock at 7 a.m. How early would you get off the boat (I have teens in tow!).

[MeHeartCruising]

How important is it to get to the Acropolis early to avoid crowds (in June)? My plan has been to go there first and do the other sites, including the museum, later but maybe I am wrong.

 

We dock at 7 a.m. How early would you get off the boat (I have teens in tow!).

 

Well, regardless of when you can get there, please do go. Even with crowds, it's an amazing place. Generally, the rule is that the earlier you can get there the better. In the summer months cruise and other tour busses start arriving shortly after it opens. And the stream of them never really seems to slow for the first couple hours. But after about an hour, as many people are leaving as are arriving. I have not been there in the afternoon to compare.

 

I've included a link to pictures from my May 2011 Athens visit (June is probably even busier). This trip, I chose to explore the Agorra first and then head up to the Acropolis. So I did not get up there until about 11 or 11:15 probably. As you can see, there are a lot of people up there by that time. But it's still worth it. Getting the picture you want is pretty difficult though, with that many people there always seems to be someone in the way.

 

The Acropolis pictures start about 1/4 of the way thru this set at picture 140.

 

Athens - May 2011

[lovestx]

Thanks, MeHeart, from some great pictures and some great ideas. I think we'll do the Acropolis first and try to get there by 9 a.m.