What to do in Athens before 1730 flight?

[Bowie MeMe]

We will disembark Nautica before 9 AM and our flight to Madrid is not until 5:30 PM. Suggestions on what to do with our luggage and our selves? I would hate to go to the airport early but also will not want to drag my stuff all over Athens. There are 4 in our party.

[LHT28]

Why not hire a private guide for the day & see the sights of Athens?

 

By the time you see a few sights, have lunch you can arrive at the airport 3-3:30 pm with plenty of time to check in.

[Paul&Kathy]

We have a similar problem, our flight is not until 7pm. From internet searches I have found a luggage storage facility at Larrissa station in the city centre. There is also a more expensive one at the airport. I have been trying to find out how early we can check luggage in but have not yet got a definite answer from BA.

[itsjb1]

I would suggest a private driver to take you around Athens. If you book someone with a minivan, you can load the luggage and take it with you. In Greece there are drivers and guide, you can not be both. We used an excellent driver last time. He gave us a bit of the history and drove us from site to site. He can not go into the sites with you, so he will stay with the car. Therefore your luggage should be safe.

[Bowie MeMe]

I think this is probably what we will do. Opinions on going to Archeoligal Museum, Benik Museum or Corinth? We will be ending 12 days on Nautica Aegean Adventure cruise so think we will have seen many ruins by this time.

[itsjb1]

I think this is probably what we will do. Opinions on going to Archeoligal Museum, Benik Museum or Corinth? We will be ending 12 days on Nautica Aegean Adventure cruise so think we will have seen many ruins by this time.

 

 

I would be cautious about going to Corinth just because of the risk of traffic on the way back. All that you need is a bad accident and you could miss your flight.

 

We did not get time to do the Archeological Museum last time, but understand that it is quite a good museum. We had planned to do it this time and had even arranged a guide for 3 hours to walk us through the highlights, as I understand that the Museum is quite large.

[Bowie MeMe]

Why not hire a private guide for the day & see the sights of Athens?

 

By the time you see a few sights, have lunch you can arrive at the airport 3-3:30 pm with plenty of time to check in.

:(So far the private guides want 400 Euros for van and driver from 9-2. This is way too high. Same fare from what I think are two different cab/taxi services. In Istanbul at the front of the trip a van, guide and driver with 1/2 day tour and delivery to port is booked at 200 Euro. Still working on it. Anybody ever used a day room in Athens and how do you arrange that?

[Bowie MeMe]

For those who want to go to Archelogical Museum be aware they are closed on Mondays. My BIL recommended the Banika Museum which is closed Tuesdays. We are in Athens on a Monday so will probably do the Banika. There is also a brand new (June 20, 2009) museum so will see what folks say about it -- also closed on Mondays though.

[Bowie MeMe]

Still looking for suggestions for Sept. 21 (Mon) when we disembark and will have luggage with us before flying to Madrid at 5:00PM. Nothing seems to work out yet. Private Van is 400 Euros. No luck yet on a day room. Fun to have something to work on.

[MSEm]

I would suggest the new Acropolis Museum. It has just opened.

 

You need to purchase a guide book on the museum or Athens with the museums before you go to the site. I could never find English language books at the sites.

 

MSEm

[Paul&Kathy]

I think we have solved it. There is a Student and Travellers Hostel (see http://www.studenttravellersinn.com) that will store luggage for the day for 2 euros per case. You can also use their shower facilities for 3 euros. I have been in email contact with them and they say there is no need to pre-book luggage storage, just turn up on the day and leave your bags.

 

So our plan is taxi Piraeus to the hostel (no other option, unfortunately) & leave our luggage. From there we will probably have a look at the Temple of Zeus and the National Gardens as we have never been to that part of Athens and it is very close to the hostel. The Acropolis is also very close if you have not been there before.

 

From there we will walk to Syntagma Square to buy our airport bus tickets and check timetables etc, maybe a bit of time for shopping around the Plaka before returning to the hostel to collect our luggage and catch the bus. It looks like about half a kilometre from the hostel to the bus stop.

[Bowie MeMe]

That is a good option. One of the travelers on our cruise (9/9/09 Nautica) is staying at the Hilton in Athens and has offered to allow our bags to be left in her room. We are offering to take her to the port in Istanbul as we have a van reserved. This might work well. I will keep the name of the hostel too in case we need it. Thanks.

[itsjb1]

How sure are you about the security of your luggage at a student hostel? I have heard horror stories of students who backpack thru Europe having their things stolen when they are staying at a hostel.

[Paul&Kathy]

I don't know, but if they are charging for storage I hope they have some sort of security system in place. Must admit I am always a bit nervous about leaving cases in hotel luggage rooms, we just have to do it sometimes and so far no problem. We will of course take our passports, valuables etc with us. Will let you know how we got on when we come home (24th July).

[Bowie MeMe]

Would appreciate that information. We do not sail until 9/9/09 and will not be in Athens until 9/21 You might also check with some "name" hotels and see if they will store your luggage. I was told it is too early for them to commit to a day room. Also check your roll call and see if someone might have a room and allow you to store your bags there perhaps for a ride to that hotel. Just thoughts.

[CintiPam]

Hi, Barbara, we just returned from our wonderful Athens to Rome cruise. Unfortunately, the New Acropolis Museum was not opening until this week, but we spent a lovely three hours at the Benaki Museum, which is just a couple of blocks from Syntagma Square.

 

Enjoy your trip!

 

Pam

[Bowie MeMe]

I had not heard of the Benaki Museum but my SIL just back last week said it was wonderful. She is a history professor and her husband a religion professor and they were scouting out details for a study tour next year. It is also open on Monday -- a big factor when your ship is disembarking on Monday. Welcome back. Please post your trip:)

[bruinbob95]

We will disembark Nautica before 9 AM and our flight to Madrid is not until 5:30 PM. Suggestions on what to do with our luggage and our selves? I would hate to go to the airport early but also will not want to drag my stuff all over Athens. There are 4 in our party.

 

We have slightly more time than you. I contacted Spiros at Athens Taxi and arranged to be picked up at the ship, taken for a full-day tour, and dropped off at the airport. They could only accommodate 2 people because of having to also take the luggage. It's expensive, about $300 or so, but we'll get a full day of touring in without any hassle. You can go cheaper with Despina Savvidou at

Athens Walking Tours, but you'll have to schlep your luggage part of the way and store it at the metro station. Here is contact information.

 

Athens Taxi: http://********************/index.htm

 

Athens Walking Tours: http://www.athenswalkingtours.gr

 

Good luck!

[bruinbob95]

We have a similar problem, our flight is not until 7pm. From internet searches I have found a luggage storage facility at Larrissa station in the city centre. There is also a more expensive one at the airport. I have been trying to find out how early we can check luggage in but have not yet got a definite answer from BA.

 

They told me 4 hours.

[Bowie MeMe]

I read somewhere that you could only check in for your flight two hours before the flight because the airport is so busy. I also read that there were few chairs/resting spots because so many coming from international flights and waiting for Inter Island flights. This was in response to a question about the comfort of just waiting for a flight in the airport. Guess we will find out in Sept. :rolleyes:

[GoingPlacesSoon]

We are in Athens and would recommend Greece by Taxi, they have a special rate of 230 euros for full day for 2 persons or a half day tour for 150 euros (per trip not per person). The owner is Paul and his sons help with the taxi service. My husband and I and our 5 pieces of luggage fit well in the taxi. We were greeted at port terminal with our name on sign, and the transfer from ship to taxi was very smooth. The owner and his sons are fluent in English and have knowledge of history and mythology. They are not certified tour guides, but could take care of your transportation needs. Depending on your flight time, the half day tour could work out well. He does have a web page at visiting www dot greecebytaxi dot com or sending an email to Paul at greecebytaxi at greecebytaxi dot com

 

Have a great trip

[calvin81]

We had a similar problem with timing after our recent Istanbul to Athens cruise. We had a 8 p.m. flight and had to be off the ship at 9 a.m. (out of the cabin at 8, but sat by the pool and relaxed for an hour). We used a private taxi we found on the Port Forum (look under Europe, then Mediterranean, the date of the post was May 30). The name of the owner was Jordan, but we booked the day before so got a friend of his. We had intended to store our luggage at one of the metro stations and go to Corinth on a train. We found out the day before that all the lockers were full, and while that may have changed overnight I was worried we'd get to a station with our bags and be out of luck. We also found Athens to be crowded and hot, so decided we'd liked to be pampered by a private driver. We paid 170 euros for a drive to Corinth to see the ancient site and the canal and then be taken to the airport. This was a little longer than a half day -- we got to the airport about 3:30, so still had quite a wait. And it is true you can't check in until 2 hours before the flight so you are stuck with your luggage. It was nice to see a sign with our name and get in an air conditoned Mercedes taxi and be taken right to the site. The driver spoke English and did tell us some facts about what we were going to see. After we toured Corinth we had lunch in the small village and shopped a bit. The site at Corinth was fairly empty and the museum there was quite good, so we really enjoyed the day. And the canal was very interesting -- we saw it from the top and the bottom.

[Paul&Kathy]

Just to report back that we used the Student Inn for luggage storage and everything worked smoothly, the taxi driver quoted 20-25 euros for the journey and although I could not persuade him to switch on his meter he asked for 25 at the end which was fine by us.

The Students Inn (which is right in the middle of the Plaka and actually looks quite a reasonable place) charged us 4 euros for 2 cases for the day. No receipts were issued for either our money or cases, the receptionist assured me he would recognise me and it was not necessary. We had already made sure that my jewellery, laptop etc were in our day bag and nothing of major value in the cases, but there was no problem, they were there safely waiting for me when we went back later in the day. There is a very obvious CCTV camera over the reception desk but I honestly doubt anyone would have noticed if I had walked out with 3 cases instead of 2.

For future reference we also looked at the lockers as Monatiraki Metro station which are definitely more secure. They cost 3 euros per 24 hours or part and are quite large. Our biggest cases (24 x 18 x 10 inches) would have fitted in quite comfortably in the large lockers but there are not too many of them, and when we looked (about midday) there was only 1 vacant large one and a few of the smaller ones (would hold a backpack or small case).

[Paul&Kathy]

sorry, double post

[CintiPam]

Just to report back that we used the Student Inn for luggage storage and everything worked smoothly, the taxi driver quoted 20-25 euros for the journey and although I could not persuade him to switch on his meter he asked for 25 at the end which was fine by us.

 

The Students Inn (which is right in the middle of the Plaka and actually looks quite a reasonable place) charged us 4 euros for 2 cases for the day. No receipts were issued for either our money or cases, the receptionist assured me he would recognise me and it was not necessary. We had already made sure that my jewellery, laptop etc were in our day bag and nothing of major value in the cases, but there was no problem, they were there safely waiting for me when we went back later in the day. There is a very obvious CCTV camera over the reception desk but I honestly doubt anyone would have noticed if I had walked out with 3 cases instead of 2.

 

For future reference we also looked at the lockers as Monatiraki Metro station which are definitely more secure. They cost 3 euros per 24 hours or part and are quite large. Our biggest cases (24 x 18 x 10 inches) would have fitted in quite comfortably in the large lockers but there are not too many of them, and when we looked (about midday) there was only 1 vacant large one and a few of the smaller ones (would hold a backpack or small case).

 

 

Thanks for posting this really valuable information regarding an issue that is raised often, particularly on the Mediterranean board.