Syntagma metro station, Athens.
The short answer: from Athens airport, metro line 3 runs straight to central Athens with no change: about 37 minutes to Evangelismos, the station at the bottom of Kolonaki, and 39 minutes to Syntagma, for €9 one way. Airport trains run only about every 36 minutes, leaving the airport from 06:10 to 23:34. A taxi costs a flat €50 to the centre by day and €65 between midnight and 05:00, per car, under the new fares in force since 18 September 2026. The X95 express bus (€5.50) runs to Syntagma around the clock. Once you are here, central Athens is small: Syntagma is a 10 to 15 minute walk from Kolonaki Square, a 90-minute ticket on metro, tram, bus and trolley costs €1.20, and you can tap a contactless bank card at the gates instead of buying one.
I have lived in Kolonaki for more than ten years and host guests in two apartments here, one of them a few steps from Evangelismos metro. This is how I tell guests to get from the plane to the door, and then how to move around the city once they have dropped their bags. The guide follows that order: the airport first, then walking and the metro, the tram and buses, taxis, driving, and finally the ports and the railway station.
Fares, timetables and links checked on 11 October 2026.
From the airport to Kolonaki
The X95 express bus at Athens Airport.
Your options at a glance
| Option | Cost | Time to the centre | Runs | Best for |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Metro line 3 | €9 per person (€16 return) | 37 min to Evangelismos, 39 to Syntagma | 06:10 to 23:34 from the airport, about every 36 min | Travelling light, arriving by day |
| Taxi at the flat fare | €50 (05:00 to 00:00), €65 (00:00 to 05:00), per taxi | 35 to 60 min, depending on traffic | 24 hours | Two or more people, luggage, late flights |
| X95 express bus | €5.50 per person | About an hour, more in traffic | 24 hours | Night arrivals on a budget |
| Pre-booked transfer | Fixed price shown when you book | As a taxi | Whenever your flight lands | Families, first visits, a name sign at arrivals |
Sources: STASY line 3 timetable; ticket prices from the ATH.ENA fare table, unchanged since 2020 according to Athens Transport, 2 June 2026; taxi fares from ministerial decision 147620/2026 (text on Taxheaven).
Metro line 3: straight to Evangelismos
Line 3, the blue line, starts under the airport and runs through the city without a change. For Kolonaki, get off at Evangelismos, one stop before Syntagma: it is on the flat, lower edge of the neighbourhood, opposite Evangelismos hospital, and saves you the walk up from Syntagma with a suitcase. On the STASY timetable the ride takes 37 minutes to Evangelismos and 39 to Syntagma.
Three things catch people out:
- Only some trains go to the airport. The airport branch has a train about every 36 minutes, every day; the others turn back at Doukissis Plakentias. Coming from the city, check that the train says "Airport" on the front. From the airport, every train goes into town.
- First and last trains. Under the current STASY timetables, the first train leaves the airport at 06:10 and the last at 23:34. Towards the airport, the first passes Evangelismos at 05:55 and the last at 23:19 (from the airport, to the airport). The airport trains do not join the late Friday or all-night Saturday service.
- Night works in autumn 2026. Line 3 is having its rails replaced in stages. From Sunday to Thursday, 11 to 15 and 18 to 22 October 2026, the stretch from Ambelokipi to Halandri closes at 21:40, and the last through trains run at 21:06 towards the airport and 21:10 from it (Athens Transport, 10 October 2026). On those nights airport trains still run as far as Halandri until 23:34, with the X20 replacement bus on to Ambelokipi, but if you land late a taxi is simpler. Check STASY's announcements for the next stage.
The airport ticket costs €9 one way and €16 return, bought from the machines before the gates; the ordinary €1.20 ticket and the 24-hour and 5-day tickets are not valid between Koropi and the airport. If you are staying three days or so, the 3-day tourist ticket at €20 covers all metro, tram, bus and trolley travel for 72 hours and includes one trip to the airport and one from it (ATH.ENA fare table), which is cheaper than an airport return plus city tickets.
The airport taxi flat fare
Taxis from the rank outside arrivals charge a fixed price to the centre of Athens, not the meter: since 18 September 2026 it is €50 from 05:00 to midnight and €65 from midnight to 05:00, and the same in the other direction. The new fares were set by ministerial decision 147620/2026, published in the Government Gazette (ΦΕΚ Β' 5674, 18 September 2026) and in force from publication (decision text on Taxheaven; Ta Nea, 17 September 2026). Before that it was €40 and €55, and you will still see the old figures quoted in many guides.
The price is per taxi, not per person, and Kolonaki is well inside the central zone, so with two or three people and luggage it often beats the metro on comfort and comes close on cost. Agree that it is the flat fare before you set off. You can also book one of the apps below from the arrivals hall; see the taxi section further down.
The X95 express bus
The X95 runs between the airport and Syntagma Square 24 hours a day and costs €5.50 (OASA airport express lines). It leaves from outside the arrivals hall; buy a ticket before you board, or simply tap a contactless bank card on the validator when you get on. The trip takes about an hour and much longer in rush-hour traffic, so by day the metro is faster. Its real use is the gap between 23:30 and 06:00, when no airport trains run. From the Syntagma stop it is a 10 to 15 minute walk up to Kolonaki, or a short taxi.
A transfer booked before you fly
If you would rather not think at all after a long flight, a pre-booked transfer puts a driver with your name on a sign in the arrivals hall, at a price you know in advance, and you can ask for a child seat or a bigger car when you book. It costs more than the metro and is our usual suggestion for families and first visits. We use Welcome Pickups, through our referral link; booking through it supports us at no extra cost to you.
Getting around once you are here
A yellow Athens taxi on the street.
On foot from Kolonaki
Central Athens is smaller than people expect, and from Kolonaki most of what a first visit needs is walkable. These are my own walking times from Kolonaki Square at an easy pace; the way into the centre is flat or downhill, the way back is uphill.
| From Kolonaki Square to | On foot |
|---|---|
| Benaki Museum (main building) | 3 to 5 min |
| Museum of Cycladic Art | 5 min |
| Lycabettus funicular, lower station | About 10 min, uphill |
| Evangelismos metro station | About 10 min |
| Byzantine and Christian Museum | About 10 min |
| Syntagma Square and the National Garden | 10 to 15 min |
| Panathenaic Stadium | About 20 min |
| Plaka | 20 to 25 min |
| Acropolis Museum | About 30 min |
| Monastiraki | About 25 min |
The route to the Acropolis runs through the National Garden or down through Plaka, and the last stretch along Dionysiou Areopagitou is pedestrianised. Wear shoes with grip: Athenian marble pavements are slippery when wet. Kolonaki Square itself is currently fenced off as a construction site for the new metro line 4, whose Kolonaki station Hellenic Metro targets for September 2032 (Hellenic Metro), so walk around its edges rather than across it. For the neighbourhood's history and an interactive map, see our Kolonaki page.
The metro: lines, tickets and hours
The Athens metro has three lines, and from Kolonaki you will use all of them:
- Line 3 (blue) stops at Evangelismos: one stop to Syntagma, two to Monastiraki, and straight on to Piraeus or out to the airport.
- Line 2 (red) crosses line 3 at Syntagma. One stop south is Akropoli, for the Acropolis Museum and the south slope entrance to the Acropolis; north it runs to Omonia and Larissa railway station.
- Line 1 (green), the old electric railway, meets line 3 at Monastiraki and runs to Thissio and Piraeus in one direction and Kifissia in the other.
So the Acropolis from Evangelismos is two stops with a change at Syntagma, and on a nice day it is quicker to walk.
| Ticket | Price | Covers |
|---|---|---|
| 90 minutes | €1.20 | Metro (not the airport section), tram, bus, trolley, with changes, for 90 min from first validation |
| 24 hours | €4.10 | All of the above for 24 hours |
| 5 days | €8.20 | All of the above for five 24-hour periods |
| 3-day tourist | €20 | 72 hours of the above plus one trip to and one from the airport |
| Airport metro | €9 one way, €16 return | Metro line 3 to or from the airport |
| Airport express bus | €5.50 | X95 and the other airport express lines |
Source: ATH.ENA fare table, prices in force since 1 June 2020.
Validate every ticket, at the gate or the machine on board, every time you start a journey. Since 30 May 2026 the fine for travelling without a valid ticket is €100 (Athens Transport, 2 June 2026). The simplest way to avoid both queues and fines is to tap a contactless bank card or phone on the validator: it has worked on all Athens buses, trolleys, trams and metro since 15 January 2025 (AMNA). Use one card per person.
Hours. On ordinary nights the metro stops around midnight. On Fridays lines 2 and 3 run later, with the last trains leaving Syntagma at 02:00, and on Saturdays they run all night, roughly every 15 minutes after midnight (Athens Voice, 1 November 2024; To Vima, 9 September 2025). On Saturday nights the all-night line 3 runs only between Dimotiko Theatro and Doukissis Plakentias, not to the airport (Naftemporiki).
The tram to the coast
The tram starts at Syntagma, on Amalias Avenue beside the National Garden, and runs down to the sea. Line 6 reaches Pikrodafni on the coast in about 33 minutes, passing Edem beach just before; there you change to line 7, which runs along the shore south to Voula or west past Flisvos marina to Piraeus (STASY tram timetable). It is slow but cheap, on the same €1.20 ticket, and it is the easy way to a swim on a summer afternoon. On Saturday nights it runs through the night.
Buses and trolleys
Athens has a dense network of buses and electric trolleybuses, and for a central stay you will rarely need them: the metro and your feet cover almost everything. When you do, Google Maps has the routes, and the OASA Telematics site and app show live arrival times at every stop. The same €1.20 ticket or a contactless card works; board at any door and validate straight away.
Public transport in Athens is occasionally hit by strikes, usually announced a few days ahead. Before a day that depends on a particular train, glance at Athens Transport, which tracks strikes and service changes.
Taxis and ride apps
By taxi
For late nights, uphill streets or a tired afternoon, taxis are plentiful and cheaper than in most European capitals. Taxis in Athens are yellow and licensed, and the easiest way to get one is through a ride app that takes your card:
| App | What it books | iPhone | Android |
|---|---|---|---|
| Uber | Licensed taxis (in Greece) | iPhone | Android |
| Bolt | A ride | iPhone | Android |
| FREENOW by Lyft | Licensed taxis | iPhone | Android |
| Lemon | Licensed taxis | iPhone | Android |
To phone for one instead: Parthenon +30 210 532 3300 or Kosmos +30 210 411 8300 (both can be called from a foreign phone). Kosmos also has the short number 18300, from a Greek mobile. Taxis are required by law to accept cards, but ask before you get in.
What a ride costs
Within the city the meter runs. Under the September 2026 decision, the minimum fare is €4, the meter starts at €1.80, and the rate per kilometre is €0.90 by day and €1.25 between midnight and 05:00, with an extra €4 for any trip to or from the airport (decision text on Taxheaven). A hop from Syntagma up to Kolonaki is usually close to the minimum. The airport flat fare above replaces the meter for trips between the airport and the centre.
Driving and parking in Kolonaki
If you arrive with a hire car, my honest advice is to park it and forget it. Kolonaki is in the City of Athens controlled parking scheme. Blue-lined bays are for residents with a permit, at all hours. White bays are for visitors and are paid Monday to Friday 09:00 to 21:00 and Saturday 09:00 to 16:00, for 30 to 180 minutes at a time (City of Athens, 17 September 2026). You pay through the city's free AthensWay app, which replaced myAthensPass on 21 September 2026; it reminds you before your time runs out and lets you extend it remotely. The hard part is finding a free white bay, so for a stay of several days a private garage is more practical, and I can suggest one before you arrive.
Kolonaki is also inside the "daktylios", the central traffic ring where on weekdays cars may enter only on alternate days by number plate. In 2025-26 it applied Monday to Thursday 07:00 to 20:00 and Friday 07:00 to 15:00, until 24 July 2026 (CNN Greece, July 2026); its return each autumn is set by ministerial decision, so check the date and the rules for your car before driving into the centre.
Ports and trains
- Piraeus for the ferries. Line 3 runs from Evangelismos to Piraeus without a change in about 24 minutes, according to the STASY timetable, and a taxi takes 20 to 40 minutes depending on traffic. Ferries leave from many different gates, some a long walk from the station, so read our guide to staying in Athens before a ferry before an early sailing.
- Rafina and Lavrio. These smaller ports on the east coast are outside the metro network. The practical way to reach them from Kolonaki is a taxi or a pre-booked transfer. As a rough guide, allow 50 minutes to an hour to Rafina and an hour or more to Lavrio, longer in traffic, and book the evening before for an early ferry.
- Trains to Thessaloniki and the rest of Greece leave from Athens railway station (Larissa station), four stops north of Syntagma on line 2. Timetables and tickets are on Hellenic Train.
Where to go next
- Choosing where to stay: where to stay in Athens compares the central neighbourhoods by transport and noise, Kolonaki vs Plaka vs Koukaki is the honest side-by-side, and where to stay in Kolonaki explains which side of the neighbourhood suits which trip.
- Planning the days: our two to three day Athens itinerary is built around walking from Kolonaki, the Lycabettus guide covers the funicular and the walk up, and is Athens safe? answers the questions people ask about the metro at night.
- Longer and practical stays: a month in Kolonaki for longer visits, and staying near Athens hospitals if you are here for Evangelismos or another hospital.
- Once you have arrived: coffee in our favourite cafés in Kolonaki, dinner in where to eat like a local in Kolonaki, and a drink in drinks in Kolonaki.
Staying by the metro
Our two-bedroom apartment near Evangelismos is a short walk from Evangelismos station, so line 3 takes you from the airport almost to the door in under 40 minutes. Our one-bedroom apartment on Deinokratous is higher up, close to the Lycabettus funicular, 10 to 15 minutes' walk from the metro. You can see both apartments or book direct, and send me your flight time: I will tell you the easiest way in for that hour.
Last updated 11 October 2026. Disclosure: the Welcome Pickups link is our referral link. Photos: Palickap / Wikimedia Commons / CC BY-SA 4.0; Yoo Chung / Wikimedia Commons / CC BY-SA 2.5; philip.mallis / Wikimedia Commons / CC BY-SA 2.0.