Athens Airport to the City and Piraeus: One 9 Euro Ticket, No Change

The metro from Athens airport to the port of Piraeus is a single ride. No change, 61 minutes, one 9 euro ticket. That is the most useful fact on this page if you are catching a ferry, and it is newer than most guides. A taxi to the centre is a fixed 40 euros by day and 55 at night. This page sets out what every option costs, checked against Athens International Airport, STASY and OASA in September 2026.

What each option costs

The airport is 33 km southeast of the city. By road that is 30 to 45 minutes depending on traffic. The metro’s times do not move.

The ticket, and the three that do not work

The airport fare is a special fare, not the ordinary city ticket.

The standard 1.20 euro ninety minute ticket is valid on the metro only as far as Koropi. It does not reach the airport. Neither does the 4.10 euro 24 hour ticket nor the 8.20 euro five day ticket. All three exclude the Koropi to airport section.

One correction worth making loudly. The old two person and three person airport tickets at 18 and 24 euros are gone. They are not on the current OASA price list, and since October 2024 reduced airport tickets are no longer issued as multiple tickets at all. The 16 euro product is a one person return valid 30 days, not a two person single. Guides still quoting the group fares are years out of date.

If you are staying a few days, the 20 euro three day tourist ticket covers the urban network plus one journey from and one journey to the airport, by metro or express bus. Two airport singles alone are 18 euros, so it pays for itself the moment you make any city journey.

The metro, and the train that turns back

Line 3 runs from the airport across the city to Piraeus. Cumulative times from the airport are 20 minutes to Doukissis Plakentias, 29 to Ethniki Amyna, 40 to Syntagma, 42 to Monastiraki, 61 to Piraeus and 63 to Dimotiko Theatro at the end of the line.

Now the catch. Airport trains run every 36 minutes, every day. Line 3 itself is far more frequent than that, every four to ten minutes at peak, but most of those trains turn back at Doukissis Plakentias and never reach the airport. The reason is that only seven dual voltage trains exist for the shared section beyond it.

So check the destination on the train. Boarding the wrong one means a change and a wait.

First train from the airport is 06:10 and the last is 23:34. Going out, first from Dimotiko Theatro is 05:30 and last is 22:54.

The Saturday all night metro operation on Lines 2 and 3 does not include the airport routes. A late arrival cannot use the metro.

OASA’s own page says airport trains run every 30 minutes while the operator STASY says 36. We have used the operator’s figure.

Works in progress right now

As of 10 September 2026 there is a live disruption you need to know about.

Rail replacement works on the Eleonas to Monastiraki section started on Monday 7 September. Eleonas, Kerameikos and Monastiraki close at 21:40, Sunday to Thursday. After that time airport trains start from and terminate at Syntagma, and a replacement bus X24 runs Syntagma to Egaleo.

The works are staged and the affected section moves, so check before you travel.

Piraeus, in one ride

Line 3’s western terminus is Dimotiko Theatro in Piraeus, and Piraeus station is the stop before it. That means the airport to the port is a single 61 minute ride on one 9 euro ticket, with no change.

Compare the alternatives. The X96 bus is 5.50 euros but takes about 90 minutes. The suburban railway is quoted by the airport at 65 minutes and runs roughly hourly, departing at 32 minutes past the hour from 05:32 to 23:32. A taxi is metered, because Piraeus is outside the fixed fare boundary.

So the metro wins on time and on simplicity, and the X96’s only real advantage is that it runs 24 hours, which matters between midnight and 05:00 when the metro is shut.

Gates matter at Piraeus. E1 is used for Santorini, Crete and the Dodecanese, E6 and E7 for the Cyclades including Paros, Naxos, Mykonos and Santorini, and E9 for the Saronic islands. Gate assignment varies by operator and vessel, so check your ticket.

We could not find an official statement on how early to arrive for a ferry, so check with your operator rather than trusting a rule of thumb.

The express buses

All four cost 5.50 euros full or 2.70 reduced, and all four run 24 hours. The 1.20 euro city ticket is not valid on them.

Note that X97’s night runs, between midnight and 04:55, start from Dafni rather than Elliniko.

OASA publishes no standing frequency for these lines, so we are not going to give you one. Check the live tracker before you rely on a headway.

The taxi, which is a fixed price

The airport publishes a flat fare to the city centre inner ring, and it is genuinely all inclusive.

Two details people miss.

The rate is set by the time you arrive at your destination, not the time you set off. Leave at 23:50 and arrive at 00:20 and you pay 55.

And the fare includes all applicable surcharges and extras. Tolls, luggage, the airport pickup fee and VAT are already inside it. Nothing legitimate gets added.

The boundary is the city centre inner ring, the daktylios. Destinations outside it, including Piraeus, Glyfada and the northern suburbs, revert to the meter. The airport does not publish the exact perimeter, so if your hotel is on the edge, ask before you get in.

The rank is at Exit 3 on the Arrivals level, 24 hours.

Uber, Free Now and the apps

Uber in Athens is not a private car service. The airport states that Uber operates in partnership with local licensed taxi drivers, at the same 40 euro day and 55 euro night flat rate to the inner ring.

The one thing that differs is where you meet it. Uber picks up at the controlled pickup zone on the Arrivals level opposite Exit 4, not at the Exit 3 taxi rank.

Free Now also dispatches licensed taxis only. Bolt operates in Athens. We could not find evidence that inDrive operates a licensed service here, so we are not going to tell you it works.

The regulatory background changed in 2026. Law 5290 of March 2026 tightened the rules on chauffeur driven private hire cars, adding a 30 minute advance booking requirement, minimum hire durations, minimum fares and a ban on dynamic pricing. Taxi and private hire operators have filed appeals against it. This affects the chauffeur category rather than the licensed taxis that Uber and Free Now dispatch.

The suburban railway

Two services run from the airport, one to Athens Larissis station and Piraeus, one to Ano Liosia. The airport puts Piraeus at 65 minutes and third parties put Larissis at about 45.

It is slower to Piraeus than the metro, roughly hourly rather than every 36 minutes, and needs a change for most central destinations. Its real uses are reaching Larissis for an intercity train and serving as a fallback when Line 3 is disrupted.

We could not establish its fare. The operator says it applies OASA prices inside the urban area, while another source says the airport station sits outside that zone. No euro figure is published, so we are not printing one.

What we could not confirm

The frequency of the X93, X95, X96 and X97. OASA publishes no standing headway on its website.

The suburban railway fare from the airport.

The exact perimeter of the taxi inner ring boundary.

Whether a two or three person airport ticket was formally abolished by a dated decision. All we can confirm is that it is absent from the current price list.

How much traffic adds at peak. No official source quantifies it. The metro’s 40, 42 and 61 minutes are the only times on this page that do not move.

Sources

• Athens International Airport, public transport
• Athens International Airport, taxis and transfers
• OASA, prices of products
• OASA, airport express bus lines
• STASY, Line 3 route and journey times
• STASY, Line 3 timetable and current works
• STASY, announcement on reduced airport tickets
• Hellenic Train, Athens suburban railway