Athens Buses, Trolley & Tram
also Attika Regional Orange colored buses serving Athens
also Sporades and Cyclades departures via bus then boat

Cool Map of Athens? oasa.gr/index.asp?asp=sitemap.asp
..pdf map of Athens bus, tram and everything routes?

Hi! On this page I highlight a few of the bus, trolley and tram options available to you embarking in central Athens. Depending on your destination all of these can come in handy.

I gloss over your most likely in Athens uses of the system and then point the out of Athens (but still in Attika) uses and finally the island departure points that you need to reach before embarking by boat for the Sporades Island Group but also, using Rafina, select Cyclades islands as well.

I stress that you should be on the look out for pickpockets in any crowded situation but particularly the trolley which tourists are known to frequent and consequently targeted by sophisticated and sometimes ethnically mixed teams of pickpockets. There are thousands of third world undocumented immigrants and refugee's living in Athens, the vast majority of whom are hard workers - it only takes one however, to steal your wallet or passport.
See my tips for securing your 'on person' valuables.

For the purpose of this Athens centered and based description: Trolleys and the new Tram line are basically an in Athens only resource as are the Blue and Polka dot buses immediately below. The Orange KTEL Buses go all over mainland Greece and have their counterpart on the larger islands like Lesvos, Crete and Rhodes. If you want to go somewhere off the beaten track KTEL buses are pretty good and reasonable. Some have movies and toilets. Go with express when available. More on K.T.E.L. Orange buses below.

Blue Buses and Polka Dot buses are Similar.
The Polka Dot ones just run on natural gas!

Buses are plentiful and inexpensive in Greece! And in Athens special bus-only lanes have been designated which really speed things up! Some of them, like on Academias street near Syntagma even have one way streets where the bus lane goes the wrong way. This can be disconcerting and dangerous if you are absent minded.

Bus are painted different colors so you know roughly what each is supposed to do but as is inevitable, incongruities appear such as these two buses pictured above right and left, which, essentially, are the same type of bus but the right hand one pollutes a lot less by using natural gas which Greece has a decent supply of. So, they made it a green color.

Of course each bus ply's its own special route and note must be taken of the bus number regardless of its color. Signs and routings are posted by bus and ticket stops or enquire of the ticket seller.  More below.

Athens Trolleys

Here pictured again, left and right, are the two types of trolley you may encounter in Athens. These also are non-pollutant to some extent running as they are by electricity supplied by unsightly cables suspended above the street. These cables are a sure tip-off that the trolley passes down the street where you see them. Unfortunately they mar the landscape and ruin many a photo opportunity. Occasionally the trolley man needs to stop and go around the back and re-connect the trolley to its power causing short delays.

The Tram

Departing right at Syntagma Sq. the tram is new and seems to be fast clean and cheap for the areas it covers.

Its above ground and its tracks run just like a regular road, so in many, but not all stretches, it is subject to traffic jams and lights just like a car. This can slow things down considerably compared to the the top speed and peppy acceleration these Italian designed and built futuristic carriages are capable of achieving! Be sure and be holding on tight when these babies get started!

One of the best things you could do on the tram is go to the beach or to Glyfada sq for a nice meal and some shopping.

The other destination is Peace and Friendship Stadium in Phaliron as the map signifies. Click it if you want to see the whole tram route in English and Greek.

You could, after exhausting many other on foot, and central Athens possibilities, even use the tram for a cheap tour of these parts of the city. Glyfada is worth visiting at night too as there are several bars and restaurants not to mention zillions of boutiques and stores too. Its cooler by the sea side as well! You could swim from the beach, shower on the beach and dine in Glyfada Sq.

Tickets

Fares for Blue Buses and Trolleys: 50 euro cent, children under 6 travel free, tickets are available at many public periptera or kiosks where you'd buy magazines and sundries.

As well as the special kiosks that only sell tickets near the bus stops (often/usually/almost always; closed except am hours).

Term of Validity: Only for a single journey.
Validate the ticket only once at beginning of your first trip.

Validation: When boarding have your ticket in hand and validated through the validating machine on board or outside or where ever they placed them - the metro uses the same machine almost. You put your ticket in the bottom slot and the machine stamps it after a second then you take it and put it somewhere handy until leaving the premises.

The penalty for not having validated your ticket is 40 times the purchase price or 18 euros. Tickets are valid for one trip only.

24-HOUR TICKET: Ticket price: 3 Euros
Validity: Allows unlimited travel by all public transport modes (buses, trolley buses, metro) and ONLY ONE trip to or from the Athens International Airport "Eleftherious Venizelous".

Where to buy Tickets: All tickets including the 24-hour can be purchased from the drivers of the airport buses, all metro stations and public transport outlets.
NOTICE: Children under the age of six travel free

Athens Orange KTEL Buses

In English: KTEL Routes

http://www.ktel.org/

These buses are for the areas immediately surrounding Athens such as Rafina for some boat connections to the Sporades (Kymi & Aghios Konstandinos) & Cyclades (from Rafina & Lavrion Ports) Island groups. They cover all of Greece too.

Orange buses also go to the ancient Temple of Poseidon at Sounion, The Temple of Eleusis, The Monastery of Daphne, The Temple of Artemis at Vravrona, The Hot Springs of Lake Vouliagmani for a dip winter or summer.

Getting to the Sporades Islands Group from Athens

Mavromateon Terminal (the black eyed terminal)

There are several ways to reach these salubrious islands.
The island of Skyros alone is reached from Kymi in Euboea by bus.

That's a map left that you can click to see larger that shows the location of the Mavromataion bus stop.

For the rest of the Sporades islands Skiathos, Skopelos and Allonisos here are the major options also entailing a land journey to boat embarkation point.

• 1. Take a bus to Rafina and then a Flying Dolphin (photo above) to Evia's port of Aghios Konstandinos and from there a ferry to one of the 3 islands.
• 2. or a bus straight to Aghios Konstandinos. Buses to both Rafina & Aghios Konstandinos leave from the same Mavromateon terminal in Athens (see map above).
• Flying Dolphins are a hydrofoil company and are only allowed out in good weather and cost more than a regular ferry plus they only take people, no cars or motorcycles. This company offers a combo ferry-bus ticket. Its costs more and may be delayed if the winds are high.
• The Flying Dolphins or ta delphinia have a special bus-ferry ticket combo you can buy for @34 euro. They depart from the Original Olympic Stadium ( the one from 1885, when Greece hosted the re-vivification of the Olympic games) Its called the Kalimarmaro or 'good marble stadium' and is near the center of Athens roughly behind the Temple of Olympian Zeus or you can walk through the National gardens to reach it. They leave twice a day too.
• 4. Take a bus to the towns of Kimi & Volos then board your boat.

Athens to Rafina to Evia (or Euboea) and Aghios Konstandinos Port

Rafina is a smallish port just north of Athens and about an hour or two by Orange KTEL Bus 1.50 from the Street of Mavromateon Terminal in Athens' Exarhia quarter. To get there take a taxi or walk it in 20 minutes from Omonia Sq.

Athens to Kymi to Skiros, Sporades

To get to Skyros is not so hard. You will take a 3 1/2 hr bus ride to Kimi in Evia and then a daily ferry. The buses leave twice a day from the Mavromateon Terminal and cost 8 EU. The ferries leave twice a day, take 2 hr. and cost 7 euros.

Athens to Allonisos by Flying Dolphin

Flying Dolphins serve: Allonyms 3 times per week, take 1 1/2 hr. and cost 27 euros.
Skopelos twice a week , cost 20 euros and take 2 hrs.

Athens to Skiathos, Skopelos and Allonisos via Aghios Konstandinos

One takes the bus from the Mavromateon terminal to Aghios Konstandinos
(every 2 hrs, takes 2 1/2 hrs, costs: 3 €) and then the ferry.

To Allonyms: Daily, 6 hrs, 13 €,
Skopelos, 3 daily, 3.50 €, 30 minutes.
Skiathos, 3 daily, 5 €.

Cyclades Island Group: Andros - Tinos - Mykonos via Rafina

There are a few Cycladic Islands served (in high season more often) by the port of Rafina, these include Andros, Tinos, and Mykonos.

Every morning at 8 AM
Every afternoon June 15th - Aug. 31st at 2:15 PM
Every afternoon at 5 PM or so.
Call the Port Authority of Rafina for more info Tel: 2294-22-888

Cyclades & NE Aegean Island Groups: Paros - Naxos and Lesvos via Rafina

Boats go to Paros, Naxos and Lesvos as well but less often... so call if you want to leave from Rafina but there is no reason to, if you are already in Athens with Piraeus so near!

OK there is one reason, if you are in a hurry, some Flying Dolphins leave from there that don't from Piraeus and they are quicker but you have to take a bus to get to them and they cost more.

more? oasa.gr/index.asp?asp=sitemap.asp
..pdf map of Athens bus, tram and everything routes?

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