|

Tips On Getting Around Athens Airport. Athens & Paris For Dollars A Day

ByEdward Pizzarello
a large sign with information in it

Welcome to my multi-part review of our summer vacation.  We spent 12 days abroad, predominately in Athens and Paris.  We did squeeze in about half a day in Amsterdam before heading home.  While I’m writing the series, I’m happy to answer any questions you have ahead of time.  We traveled in mid-July, so right in the middle of the Athens financial crisis.  Here’s most of what I expect to cover, including links to posts I’ve already completed:

Since we were staying South of Athens, we didn’t take the train to or from the airport, but that is a viable option.  You can find more information out about taking the train to/from the airport here and here.

From the looks of it, you can use the same app I discuss here for the rest of the Athens metro system to easily buy tickets on the fly.

Additionally, if your just transiting Athens or don’t want to get up early for your flight, there is a Sofitel hotel at the main terminal.  We didn’t stay there but it looks nice.

The airport is fairly modern and well-staffed.  Aegean is the dominant carrier, as expected.  We found plenty of lines to check our bags and plenty of shopping as well before passing through security.

Athens Airport

Athens Airport

I had also read about a children’s play area located upstairs, which is roughly in the center of the main terminal right above the check-in areas.  It’s staffed by a few employees and there’s a very small area for one parent/guardian to sit and watch the children.  Unfortunately for us, the rules state that no child over the age of 8 is allowed into the children’s area.  Since our 9-year old daughter couldn’t stay our son didn’t want to play either.  They checked the passports of the children and had us fill out a form, so there’s not much of a way around this.

Athens Children's Area

There are some seating areas outside of passport control along with a variety of food options both inside and outside passport control.  There are two separate wings that cover various lounge options.  We didn’t try to enter the non-Schengen area since we were traveling between two countries that are part of the treaty (Greece and France).  There’s a passport control at the beginning of the B terminal and then a wide array of shopping beyond there.

Important tip: Once you’re past security there is very little in the way of food.  There were a couple of small news stands with some chips and candy bars, but that was about it.  Before security you’ll find plenty of choices.  I strongly recommend picking up what you need for your flight before then.

Both arriving and departing Athens airport were very easy with us.  We found decent shopping and food options, even a few merchants who sold local items that were similarly priced to what we had seen at markets in Athens and Glyfada.

It’s a clean, easy airport to navigate.  Most people should have no problem navigating Athens airport.

The post Tips on Getting Around Athens Airport was published first on Pizza in Motion.

My goal in life is to fill my family’s passports with stamps, creating buckets of memories along the way. You’ll find me writing about realistic ways for normal people to travel the world, whether you’re on a budget or enjoy luxury. I also enjoy taking us on the occasional detour to explore the inner workings of the travel industry.

Leave a Reply