Travel - International
AIR: Greece’s national airline is Olympic Airways (OA) (website: www.olympic-airways.gr). British Airways make scheduled flights to Greece. Delta Airlines operate daily flights from New York to Athens.
Approximate flight times: From Athens to London is 5 hours; from Rhodes is 5 hours 15 minutes; from Corfu is 4 hours; from Heraklion is 7 hours 50 minutes; and from Skiathos is 6 hours 10 minutes (all flight times include a stop-over). From Athens to Los Angeles is 15 hours 10 minutes; to New York is 12 hours 45 minutes; to Singapore is 13 hours; to Sydney is 24 hours 30 minutes.
International airports: Athens (ATH) (Elfetherios Veniselos) has been newly constructed, replacing all air traffic from the old airport. Located 27km (17 miles) northeast of the city, there is a six-lane motorway linking the two, and regular airport buses running 24 hours from the centre and the port of Piraeus. Airport facilities include duty-free shops, car hire (Avis, Budget, Hertz, Europcar and Sixt), 24-hour banks, cash machines, bureaux de change, bar and restaurant facilities, post office, business centre and hotel.
Heraklion (HER) (Crete) is 5km (3 miles) from the city. Bus and taxi services are available. Airport facilities include a cafe and a duty-free shop.
Thessaloniki (SKG) (Macedonia) is 16km (10 miles) from the city. Regular coach and taxi services are available. There are duty-free shops, restuarants, bars, banks/bureaux de change, car hire (Alamo, Avis and Hertz) and a post office.
Corfu (CFU) (Kerkira) is 3km (2 miles) from the city. Regular coach and taxi services are available. There is a duty-free shop, cafeteria and bar.
Rhodes (RHO) (Paradisi) is 16km (10 miles) from the city. Coach and taxi services are available. Airport facilities include a duty-free shop, car hire (Avis, Rent-a-car), bank and bureau de change, cafe and a 24-hour bar.
There are also international airports at Chania (CHQ), Kalamata (KLX), Karpathos (AOK), Kavala (KVA), Kefalonia (EFL), Kos (KGS), Lesbos (Mytilini) (MJT), Mykonos (JMK), Preveza (Lefkos) (PVK), Thessaloniki (SKG), Samos (SMI), Skiathos (JSI), Thira (Santorini) (JTR) and Zakynthos (ZTH), most of which serve predominantly summer traffic.
Departure tax: €12,15.
SEA: The major Greek ports are Piraeus, Thessaloniki, Volos, Igoumenitsa, Heraklion, Corfu, Patras and Rhodes. Shipping and ferryboat lines link these ports with Italy, Cyprus, Croatia, Egypt, Israel, Turkey and Russia. Greek ports are used by a number of cruise lines including Epirotiki, K Lines, Celebrity Cruises, Crystal Cruises, Princess Cruises, Silversea, Holland America Line, Costa Cruises, Festival Cruises, Med Sun Cruises and Swan Hellenic. The Greek/Hellenic National Tourism Organisation can give full details (see Contact Addresses section).
A car ferry links the Italian ports of Brindisi, Igoumenitsa, Corfu, Venice, Trieste and Ancona with Patras and Piraeus. There are also services from Heraklion to Ancona and Brindisi; from Corfu to Bari, Brindisi and Trieste; and from Rhodes to Ancona. During the summer months there are also services from Ithaca and from Cephalonia to Brindisi.
Ferries also run from Piraeus to Haifa in Israel and to Istanbul in Turkey.
RAIL: The national railway company is Hellenic Railways Organisation Ltd (OSE) (website: www.osenet.gr). The following continental rail services run from London to Athens: Acropolis Express: London–Paris–Milan–Trieste–Belgrade–Athens. Hellas Express: London–Amsterdam–Cologne– Bonn–Stuttgart–Munich–Salzburg–Zagreb–Belgrade–Nis–Athens. Another way to travel from the UK is to take the Eurostar through the channel tunnel, from London to either Brussels or Paris, both of which have onward connections to Greece. For further information and reservations contact Eurostar (tel: 0870 6000 792 (travel agents) or 08705 186 186 (public; within the UK) or +44 1233 617 575 (public; outside the UK); website: www.eurostar.com); or Rail Europe (tel: 08705 848 848). Travel agents can obtain refunds for unused tickets from Eurostar Trade Refunds, Second Floor, Kent House, 81 Station Road, Ashford, Kent TN23 1PD, UK. Complaints and comments may be sent to Eurostar Customer Relations, Eurostar House, Waterloo Station, London SE1 8SE, UK. General enquiries and information requests must be made by telephone. Rail passes: Inter-Rail tickets, for those aged 26 and under, include rail travel within Greece, but a supplement will be added for couchettes; the ticket does not include the cost of ferries between the mainland, other countries or islands, but certain shipping lines offer a discount to ticket holders. Prices for those aged over 26 are approximately 40 per cent higher. For passengers wishing to make multiple train journeys within Europe, the EuroDomino travel card offers reduced prices on various journeys to the destination of their choice.
ROAD: It is possible to ferry cars across to one of the major ports of entry or to enter overland. Points of overland entry are from the Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia via Evzoni, and Niki; from Bulgaria via Promahonas or Kastanies and Kipi. From Yugoslavia the route is via Italy (Trieste), Austria (Graz) and Belgrade. The journey from northern France to Athens is over 3200km (2000 miles). For car-ferry information, see details under Sea above. Bus: There are routes from Athens via Thessaloniki to Sofia, Paris, Dortmund and Istanbul. Information and bookings are available from terminals in Athens at 6 Sina Street (tel: (10) 362 4402; 1 Karolou Street (tel: (10) 529 7777) and 17 Filellinon Street (tel: (10) 323 6747); also at Thessaloniki rail station. Eurolines, departing from Victoria Coach Station in London, serves destinations in Greece. For further information, contact Eurolines (4 Cardiff Road, Luton, Bedfordshire, L41 1PP; tel: (08705) 143 219; fax: (01582) 400 694; website: www.eurolines.com or www.gobycoach.com).
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