With an urban population of around 4 million people, it goes without saying that Athens offers a large, modern public transport system that serves the needs of the city.

Residents and visitors in Athens move around the city using city buses, electric trolley-buses, Athens metro, Athens tram, and the Athens suburban railway.

 

Athens is connected to even the remotest destinations via the Athens International Airport, the ports of Piraeus, Rafina and Lavrio, the TRAINOSE national railway network and, the KTEL long-distance bus network.

 

The Athens Transport authority operates four 24-hour express bus lines to the airport. A special fare costing 6 euros is needed to board the buses (or 3 euros for a reduced price ticket).

 

• Χ93 : Kifissos KTEL (long-distance buses) Station – Airport
• Χ95 : Syntagma – Airport
• Χ96 : Port of Piraeus – Airport
• Χ97 : Eliniko Metro Station – Airport

All buses run 24 hours a day, 7 days a week with frequency varying according to day, time and season.

One-way travel time estimates: X93 (65 min), X95 (70 min), X96 (90 min), X97 (100 min). Allow sufficient time to travel as traffic conditions may cause delays.

• Metro: Take Metro Line 3 (Aghia Marina – Douk. Plakentias – Airport), which connects the Athens airport with the city center. Trains run every 30 minutes, 7 days a week from 6:30 a.m. to 11:30 p.m. The trip from/to the Airport to Syntagma station (Athens center) lasts 40 minutes. 
  
  
• Proastiakos: The Suburban railway connects the Athens airport with the Athens Central Railway Station and Acharnai Railway Center, and through them to the National Railway network. Trains run 7 days a week from 5:26 am to 21:44 pm. Current timetables: Airport – Kiato and Kiato – Airport, Kiato – Patra bus connections, Piraeus – Athens – Halkida line.
  
  The Suburban railway departs every 15-25 minutes from the Athens Airport railway station to Plakentias station, where you can change trains (platforms are on different levels) and continue to the city center (Metro Line 3 to Egaleo), using the same ticket.

City buses and electrical trolley-buses serve Athens and its suburbs. Special schedules apply during summer months of July-September.

Operating hours vary according to line/day/season, but generally they run between 5:00 a.m. – midnight.

There are also five 24-hour lines, 4 airport lines (see above section), and 8 Express lines.

The Athens Metro has 3 lines. All stations are fully accessible to disabled persons with elevators in every level and platform and most of the trains are air-conditioned.

• Line 1 (green line): Kifisia – Piraeus
• Line 2 (red line): Anthoupoli – Eliniko
• Line 3 (blue line): Airport – Douk. Plakentias – Aghia Marina
  
  

Operating hours are 5:30 a.m. to 00:30 a.m., and every Friday and Saturday night, lines 2 & 3 stay open until 2:30 a.m.

Starting operation on the eve of Athens’ Olympics, the Athens Tram connects the city center with the southern seaside.

If you wish to find real time information for buses and trolley schedules you can download the OASA Telematics App on your smartphone.

• Line 1 'Kasomouli – SEF' linking downtown Athens to the Peace and Friendship Stadium.
• Line 2 'Kasomouli – Voula' which runs between the city center and southern suburb of Voula and
• Line 3 'Voula – SEF' running along the coastal zone.

Important: The tram stops between Syntagma and Kasomouli have been closed indefinitely. Therefore, there is no connection with the Tram at Syntagma and Sygrou-Fix Metro stations. Nearest Metro station with connection to the Tram is Neos Kosmos of line 2.the summer, many Athenians choose the tram to visit nearby beaches, seaside cafes and clubs.

Operating hours are 5:30 a.m. to 1:00 a.m. and on Fridays and Saturdays it operates approximately from 5:30 a.m. to 2:30 a.m.

Suburban Railway

The Suburban Railway, or “Proastiakos“, is part of the national railway network of Greece. Its main route is Athens Airport – Kiato, while other routes travel up to Ano Liosia. There is also a route that connects Ano Liosia with the Athens Central Station as well as a route that connects the town of Halkida (Chalkis) with the Acharnai Station (S.K.A.), the Athens Central Station and Piraeus Station.

Be aware that different fares may apply: Piraeus to Acharnai Station (S.K.A.) and Magoula to Koropi stations use the 90-minute ticket for all modes, while different fares are charged for more distant stations. Current Suburban Railway timetables: Airport – Kiato and Kiato – Airport, Kiato – Patra bus connections, Piraeus – Athens – Halkida line. See also: Suburban Railway Discount Policy.

Tickets for the suburban railway (other than the 90-minute ticket for all modes) can be bought at all suburban railway stations.

For information about tickets and timetables, please visit: OASA.gr

There are professions that we thought were lost for long and totally replaced by industry. How many times did you have the chance to meet a saddler, a basket weaver, a sandal maker or a luthier? However, they survive away from the spotlight, because there are still people dedicated to craftsmanship either because they “inherited” it from their ancestors or because they have discovered it and developed it themselves.

Cultural worker and artist curator Laura Bernhardt and photographer Benjamin Tafel have created a project called from-hand-to-hand where they search, they document and they present to us still active craft workshops in Greece and the stories of their protagonists. According to their mission statement “the project examines their situation, their emotional relationship with their profession and their prospects. The result is a series of portraits that show the artisan in relation to his or her profession and the current situation of upheaval”. Here, Greek TV interviews Laura and Benjamin in order to learn what motivated them to initiate this project.

Benjamin: The initial idea for this project was driven by our personal relationship to Greece. Both of us have been closely linked to Greece since our childhood. Over the last few years we have observed that craft workshops seem to be gradually disappearing. With this project we wanted to draw attention to something that is only sparsely visible.

Laura: And, also the ongoing economic crisis, the negative news about Greece have moved Benjamin and I to take a different perspective. We wanted to focus on the makers. Together we wanted to search for traces of still active craft workshops in Greece. Through dialogues with the craftspeople we wanted to examine their situation and their emotional relationship to their profession, their prospects and desires.

To read this article in full, please visit: Greek TV

“Ancient Greeks were wise. They knew where to build their sacred venues,” says the grandfather of BBC journalist. She’s remembering a time when she was a young girl and would wonder in awe of the brightly shining stars from the Athens’ Philopappou Hill. Here, the girl and her grandfather would discuss the significance of Greece’s temples and the meaning behind them all. Now, she shares what she learned all that time ago with BBC, and us.

“In retrospect, I can’t help but wonder if this beautiful explanation was inflated by my grandfather’s immense pride in Greek culture. But Manolo Fernandez, a Spanish language teacher and amateur astronomy enthusiast, shares my grandfather’s opinion – that the placement of Greece’s temples was not random.”

“The temple of Poseidon in Sounion forms an isosceles triangle with the Hephaisteion in Athens and the temple of Aphaia Athena in Aegina. Apollo in Delphi, Aphaia in Aegina and the Parthenon, the same: they all form perfect isosceles triangles!”

To read this article in full, please visit: BBC

Ferrovie Dello Stato Italiane S.p.A. recently signed an agreement to buy 100 percent of TrainOSE for 45 million euros, ending a four-year tender process and opening a new page in the Greek railways' future.

Ferrovie Dello Stato Italiane S.p.A. is the third largest railway company in Europe and has agreed to enhance and grow TrainOSE using its know-how and expertize to create a significant railway services company.

To read this article in full, please visit: AMNA

The video, ‘Greece - A 365-Day Destination’ video was nominated for the ‘Best Video In Europe Award’ for 2017 and recently won at the second World Tourism Organization Tourism video competition!

 

‘Greece – A 365-Day Destination’ was selected as the top promotional video of a European destination, among 23 candidate European countries that participated in the global competition.

Greece’s video was voted as the best in Europe by a jury consisting of the chairs of the UNWTO’s six regional commissions – Africa, the Americas, East Asia and the Pacific, ‎Europe, the Middle East and South Asia.

To read this article in full, please visit: Greek Travel Pages

The tanker Agia Zoni II sank on Sunday September 10th just off the coast of the island of Salamina. It was carrying 2,500 tonnes of fuel when it sank. Thousands of tonnes of fuel oil and marine gas have spilled into the Saronic Gulf.

Authorities had sealed the shipwreck on Tuesday and there was no further spillage from this date. Despite the efforts of tank trucks working to clean up the pollution, several beaches along the Athens Riviera have been affected.

It is reported that the 45 year old tanker had not been surveyed and was not certified as seaworthy by the Hellenic Register of Shipping (HRS).

This truly unfortunate event is an environmental disaster.

If you have information about volunteer actions taking place, please share the updates on our Facebook page HERE!

For additional information about the spill, our friends at Athens Coast have an informative article HERE!

It was started in July 2016 by two women, Maria Ohilebo and Nadina Christopoulou, for refugee women arriving in Athens. Melissa, meaning ‘honey bee’ in Greek, is one of a few organizations in Athens helping refugee women learn skills like empowerment, coding, Greek language, and leadership. The doors to Melissa are always open, easing the transition for these women and giving them the resources they need to be successful in a new country. The Independent further describes some of the challenges these women face and how Melissa is helping them along the way.

“You see women coming in here with broken wings. They have faced so many challenges. But within the span of one or two weeks here you start to see new personalities emerging,” the organisation co-founder says.

One woman, who fled violence in Laos and arrived in Athens almost exactly one year ago says Melissa has been a lifeline.

To read this article in full, please visit: The Independent

The civil aviation authorities of Greece and Russia have agreed to increase flights between Athens and Moscow by up to 35 weekly, according to Russian news agency RIA Novosti. The initiative for cooperation came from Russia's Federal Air Transport Agency.

Additionally, two local airlines will operate 14 new flights to Athens on a temporary basis until the next round of consultations.

To read this article in full, please visit: Tornos News

Google has announced that it will fund the research at the Aristotle University of Thessaloniki on the future of digital journalism.

The research will be carried out by assistant professor of the Department of Journalism and Mass Media, Nikos Panagiotou and it will be funded through the Digital News Initiative Fund.

“People are turning to other kinds of information, turning to either blogs or social media, and especially in Greece this is becoming a dominant trend,” Panagiotou said.

He says that Google will help implement his research by providing funding for laboratory equipment, as well as by funding the development of pan-European sample of 5,000 people.

To read this article in full, please visit: Greek Reporter

Spetzofai is one of the best recipes to welcome the fall. Originating from Pelio, spetzofai is made with Greek country sausages, bell peppers, tomatoes, and seasonings. Paired with feta cheese, crusty bread, and red wine this rustic dish makes for a mouthwatering Greek feast!

 

To read the recipe in full, please visit: Akis Petretzikis