Frequently Asked Questions:
Airport To Athens (or directly to Piraeus Port):
The Athens Airport is about an hour’s drive from Athens itself. There are two ways to get into the city.
- Take a taxi: They’re all lined up at the taxi stand outside when you depart the terminal. Most of them speak English, but if you encounter a driver who finds English difficult, have your hotel name and address on your phone’s display to show them. The cost of a taxi to the city is usually around 50 euros and takes about one hour.
- Take the metro: A train goes from the airport to the city and stops at Syntagma Square and Monastiraki. If you’re staying in Monastiraki, then this train will take you to the center, and you can navigate to your hotel on foot from there (it’s never more than a five-minute walk from the metro station). If you’re staying in Plaka, you can get off at the Syntagma Square station and walk from there using GPS on your phone. The train costs 9 euros per person, and it takes about forty-five minutes to get to Monastiraki.*Note: If you’re landing at the airport and heading directly to the ferry at the Athens port Piraeus, that’s also quite easy.
Follow the directions above.
1. Taxi to Piraeus: Roughly 60-70 euros
2. Train to Piraeus: The blue line takes you directly from the airport to the port. Get on at the airport and stay on as it goes through the center of Athens and continues to Piraeus Port.
Hotel Booking:
In Athens, the best areas to book your hotel are Monastiraki, Plaka, and Syntagma. We will congregate in these three areas for tours, dinners, and get-togethers. Also, they’re easy to access from the airport by train, which makes it easy to travel to the port by train.
Cell Phone Coverage (data and minutes):
To have WIFI coverage and data while traveling in Greece, the best and most affordable thing to do is buy a SIM card with data when you arrive in Athens. The cost is twenty euros or less. You usually get around twenty to thirty gigs of data. When you head to the airport to leave, toss the SIM and put yours back in your phone.
Charging Electronic Devices:
Europe uses a different voltage and plug. USBs are the same here, but you’ll need a converter to plug anything into the wall. You can either bring one with you or purchase one upon arrival. A converter costs anywhere from ten to twenty euros here.
Toilet Paper Usage:
You can’t flush toilet paper in Greek toilets. Signs in most public/restaurant/hotel/Airbnb bathrooms will warn you not to do it. Because Athens is an ancient city, the plumbing used decades ago when toilets were added to dwellings is so small that toilet paper can’t traverse the pipes—it just gets stuck. Many hotels have to bring in a plumber if you do this, and they’ll add it to your hotel bill. In every bathroom in Greece, a covered garbage can is provided for all toilet paper use.
Tipping:
Tipping is encouraged but different from what you might be used to. Feel free to tip as much as you’d like or feel comfortable with. A few euros is fine in most cases.
For example, two people in a restaurant generate a bill of 37.50 euros for their meal. Leave 40 euros or as much as 42 euros. That’s generous. For an 80 euro bill—leave 85, or as much as 87 euros. There’s no set 15% or 20% rule here. Just round up a bit, and everyone’s happy.
Tour guides are slightly different. When touring the Acropolis or something similar, offering five to ten euros per person is proper here. Most of the guides live off tips like wait staff in North America.
Note: Unless the tour guide was rude. Then leave nothing.
Doctors/Hospital Care:
There’s a doctor on the island of Amorgos, and each village has a small clinic. Major medical issues are handled in a hospital on the neighboring island of Naxos, as Amorgos does not have a hospital. An air ambulance is always on standby for major events. Medical treatment, doctors, and hospitals are free in Greece—for foreigners, too!
Bank Machines Credit Cards:
In Greece, all bank cards work without issues. When retrieving cash from any ATM in Greece, you’ll be asked whether you want the bank to convert your cash or not.
Always choose “NO” to conversion.
To allow a Greek bank to convert your money, there’s an enormous fee and an unnecessary step. Instead, just take the euros and allow your home bank to convert it. (Let me know if you want help with this when you’re here, and I’d be happy to walk you through it.)
Visa: The use of Visa is prevalent in Greece. Everywhere you go, your visa will be accepted. Variants like Diner’s Club and American Express, not so much. But Visa offers widespread usage.
Ferry to the Island:
Ferry schedules differ for each event, so please contact Jonas Saul, your retreat coordinator, to find out which ferry and schedule the group will be taking to get to the island.
Otherwise, you’re welcome to book your own schedule if you’d like to arrive earlier or leave later, though.
Don’t miss out on exclusive member benefits! Join our Facebook group, “Travel to Greece – Read, Write, and Holistic Adventures,” to connect with fellow adventurers and stay updated about special discounts on select hotels/restaurants before and after the retreat. Also don’t forget to like our Facebook page for all our future retreats.