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Athens

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Earth > Europe > Southern Europe > Balkans > Greece > Athens


This article is about capital city of Greece. For other uses, see Athens (disambiguation).

Athens
Αθήνα, Athína
<map lat='38' lng='23.75' zoom='10' />
Information
Country:
Flag of Greece
Greece
State: Attiki
Population: 3,090,508
Major roads: A1, A6
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Athens is the capital of Greece.

Contents

Hitching out

North to Halkida, Lamia, Thessaloniki E 75

Take the metro line 1, till the last station "Kifissia". From there, cross the park. You'll find a busy bus stop, direction north, take the bus 509

Get off the bus after 39 stops, when it makes a U-turn, at "NEO TERMA" (new terminus). That's just the name of the stop, it used to be a terminus but now there is a newer one, so the bus is not ending there anymore. Walk 300m to the parallel of the high-way. It's quite busy with drivers avoiding the toll station 3km away. You can either walk to that toll station, or wait for a short ride, who's gonna drop you 18km away at "Sirios" complex. To help you make your decision, drivers are in better mood after eating than after paying tolls.

Sirios includes a restaurant, a gas station and Jumbo store. If Sirios restaurant is empty at that time of the day, you can also catch a ride at the point where drivers who avoided the tolls are getting back into the high way. Half of the rides go to Halkida, and the other half go further North. Decline rides that don't go in your direction, they will only put you in a worse spot.

For a place to sleep before Thessaloniki, there is a 24 hour rest area/gas station in Korinos and it's called Olympus plaza. It includes a restaurant with free wifi and showers. Nobody will disturb you if you sleep on the couches and workers of the restaurant often give food away.

West to Thiva

New spot, i cannot confirm the hitch-hikeability of this route: Take the suburban till Mandra. From there, take the bus 861 till the last stop. There's only 35km left to Thiva.

West to the Peloponnesos, Patra or Tripoli E 94

Option 1: Megara SEA

From metro Neratziotissa, take the suburban train to Kiato, and get down in Megara. The ticket costs 3 euro. The controller always gets on the train in Nea Peramos, in the 1st or 5th (last) wagon. You can either :

a) go down in Nea Peramos and try to find a short ride to Megara.

b) stay in the 3rd wagon, and when you see the control approaching, go the opposite direction. If the train is full, the control might be slow and you might arrive in Megara before they reach you. If they catch you without a ticket, you wont pay any fine, but just the 3 euro ticket.

From the train platform of Megara, you can see the restaurant / petrol station. Cross the field, and find this underground pass There are not many cars stopping there, but you can get a long ride. The intersection to Patra or Tripoli is just 40km away, be sure to ask for the correct direction before accepting the ride.

Option 2: National Road 8

  • from Ag.Marina Metro Station (end of blue line) buses A16 and 876.
  • from Pireas Metro Station (end of green line), buses 845 and 871.

Get off at 1st Aerodromiou Stop or Levkes Stop. There you will see the connection with National Road 8 (N8).

Option 3: Harrys Truck-Stop

In the suburb of Aspropyrgos, in west Athens, there is a truck-stop well known and used by truck-drivers. There are many trucks from western and northern Europe which means that hitchers will have very good chances of getting a lift to the port-city of Patras and possibly even beyond into Europe.

The truck stop is at the 17th km of National Road Athens-Korinthos (Athinon-Korinthou). Ιt seems this is where Halivas Cement Company is. It's a huge area and bus drivers and people know it. Not sure if you can say they know it. ** Val asked around the area and nobodoy could help him out. I ended up hitching from an on ramp to the highway which worked just fine as well http://www.eurotruckstops.com/city/harrys-truckstop-athens/

Option 4 : Eleusina Toll Station

With the same buses of option 2, you get off at Platia Elefsinas and walk 5.5km to Eleusina Toll Station.

South to Sounio

Take the bus E22 from Elliniko to Saronida, go down at the last stop, walk along the coast to get out of Saronida, and from there you can hitch-hike to Sounio.

Public Transport

Tickets cost EUR 1.20 (full price) or EUR 0.60 (students) and are valid for 70min after first validation. As an act of solidarity, partially used tickets are left on the validating machines, escalators, etc. If you find one, take it. The time of first validation are the last 4 digits printed.

You can check where are the controls on the mobile site Syrma.gr. Usually the controls are at the metro intersections (Syntagma, Omonia, Attiki, Monastiraki), where they hide behind the turns of the connecting corridors.

If they catch you without a ticket, give them your passport, but don't pay the fine. Till now, nobody saw their fines redirected to their countries. Nomad:Athens trash:Athens nomad:Athens