Bus Tours in Athens

Athens Sightseeing Bus

See all the major sights of central Athens on the new tour-bus

OASA,  Athens' public bus company began a sightseeing bus tour in July of 2005 which stops at 20 cultural landmarks and shopping areas, offering visitors to Greece a chance to see sights ranging from the Acropolis to the Athens Central Market and several museums. Similar to the hop-on tours of London where you pay a fee and can get on and off the bus as often as you like in a 24 hour period, the bus company is considering buying a fleet of open-topped double-decker buses like those in the UK if the bus is successful.

Bus stops are blue and scattered along the route the bus takes. Tickets must be purchased from the driver and cost 5 euro. They are valid 24 hours for other forms of public transport, except for trips to and from Athens International Airport. The buses run every 30 minutes beginning at 7am and ending at 9pm.

Stops on the trip include The Acropolis, Temple of Zeus, Plaka, Syntagma-Parliament, The University, Omonia Square, Keramikos, Monastiraki, Psiri, Thission, The National Museum, Benaki Museum, the National Gallery, the Central Market and the Panathenaiko Stadium. Bus schedules and maps are posted at each stop including the time the bus will arrive at that particular stop (maybe). Since there are usually a number of interesting places to see in the vicinity of each stop one could conceivably spend an entire day getting on and off this bus.

To signal that you want to get off you need to press the button. The bus-driver will also provide the passenger with information. The price of the ticket does not get you into the museums and archaeological sites.

For those visiting Athens, Greece on a budget who don't relish the thought of walking from one site to another on a hot summer's day this bus comes as a welcome relief.

Click here for a map of the Athens Sight-seeing route.

See Also: Athens Day Trips

Billy's Bus Tours of Greece

Billy Kokkotos, son of George the Famous Taxi Driver, born in the USA, educated in Italy and of course multilingual has a mini-van with room for 12 visitors plus a guide, for tours of Athens and mainland Greece, as well as transfers to and from the airport and the ports and hotels. The bus is a comfortable air-conditioned luxury Mercedes and Billy is an entertaining host and guide. This is a great way to experience Athens and the archaeological sites, cities, towns, monasteries and beaches of mainland Greece is you are traveling with a group. See www.athensguide.com/bus-tours for more information and contact numbers and e-mail. For smaller groups see George the Famous Taxi Driver (for groups of 4 or less) and Dennis Kokkotos Limousine Service (for groups of 7 or less), all from the same family. Remember that with Billy, Dennis and George you pay by the trip while a tour you pay by the person, so having a personal driver showing you and your group around Athens can actually cost less than going on a tour with 40 other people.

Return to Athens Survival Guide