Private Transfers in Greece: Airports, Ports, Trains and When a Car Makes Sense

The plane door opens at Athens after a long flight over the Atlantic, and the first question in the arrivals hall is how to get to the hotel or the harbor. Some travelers head for the train, others look for a driver holding their name on a card. A private transfer is a pre-arranged car or van that takes you from one point to another, and in Greece it earns its place at certain arrivals and ports.

What is a private transfer?

A private transfer is a ride arranged ahead of time for you and your group alone, from a fixed pickup point to a fixed drop-off, with a driver at the wheel. You do not share it with strangers, and you do not stop at other people’s hotels on the way. It sits between a taxi hailed on the spot and a rental car you drive yourself, and in Greece it usually links an airport, a ferry port or a train station with a hotel, a village or a harbor.

The idea is simple, but the places it connects are not. Greece is a country of islands, mainland towns and mountain villages, and the point where a plane, a boat or a train lets you off is rarely the point where you sleep. A transfer fills that last stretch. Where it begins depends on how you arrive, so it helps to see the gateways first.

Airports where a transfer begins

Athens is the gateway for most travelers coming from North America. American Airlines, Delta, United Airlines and Air Canada operate seasonal flights from North America to Athens from April to October, so a long-haul arrival in those months often lands in the capital. Thessaloniki Airport, called Macedonia, is served all year by direct flights from all over Europe, and it is the other big mainland door.

The islands have their own airports. In summer, Rhodes, Crete, Kos, Corfu, Santorini, Zakynthos and Mykonos are served by direct flights from all over Europe.

From there the road begins, and the transfer carries you to the beach town, the old town or the hotel on a hillside.

In winter the picture changes. During that season, Greek islands can be reached only by domestic flights via Athens. A traveler heading to an island in the cold months therefore touches down in Athens first and then flies on, and a transfer may be needed at both ends, once in Athens and again on the island.

Ferry ports as pickup points

Ports are the second kind of starting point. Blue Star Ferries provides ferry services between the Greek mainland and the Aegean Islands, and ANEK Lines operates passenger ferries mainly on the Piraeus to Crete and Adriatic Sea routes. Piraeus is the port of Athens, so a traveler stepping off a ship there is back on the mainland and may need a ride to a hotel or onward to the airport.

On the western side of the country, Patras and Igoumenitsa are the mainland ports on the Italian routes. Ferries from Italy connect Venice, Ancona, Bari and Brindisi to Patras and Igoumenitsa, with several ferries also connecting Italy to the Ionian Islands, mostly during summer months.

Coming off a ship at one of these quays, a driver waiting at the port is one way to reach the next stop.

Crossing times on those Italian routes vary a great deal, from a minimum of about 8 hours from Brindisi to Igoumenitsa to a maximum of 26 hours from Venice to Patras. After a night or a day at sea, many travelers want the last leg to be plain and settled, which is the case a pre-arranged ride makes best.

Stations and stops that connect to a ride

Rail is the third starting point. Athens central station is the main layover station for the Proastiakos lines to Athens Airport, Kiato and Chalcis, and the lines between Athens central station and Halkida have been electrified since January 8, 2017, allowing EMU train service. A traveler who comes in on one of these lines and then needs to reach a village, a seaside hotel or an address with luggage can end the trip with a short car ride arranged beforehand.

Thessaloniki has two Proastiakos commuter rail services. One connects the Main Railway Station with Katerini and Larissa, and the other links the city with Edessa. Those names are the towns the trains serve, and a transfer can take over where the rails stop or where your accommodation lies away from a platform.

When is it worth it?

A private transfer is worth it when the place you are going is not on a train, metro or tram line, or when you arrive tired and carrying everything you own. The cases below are the ones the map of Greek transport makes clear, and they depend on how you travel and where you sleep.

After a long-haul arrival in Athens

Seasonal flights from North America reach Athens from April to October, and that is the plainest case for a pre-arranged ride. You come off a transatlantic flight, you want to be at the hotel, and you have no interest in working out a connection with bags.

The city’s public network is built around rail. Athens Metro Line 1 opened in 1869 as a single-track conventional steam railway and was electrified in 1904, which makes it the oldest metro line in the Athens urban area.

The Athens Tram, opened in 2004 for the Summer Olympics, has two routes: Line 6 from Syntagma to Pikrodafni, and Line 7 from Akti Poseidonos to Asklepieio Voulas. If your hotel lies near one of those lines, you may prefer them. If it lies away from them, a car takes you to the door.

Island arrivals and winter connections

On an island the question changes. Rail does not help you there, and your hotel may sit far from the airport or the harbor.

Whoever flies into Rhodes or Santorini in summer lands at a Fraport-managed airport, and the trip from the terminal to a beach town or a village is the part a transfer covers.

In the winter months, when islands are reached only by domestic flights via Athens, arrangements get longer. You may land in Athens, change to a smaller plane and arrive on the island in the evening. Having a driver arranged for the island end means the last link is settled before you leave home, while the first link in Athens can be handled as you prefer.

Ferry quays and the road beyond

Ports are where a transfer often feels most useful. A ship from Piraeus to Crete with ANEK Lines, or to an Aegean island with Blue Star Ferries, brings you to a harbor, and the village or hotel you want may be some way along the coast. On the Italian routes, you may step off at Igoumenitsa or Patras after a crossing that took hours, and a driver can carry you on to the next mainland stop.

The Corinth Canal is a landmark of that mainland geography. It crosses the Isthmus of Corinth and connects the Gulf of Corinth with the Saronic Gulf. It shortens the sea voyage from the Adriatic to the port of Piraeus in Athens by 202 miles. For a traveler going by road from Patras toward Athens, it is a reminder of how the two seas and the mainland fit together.

Where the train or metro already does the job

There are cases where a car adds little. Thessaloniki Metro has two lines with 18 stations in total, 13 on Line 1 and 16 on Line 2, and the section between New Railway Station and 25 Martiou is shared by both lines.

It is fully automated and driverless, the first system of its kind in Greece, operated by Thessaloniki Metro Automatic (THEMA), a Franco-Italian consortium. If your hotel is near a station, the metro works.

The same holds for the Proastiakos. A traveler going from Athens central station to Kiato or Chalcis, or from Thessaloniki’s Main Railway Station to Katerini, Larissa or Edessa, has a rail route to those towns. A transfer then makes sense only for the last stretch, from the station to the hotel, or when the group is large and the bags are many.

Good to know before you go

The ride is easiest to plan when you know where you land and where you sleep, so keep the name of your hotel or village ready, and the name of the airport, port or station where the driver will meet you. Euros are the currency, and whatever amount you agree with a driver is a matter between you and the company you choose. Greece has long summers, and the meltemi, the strong summer wind of the Aegean, can affect island travel in the warm months, so a flexible plan on arrival days is a good habit.