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Greece · Attica

Athens: how to get there and around

Airports, stations, ports, where the hotels are and what the numbers say, from public data rather than a brochure.

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Athens is the capital of Greece (Attica), 84 m (276 ft) above sea level. The nearest large airport is Athens Eleftherios Venizelos International Airport (ATH), 20 km (12 mi) from the centre. Our booking partner lists 10,516+ places to stay.

Key facts

Population664,046
Elevation84 m (276 ft)
Area39 km²
Time zoneEurope/Athens (UTC+3 now)
CurrencyEuro (EUR)
Dialling code+30
Driving sideRight
Plug typesEuro, Schuko
UN/LOCODEGRATH
People are calledAthenian
Coordinates37.984, 23.728
Athens

Open Athens in Google Maps

Daylight in Athens runs from about 9 h 35 min a day in late December to 14 h 51 min in late June (computed for 37.98° latitude), which matters more than the forecast when a day is built around one flight or one crossing.

Getting there

Athens is served by one airport with scheduled flights. The closest large one is Athens Eleftherios Venizelos International Airport (ATH), 20 km (12 mi) from the centre, whose 13,123-ft runway is long enough for long-haul wide-body aircraft.

Flights to Athens: every airport, routes and times

Buses to Athens · Driving and car hire

Where to stay

Our booking partner lists 10,516+ places to stay in Athens (statistics below are from the first 1,000). Of the 804 with a star rating, the largest group is 4-star (571), and 50 are five-star. Across 865 properties with at least 50 reviews, the average guest score is 8.9 out of 10. Guests have left 1,036,770 reviews in total.

Hotels in Athens: the full picture, and book

Nearby cities, and how to get between them

Twin towns and sister cities: Amsterdam, Athens, Ashgabat, Barcelona, Beijing, Beirut, Bethlehem, Bogotá, Bucharest, Casablanca, Chicago, Damascus, Domodedovo, Famagusta.

Common questions

Which airport serves Athens?

Athens Eleftherios Venizelos International Airport (ATH), 20 km (12 mi) from the centre.

How big is Athens?

About 664,046 people live in Athens, across 39 km² (GeoNames and Wikidata).

What time zone is Athens in?

Europe/Athens, currently UTC+3.

What currency is used in Athens?

The Euro (EUR). Traffic drives on the right.

How many hotels are there in Athens?

Our booking partner lists 10,516 or more places to stay in Athens, bookable on this site.

Which cities are near Athens?

İzmir (302 km), Karabağlar (301 km), Bornova (312 km), Karşıyaka (300 km), Konak (298 km).

Where these facts come from

  • GeoNames (CC BY 4.0): population, elevation, time zone, postal codes
  • Wikidata (CC0): area, sister cities, visitor numbers, heritage listings, stations and ports
  • OurAirports (public domain): airports, runways
  • Natural Earth (public domain): map outlines

Data compiled 13 September 2026. Hotel figures are from our booking partner’s catalogue on that date. Journey times on this page are estimates from distance, not timetables; check the operator before you rely on one.