Piraeus accommodation

For the record, you could also take the metro direct to the airport from the center of Athens, so travel connections from Athens center aren't inconvenient. But, Piraeus can be pleasantly quiet in the evening as compared to Athens. For these quick in and out transfers, I usually stay in Piraeus myself.

There is a direct express bus link (3.20 EUROs pp) from Piraeus to the airport which takes 1 hour without traffic, 1 and a half hours or more with traffic.

I do not know what your tolerance is for budget-hotel ambience. I've been using the Delfini Hotel in Piraeus, across the street from the ferries and bus to the airport. Rooms can be stuffy but have AC -- also a love of mirrors in the rooms (!) perhaps to make them appear bigger. It's on a side street and is reasonably quiet. Do a search on LP -- I provided the correct phone number in an earlier posting (phone numbers on some hotel websites are not correct/up to date).

A somewhat more presentable alternative is the Acropole Hotel, also a few minutes from the ferries and the bus stop. It's slightly more expensive. It is also located on a busier intersection, so I can't vouch for the noise level.

I suggest you phone your hotel of choice and book direct and in advance. The prices through some website booking agencies can be a fair bit more than what you can get direct (eg 70 EUROs quoted on a booking site for Delfini, whereas I paid 50 EUROs when phoning direct).

Thanks so much for your helpful reply! As you obviously know Greece well, I wonder whether I could ask you another question: Is it necessary to have one's ferry bookings (to and from Piraeus and between the Cyclades islands) booked in advance in the earlier part of July? We have firm accommodation bookings on 3 islands (Sifnos, Milos & Santorini) so we don't want to take chances - and in the case of the Santorini to Milos trip, it looks at this stage as if there is only one ferry option on the day we need to get there. Some of our acccom. bookings have been done by Aegean Thesaurus - do you think I should ask them to book ferry trips for us as well or does that tend to end up being expensive? I would really appreciate your advice.

If you already have firm accommodation reservations, then there's no reason why you shouldn't reserve ferry tickets in advance. If you're feeling nervous about it, you have nothing to loose.

On the other hand, "in advance" need only be a few days at most, even for the seat-reservation high speed ferries. To save on possible booking fees via the internet (which I have never used) or other travel agents, only book using such agencies your first leg from Piraeus to the first stop. Once in Greece you can do all the other bookings yourself, direct with a ticket agent.

You can always compare the agency cost with posted ferry costs for the appropriate ferry company. If you go to this timetable link you can find the company name for any particular route you're interested in. A web link is also usually provided. Many companies now post timetables and prices, so you can figure it out from there.

by the way, here's the contact info for the delfini hotel

they now have a hotel website. You can get the rooms without breakfast, which lowers the price by about 5-6 EUROs pp