Good morning everyone, I hope you had a great weekend. This is my last post from Athens, Greece, before I head to the Radisson Blu Beach Resort in Milatos, Crete. If you missed my post yesterday, be sure to read Heading to Athens, Greece? Book the Small-Group Culinary Walking Tour. In today’s post, I will explain how Uber works in Athens (the only part of Greece that has Uber). If you are not an Uber rider, join for free (thanks for using my referral link).
Technically, Uber doesn’t exist in Greece, but you can request and pay for taxis with the Uber app (the taxi drivers use the Uber app like all other Uber drivers). The only thing that is strange is that you cannot see the total price of your Uber ride until after the ride is over. All the taxis have a set price schedule for rides, so your rides will always be priced right. Unfortunately, I could not use my Uber credits in Athens, so I paid for all my rides with my Chase Sapphire Reserve Credit Card (my referral link) since I earn 3x Chase Ultimate Rewards Points on Uber and it has no foreign transaction fees.
We used the Uber app to request a ride from the Athens International Airport (ATH) to our hotel, the InterContinental Athenaeum Athens. The Uber pickup was a bit tricky, since our ride was in a taxi and there were many taxis waiting at the airport. Our driver told us where to meet him, but it was still very difficult to find him (he ended up finding us). Our ride to the hotel took 45 minutes and cost 40.70 Euros ($47.43). As of June 25, the exchange rate is 1 Euro = 1.16 US Dollars and I will use that exchange rate throughout this post. In comparison, a shuttle van to/from the airport and the hotel would have cost 100 Euros ($116).
I used Uber a few more times in Athens to get back to the hotel. This trip was 5.85 km (3.63 miles), 19 minutes, and cost 7 Euros ($8.16).
This last trip was 3.51 km (2.18 miles), 11 minutes, and cost 4.4 Euros ($5.13).
Like most taxi rides, the fare price is a combination of distance traveled and time. There were plenty of taxis around Athens, but only a few taxis showed up on the Uber app when I was ready to request a ride. Most of the time, I had to wait around 10 minutes or so for the taxi to arrive (the city streets are often very busy with people and vehicles). Luckily, it doesn’t appear that there is surge pricing for Uber rides. So if you have plans in Athens and need to get around, I highly recommend using the Uber app to request taxis.
If you have any questions about taking Uber in Athens, Greece, please leave a comment below. Have a great day everyone!
How did the taxi price compare to the airport subway line?
I didn’t look too closely at the metro/subway, but here is the info: https://www.athenstransport.com/english/tickets/
I’m sure the metro/subway is cheaper than Uber / taxi, but it was late at night, we had been traveling for 16+ hours, and had a few suitcases, so we opted for Uber / taxi for simplicity.
I’ve talen Uber taxi in Athens 2x. On my last ride the meter showed 19.90 and I was charged 24.21 meter fare plus 2.80 toll. Any notion as to how this calculation is done. Many thanks in advance
I would look at the Uber receipt from your email or from the Uber app. Your trip might be the greater of the meter rate or the fixed rate (zone pricing). I’m not quite sure.
Hi Grant,
Any idea how much an UBER ride would cost from the Intercontinental Hotel to the port in Piraeus, Terminal B, Gate E12?
Thanks
I have no idea, but you might be able to see a price estimate on the Uber app or use Google Map to get a price estimate. Price will be in Euros.
Hi Grant,
I assume the fare is charged to the credit card you have listed on the uber app? No money required? Did you tip on top of this? Is it cheaper than taking a regular taxi or the same price? were there any issues with other taxis at the airport? I will need a ride from the airport to my hotel about 20km away. The hotel said a taxi would cost approximately 45 euros one way!
Thanks in advance
Hi Andrea, those are great questions. Here are the answers:
1: yes, you pay for the taxi using the credit card on file with your Uber app.
2: I did not tip on top of the ride, the app does not let you tip on top of the price.
3: taxi should be the same price or cheaper using the Uber app.
4: no issues at the airport except there are 100+ taxis, so finding the right one can be challenging.
5: I think rides to/from the airport have a fixed price.
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I get to an accident when was a passenger in Uber. Accident happen due to driver followed uber maps and got to road which might not be used for driving. Our lives might be endangered but neither me nor driver could not contact uber to call for help. There is simply no such an option. They only replied my message next day after accident. My property in suitcase and laptop was damaged. But Uber do not compensate anything. Saying this is no their insurance but driver’s and driver does not provide details. That simple. No one responsible for anything. Be careful using them. Cheap services might become expensive and dangerous.
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Question: I will be traveling with my grandchildren – 6 of us total. Do they have the larger size Ubers that we can all fit in
Hi West, I haven’t been to Greece since 2018 so I’m not sure what the Uber situation is like currently. You can use the Uber app to get an idea of the vehicle sizes available.