You basically have 2 ways to get from Athens to Mykonos: by ferry or by plane. I am explaining below where you can find the timetables for the Mykonos ferries and what flights you can take from Athens.
Honestly, the absolute Best Way to get from Athens to Mykonos is by taking a 45 mins flight from Athens Airport (El. Venizelos airport).
The ferry from Athens to Mykonos takes around from 2.5 hrs to 4 hrs (depending on which ferry boat you take) and it’s also not a bad option.
GOOD TO KNOW: The ferries to Mykonos that depart from Rafina Port (Google Maps) in Athens are much faster and there are more available ferries during the day to Mykonos than from Piraeus port.
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Ok, so let’s see all the available options:
Taking a flight to Mykonos is the fastest and usually the most expensive option.
But it’s really worth it in my opinion as you won’t be wasting time on the ferries (yes, the ferry is still pretty quick to be honest and you can be in Mykonos in under 3 hrs if you take the fast ferry) but still the plane will be faster and more convenient overall.
The best and cheapest website to book or search for flights from Athens to Mykonos is Expedia as it has all the available options (including the low-cost european airlines like Ryanair).
A few useful info to have in mind when booking your flight to Mykonos:
Athens Airport Code is : ATH (Athens)
The airlines that fly from Athens to Santorini in 2019 (April-October) are:
Aegean Airlines (the same airline with Olympic Air)
The airlines that fly directly to Mykonos from major European cities in 2019 (April-October) are:
Laudamotion , Eurowings, Austrian Airlines (from Vienna)
Thomas Cook (from Birmingham, Gatwick, Manchester, Brussels)
Thomson (from Birmingham, Gatwick, Manchester, Bristol)
Volotea , Blue Panorama, Iberia (from Venice, Bari, Naples, Palermo)
Germanwings (from Cologne)
Norwegian (from Oslo, Copenhagen, Stockholm)
Transavia (from Paris, Amsterdam)
British Airways (from London Heathrow, London City)
Condor (from Munich, Hamburg, Stuttgard, Dusseldorf, Frankfurt)
Aegean (from Russia, Italy, Cyprus)
Easyjet (from Rome, Milan, Geneva, Manchester, Gatwick)
Vueling (from Barcelona, Bilbao)
Jetairfly (from Brussels)
HolidayJet (from Zurich)
Mykonos’ airport is small (but better and bigger than Santorini airport) and it can become very crowded during the high season (especially in July and August).
There are plenty of car rental options at the Mykonos airport but it is always wise to book well in advance.
The best website to rent a car for Mykonos and greek islands is Rentalcars.com .
There are also many taxis waiting for you at the airport along with the Mykonos local bus.
A taxi from the Airport to Mykonos Town would cost you 30 euros and in general to all other directions shouldn’t charge you more than 40 euros (the furthest beaches are Fokos and Lia beach).
Going to Mykonos by ferry is the second option you have and it can be a very good choice if you don’t like flying or you don’t want to pay the extra money for the flight,
A few important things to know about the ferries from Athens to Mykonos:
The slow ferry from Athens (Rafina) to Mykonos takes approx. 4 hours to arrive (Blue Star Ferries) – check timetables here
The quick ferry from Athens (Rafina to Mykonos) takes 2.5 hours to arrive (Seajets, Golden Star Ferries) – check timetables here
Before deciding which ferry to take (and also to check timetables and prices for all ferries) you should head over to Let’s Ferry and simply put your desirable dates.
You basically have the following options for ferry boats from Athens to Santorini:
Let’s see all the available options in more detail:
Bluestar Ferries are the biggest you can take to go to Mykonos and are the most stable but also the slowest (4 hours to arrive)
No matter how bumpy or windy it is, you won’t feel much with these ones.
The Blue Star Ferries from Athens to Mykonos, visit other islands before they arrive at Mykonos which can give you a very good glimpse of some other greek islands too (Syros, Paros , Naxos, Ios).
You don’t get to see much but it’s nice to feel like you are on a small cruise!
The best way to check for the available Blue Star Ferry times schedule is to visit the Let’s Ferry website.
They run all 365 days per year and there are basically 2 ferries per day from Piraeus port to Mykonos: one in the early morning and one in the afternoon.
Check the exact timetables for 2019 on Let’s Ferry .
You don’t really have to book the ferry tickets in advance or online.
There is no need for that because they rarely sell out.
But…you can always book them online (just to be sure) on the Let’s Ferry website (even if you don’t book them there, you can always check the timetables of the ferries on the dates you want to travel)
BE CAREFUL THOUGH:
According to the greek law the tickets have to be printed out only by certified travel agencies or the Ferry companies , so even if you book it online you have to visit a travel agent or the kiosk at the ferry port to take the print outs anyways (not a big deal..everyone is doing that anyways).
The cheapest ticket for the Blue Star ferry costs 40 euros (no reserved seat) but it’s highly advisable to get an airport style seat which will cost you 50 euros per person.
A cabin is not really required (it’s just 4 hours) and you can go outside while the ferry is sailing.
BUT FOR THE LATEST PRICES ALWAYS CHECK THE Let’s Ferry WEBSITE.
Seajet Ferries are less stable and that is becasue they are faster to take you to Santorini.
On average there are 4 Seajets Ferries on a daily basis from Rafina to Mykonos and 1 from Piraeus port during the high season and they take about 2.5 hours to take you to Mykonos.
You don’t have the option to go outside if you board the Seajet Ferries as they are closed-type ferry boats (like a catamaran).
Also, bear in mind that these are most highly to get cancelled depending on the weather conditions (very unlikely from June-September but it’s always a possibility).
Check the exact timetables for 2019 on Let’s Ferry .
These tickets do sell out as there is a limited number of seats on these ferries.
The best thing you can do is to book them online in advance on Let’s Ferry website.
You would still have to get the printout from the ferry kiosk outside of the ferry before departing (so make sure you arrive there early enough).
The cheapest ticket for the Seajet Ferry cost about 40 euros but depending on the time and the ferry you choose the ticket might cost you up to 60 euros (one way)
There are no cabins on these ferries.
BUT FOR THE LATEST PRICES ALWAYS CHECK THE Let’s Ferry WEBSITE.
The easiest and cheapest option to get to Athens ferry port called Piraeus is by taking the bus X96 that stops just outside of the Athens airport.
X96 bus takes between 50 mins to 80 mins (depending on the traffic) to go to the Athens ferry port (Piraeus) and the X96 bus route to Piraeus ferry port is the following:
This is how to get from the Athens Aiport Exit to the X96 and X95 bus stops just outside of the airport:
Mykonos Ferries depart from E7 Port Gate so you have to stop at the bus station : STATION ISAP (which is also a metro station).
Or in greek : ΣΤΑΘΜΟΣ ΗΣΑΠ
In case you feel lost you can just ask the bus driver (they always speak english if you speak with a very clear accent like an italian mafioso in a away…:) )
But in reality you will find some brand new GPS screens showing you where you actually are:
The X96 bus runs 24/7 and there is a bus every 30 mins roughly (in Greece time runs in a very strange way…so never expect something to be on time…that’s just a small tip from greeks…you’d better get used to that unfortunately).
But there is a X96 bus every 20-30 minutes, so there will be one for you too!
For the X96 bus, you have to buy tickets from a kiosk which is just outside of the bus stop (and also just outside of the airport, just follow the “Bus” signs in the airport).
For adults the Athens bus ticket (called “ATH.ENA) costs 6 euros and for kids (under 6) it costs 3 euros.
You can also take a taxi from the Athens airport to the Piraeus Ferry port which costs 50-60 euros but it’s really not recommended because it doesn’t worth it in my opinion…
The X96 bus is pretty fast and it costs only 6 euros!
Also, BE CAREFUL:
Sometimes the X96 Athens Airport Buses say: “AEROLIMENAS-PEIRAIAS”
Don’t get confused.
This is a greek version of saying: “Airport – Pireaus” , so it’s the same really…
The easiest and cheapest way to get from Athens aiport to Rafina port is by taking a KTEL bus (and you must go to Rafina port becasue this is faster and easier for a ferry to Mykonos than going to Piraeus)
These are different buses than the blue ones (like X96 or X95) and the bus stop is just across the street (see picture above).
You buy the ticket on the bus from the driver and it costs around 3 euros (there might be a slight difference every year).
The timetables for the bus Athens Aiport to Rafina are on the following table (rpughly a bus every 1,5 hour):
To go from Athens Airport to Syntagma Square (the most central point in Athens) you have to take either the metro from the airport (it’s actually overground for some stations and then it goes underground) or the bus X95 which will take you to Syntagma Square within 30-40 mins.
The X95 bus stop is next to the X96 bus stop and the tickets are exactly the same and are sold from the same kiosk.
This is Bus X95 route (from Athens airport to Syntagma square – central Athens):
You can also take the metro line 3 to get to Syntagma Square from the Athens Airport.
Check on this link the timetables for Athens metro lines
These are the timetables of Athens Metro Line 3:
You basically have 2 options to get from Athens to Mykonos: by plane or by a ferry.
My honest recommendation is to take the ferry only if it’s your first time in Greece and only if you are going to spend more than 5 days in Mykonos
A smart idea is also to mix the 2 options and get the ferry to go to Mykonos (preferably the fast Seajet ferry from Rafina) and then get a flight back to Athens.
For me, the best way to check timetables and even book my ferry tickets online has been Let’s Ferry the last years and I highly recommend it to everyone looking to get a ferry to Mykonos or other Greek islands.
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