fokker50
Jul 9, 01, 12:09 pm
I recently flew LON-FRA-ATH-FRA-LON with Lufthansa. There isn't much to mention except that price was very nice (99GBP+tax) and that during Athens-Frankfurt flight one notorious looking passenger almost started smoking after ending numerous beers.
Nice discovery was Athens new Airport, what is huge, clean and modern. It has free Internet terminals, what is just fine as Internet cafes in Greece are usually overpriced and surfing may cost 2000..3000 drahms per hour, what is about two times as expensive as you may be expect to pay in London. Unfortunately they have only five computers per airport and half of them are not working.
This airport isn't very friendly to passengers who want to stay at airport overnight (and many flights from London and Germany arrive to Athens 1...4 AM). Its only possible to sleep on the floor as all seats have fixed arm rests.
Airport has direct bus connection with Pireaus port from where most ships to Cyclades depart. If someone is heading to islands, I strongly suggest taking modern fast boat (but only when weather is nice). I took slow boat what was about 2 times cheaper and it was quite horrible. Despite nice name (“Express Aphrodite”) this boat was one of the slowest and most worn-out vessels I have ever been on board. It stopped in almost every island and in every port dozens of screaming vendors captured boat, all desperately trying to sell sweets to passengers. Its not fun if you have spent all night at airport.
But islands were just beautiful (I visited Delos and Mykonos) – azure sea, mountains, beautiful beaches, good wine, shops, shops, shops.
I was surprised to find that Athens has direct connections with Singapore and Bangkok (routes operated by TG and SQ). If you are planning Star Alliance RTW, I suggest to include Greece to itinerary.
[This message has been edited by fokker50 (edited 07-09-2001).]
Nice discovery was Athens new Airport, what is huge, clean and modern. It has free Internet terminals, what is just fine as Internet cafes in Greece are usually overpriced and surfing may cost 2000..3000 drahms per hour, what is about two times as expensive as you may be expect to pay in London. Unfortunately they have only five computers per airport and half of them are not working.
This airport isn't very friendly to passengers who want to stay at airport overnight (and many flights from London and Germany arrive to Athens 1...4 AM). Its only possible to sleep on the floor as all seats have fixed arm rests.
Airport has direct bus connection with Pireaus port from where most ships to Cyclades depart. If someone is heading to islands, I strongly suggest taking modern fast boat (but only when weather is nice). I took slow boat what was about 2 times cheaper and it was quite horrible. Despite nice name (“Express Aphrodite”) this boat was one of the slowest and most worn-out vessels I have ever been on board. It stopped in almost every island and in every port dozens of screaming vendors captured boat, all desperately trying to sell sweets to passengers. Its not fun if you have spent all night at airport.
But islands were just beautiful (I visited Delos and Mykonos) – azure sea, mountains, beautiful beaches, good wine, shops, shops, shops.
I was surprised to find that Athens has direct connections with Singapore and Bangkok (routes operated by TG and SQ). If you are planning Star Alliance RTW, I suggest to include Greece to itinerary.
[This message has been edited by fokker50 (edited 07-09-2001).]