Background: Athens has two ports of call on either side of a peninsula that sticks out to the west side of the town. The main port of Athens is Pireás. All of the freight, and ferryboats leave through this port along with all of the large high-speed boats and even some of the hydrofoils (flying dolphins). It is a very busy port, being an incorporated town with (Pireás) with train service, and a subway into Athens.
The second port is on the opposite side of this little peninsula. It is called Zea Marina. This is where pleasure crafts dock as well as the flying dolphins to Hydra, and Spetses, two posh islands with the Greeks. The tiny town of Ermioni is on this hydrofoil route as well. Seeing how my aunt’s cousin lives there, and he offers me his very generous hospitality, I often find my self going through Zea going to or coming from Ermioni and Athens. For some reason, I have had just horrid experience with the Cabs in Zea, and here are my experiences and how I have avoided the cabbies.Part 1 1997
I had just spent seven weeks traveling through France , Switzerland, Italy, and Greece . To this point I had traveled by Car, Bus, Train, subway, and flying dolphin. The one thing I had not done was travel by taxi cab. Mainly because I didn’t want to spend the money. However, I had seen no choice. This was my first trip into Athens from Ermioni. I was supposed to be meeting a cousin in Athens, which is in itself an entirely different story, .
I had just hung out in Zea for about twenty minutes before realizing that I was in the wrong place. I knew I would have to get over to the main marina quickly. So instead of waiting for the bus, and not knowing where to get off exactly, I decided to chance it and take a cab. Athens cabs are cheap compared to the rest of Europe. I asked the only cab driver left how much it would cost to go to Pireás. This must have indicated that I was fresh off the boat, which I was. He told me 2000 Drachmas. At the time it was about 6 dollars. I went with it not knowing better.
From this experience I learned to always look at maps and to figure my way around. The driver, to his credit, did a confusing zigzag through streets, mainly to confuse me so he could justify the “”expensive” cost of 2000 Drachmas. However, in the end, I knew that we really didn’t travel that far. I also knew that I wouldn’t be able to navigate back on my own because of the confusing course. Oh well, six buck down the drain. I knew I had been had and it wouldn’t happen again.
Part 2 1997
I was arriving into Zea from Ermioni for the second time this summer. I forget exactly how I got back to Zea; I think my cousin gave me a ride to the flying dolphin. I knew one thing was for sure; I was not going to get ripped off by a cab driver. Unfortunately the Zea Cabdrivers had other ideas.
My destination was the Plaka, the touristy area of Athens where I intended to spend the night, and do some last minute shopping. It was 5:45 and my hotel was going to hold my reservation until six o’clock. That meant I was in a hurry, with a ten minute or so subway ride into Athens. I had to catch a cab to the subway station in Pireás. I was a bit smarter this time. I took a cab with three other people, expecting, as did the others that we would split the fair four ways. This time the driver did not give a fixed rate. He used the meter which he is required to do. The cab ride itself cost us about five hundred drachmas. A far cry from 2000 I had paid a week or so earlier. But there was a catch. It was five hundered per person with a four hundred drachma luggage charge. Taken again. I was in a hurry so I just paid it and ran.
Part 3 1999.
I was again in Greece. Again, I was going back and forth between Athens and Ermioni by way of Zea Marina. I had discovered some interesting features in my guidebook about Zea, Pireás and Athens. First and foremost there was a section in my guide book right after Athens about Pireás and a little blurb about Zea. This is where I learned that Zea was the rich and posh port. So it makes sense that a lot of the people that go through can afford the taxi drivers antics that I experienced so they get little complaining. I found something even more interesting in this little section: A street-by-street map of the Pireás/Zea area. On my previous trip I had not thought to look for a map, since I was using a city guide for Athens. I also had not thought to read past all the hotel listings for the entire city of seven million to see what else it said about the area. This trip into Zea I had a plan!
It was five thirty. I needed to check into a hotel then call my cousin to meet him for dinner with his fiancé (at the time they had a studio apartment). I was going to walk the approximately ten blocks from Zea to the subway station. Ten blocks does not sound much, but there are two additional factors about this walk I was going to undertake. I had a sixty pound backpack on and it was typical Athens weather. Which meant temperature in the 90’s with a thick layer of smog to make breathing fun. I must have lost about five pounds via sweating on this quick walk. My cousin was surprised at my courage in undertaking this walk. All that I carried about was I didn’t get ripped off by a cabby.
I ended up going back to Ermioni a few days later since I had four more days in Greece, and four days in Ermioni were preferable to four days in Athens. To get back to Zea Marina to catch the flying dolphin, I actually took a cab from the train station to the Marina. To validate that Athens cabbies are cheap and I think the cost of this ride was about six hundred drachmas, at the time a buck fifty.
My last night in Greece, I was going to spend in Athens. Always a good idea to stay in the same city you are going to fly out of because it leaves one less transportation connection for the next morning. I had also waited until the last minute before buying anything for family and friends. Since I had a pre-paid bed in a small hostel I discovered, I was in no rush to get there. It was six, and I didn’t care if I wasn’t there until seven or so. So I walked again to the subway station. My relatives still don’t understand why I decided to walk. There are busses I could take or a cab. I still didn’t know what bus to take and I was tired of these cabbies ripping me off.
Part 4 2001 the last straw
What a surprise. An odd numbered year and I am traveling through Greece. This time I had pretty much avoided Athens all together. In fact if you count the suburbs as independent cities, I had avoided Athens. I spent my first night in Neo-Falleo and then caught a boat to Mitilini form Pireás. This trip I was traveling through the Aegean islands so I was not planning to spend very much time on the main land. I had an accidental stay in Pireás of a few hours (o.k. seven), however because I didn’t feel like taking the subway into Athens I spent the day learning my way around the port. But then I got onto another boat for Paros
When I was done island hopping, I of course had to go back to Pireás. I arrived from Santorini in Pireás at six A.M. My goal was Ermioni for a few days of vegatable impersonation so I had to get to Zea somehow. I had the presence of mind to ask when the first boat to Ermioni left before leaving Pireás. It left at Nine o’clock. So I had a good 2 hours to kill. It was cool enough, and I had enough time to kill that a brisk walk from Pireás to Zea was particle. In fact it was quite enjoyable, though I could have done with out all the tall buildings. So far twenty six days and no Zea taxi.In fact, it was my second to the last day in Greece I finally had to encounter a Zea Cabby. I was going to my cousin’s house in Gylfada. I had no idea where this was. This was one a cousin that I had just learned I had on this trip. So I looked at a map to figure out where Gyflada was. Gyflada is about twice the distance from Pireás than Neo-Falleo (where I spent my first night) is so therefore should cost twice as much. Since going to Pireás from Neo-Fallo cost 1300 I expected about 2600. That is about six dollars for a half hour cab ride.
Getting a cabbie was an experience in itself. People kept passing in front of me taking the cab I was trying to get. So, when in Athens I did as the Athenians do and I aggressively acquired a taxi. When I finally got the cab, I did something really stupid. I asked the cabby if he knew where the address was, in English. What I should have done was, in Greek, ask the driver to take me there. Sensing a kill, and a foreigner with money, he told me that it was a 4000 drachma flat rate. (ten dollars) I knew that this was bologna. I knew he was ripping me off. I also knew this was only ten dollars, and I would have spent about seven anyhow. I gave in. He was the last cab around. I didn’t want to wait. So I agreed. My cousin and her husband verified that I had been ripped off, but I had already known it. The moral of the story, bargain hard and don’t trust the Zea Cabbies.
Epilog June, 2003
The summer of 2003 brought joy and heartache (at least head ache) in my struggle with the Zea Cabbies.
The joy is that the Flying Dolphins now all leave from the main port of Pireás. No more going
in between the two harbors. The bad news is the cabbies seem to have moved to Pireás and are still ripping off tourists.
I got into town late (midnight) and decided to take a cab into Athens where I was spending the night.
It should have cost at the most 10 Euro for this 5 km ride. It cost 20.
Talking to the hotel owner afterwards, he told me cabbies are charging the wrong amount intentional and ripping off tourists. He hopes
these guys go out of business since the Athenians won't pay them. If you are going into or out of Athens, take the Metro,
it is cheap and fast. The 93 bus goes from the air port to the metro station in Pireás and your bus ticket is good for the metro.
Contact info: