Athens Hop on Hop off Bus Tours
If you are wondering what is the best way to move around Athens and get to know all its corners, take a look at this article in which I tell you everything you need to know about its tourist bus.
Sightseeing bus through the streets of Athens | ©Vassilis
Enjoying the beauty of the Greek capital can be exhausting; just the hill leading up to the Acropolis is already a physical effort. The city also has many sights to see, so how to cover them all? With the tourist bus.
Touring Athens by tourist bus
The Athens sightseeing bus with panoramic views and free stops is a very popular means of transportation in Athens. It covers the most relevant points of the city and has three different routes, one of which reaches the Piraeus area. It is a practical, comfortable and instructive way to tour the Greek capital. For $17 you can get your pass for the tourist bus.
What you should know about the tourist bus
If you have never made use of this service during one of your trips, the first thing you should know are the main differences (and advantages) that tourist buses have compared to regular buses:
- The route is focused on communicating all the most interesting tourist points of the city so that the traveler does not miss anything culturally and historically relevant.
- They have panoramic views
- They have on-board audio commentary in several languages to help the traveler put into context what he is seeing.
- You don't pay for each trip; instead, the price of a 24- or 72-hour pass gives access to unlimited use of the bus during that time
- Buying a pass for the Athens sightseeing bus entitles you to additional benefits and discounts during your trip.
The City Sightseeing Bus Routes
The main tour bus company in Athens is City Sightseeing (with red buses), it has three different routes and you can choose between a 24 or 72 hour pass (the 72 hour pass automatically includes all three routes).
During the time your pass is active you can use the tour buses as many times as you want, hopping on and off at the stops you want. You can take the full route to tour the city enjoying the sights and audio commentary or you can use it as a means of transportation that takes you from one point of interest to another without detours.
An important thing to keep in mind is that the main route around the city of Athens is available all year round; the same goes for the Piraeus route. However, if you want to do the Beach-Riviera route you can only do it if you travel between the months of April and October, both included.
Athens route
On the Athens sightseeing bus tour you will pass by different places of cultural interest such as the Acropolis and the Pantheon, the Temple of Zeus, the Panathinaikó Stadium, the National Garden, the Acropolis Museum or the Syntagma Station, among others.
- Syntagma Square
- Benaki Museum
- National Gallery
- Panathinaikó Stadium
- Melina Mercouri Monument
- Acropolis Museum
- Parthenon
- Temple of Zeus
- Hellenic Parliament
- National Library
- Archaeological Museum
- Omonoia, Athens
- Karaiskaki
- Monastiraki Square
- Kotzia Square
Piraeus Route
During the route that leads to the Piraeus area, you will see sites of interest such as the Piraeus Municipal Theater, the Lion's Gate, the Archaeological Museum or the Planetarium.
- University of Panteios
- SNF Headquarters
- Municipal Theater
- Piraeus Cruise Terminal
- Marias Chatzikiriakou 18
- Archaeological Museum of Piraeus
- Santaroza 15
- Limin Mounikhias
- Eugenides Planetarium
- Leof. Andrea Siggrou 150
Ana's Traveller Tip
The sightseeing bus pass does not work by calendar days but by hours; i.e. if you activate a 24-hour pass on Monday at 3pm you will be able to use it until Tuesday at 3pm.
Walking tours included in the Athens sightseeing bus pass
If you purchase your ticket for the Athens sightseeing bus between April and October, you can enjoy two guided walking tours of Athens at no additional cost. The rest of the year, the weather varies and the tourist flow in Athens drops, so the option is not available.
These types of tours are the perfect complement to the routes taken on the bus. While the audio commentary you will hear on board focuses on the cultural and historical information of the points of interest the bus passes by, the walking tours focus on more everyday aspects that are also essential to know in order to get a complete picture of the city.
An expert guide covers in each of these tours a different area of the city and for about two hours not only shows you places that normally the tourist does not notice, but also tells you about the city and its way of life from the point of view of a local, something that, I assure you, you will find very enriching.
Where to buy and how to use the Athens sightseeing bus pass
Whether you buy the 24-hour tourist bus pass or the 72-hour tourist bus pass, you can do it:
In person
The City Sightseeing company has different offices distributed in different parts of Athens. You can locate any of them and buy your pass in person when you arrive in the city.
Online
The most recommended is to buy your tickets for the Athens sightseeing bus with panoramic views and free stops online and in advance. It is the most practical way to buy the pass as you will not have to waste time in Athens and you will receive the ticket directly on your mobile.
Activation
In addition, you can do it as far in advance as you want because, once you have purchased your pass, you have 12 months to activate it and from the first use the time of 24 or 72 hours starts to count. When you go to buy your pass for the tourist bus you must specify the day you start your trip (this does not mean that you have to activate the ticket that day) and if your plans change you can cancel for free up to 24 hours before that date.
If you are interested in an Athens sightseeing bus tour, you may also be interested in
The tourist bus is an ideal option for an excursion to places further away from the center of Athens such as the Piraeus area. If after this visit you still want to continue exploring the surroundings of the Greek capital, I recommend that you consider doing some of the escapades that I talk about in this article on Best Tours and Day Trips from Athens.
Greece is a country with a lot to offer to the traveler and it is a pity that during your trip you only discover one city, even if it is as exciting as Athens. With organized tours you will have the opportunity to visit in one day places like Delphi, the Peloponnese or the Greek Islands.