Choose between Athens airport Metro Line 3 and the X95 bus by final stop, arrival time and fare

For most daytime arrivals, choose Metro Line 3 if your accommodation is near a Line 3 station or requires a metro connection. Choose the X95 bus if you are staying near Syntagma, want the lower fare or arrive after airport trains finish.

The headline comparison is €9 and 40 minutes to Syntagma by metro, versus €5.50 and an estimated 60 minutes by X95. The bus runs around the clock; airport metro trains do not.

	Metro Line 3	X95 airport bus
Full fare, one way	€9	€5.50
Airport to Syntagma	40 minutes on the timetable	About 60 minutes, depending on traffic
Service span	Airport departures ordinarily 06:10–23:34, subject to works	24 hours
Airport departures	Every 36 minutes	Check live departures
Central stops	Evangelismos, Syntagma, Monastiraki and onward to Piraeus	Terminates at Syntagma
Onward urban travel	Covered within the ticket’s 90-minute validity	Not included; the ticket covers one airport-bus journey

Fares and schedules were checked on 30 October 2026. OASA publishes the current airport fares and ticket conditions, while STASY maintains the Line 3 timetable and service notices.

Pick the metro for Monastiraki, Koukaki and most connections

Line 3 is the stronger choice when it removes a transfer or carries you close to your final neighborhood:

• Monastiraki, Psyrri and the northwestern side of Plaka: stay on the train to Monastiraki. STASY schedules the airport journey at 42 minutes.
• Evangelismos, Kolonaki’s lower edge and the Megaro Moussikis area: use the corresponding direct Line 3 stop rather than riding the X95 to Syntagma and doubling back.
• Koukaki, Makrygianni and the Acropolis Museum area: change at Syntagma to Line 2 toward Elliniko, then use Akropoli or Syngrou–Fix as appropriate. The €9 airport ticket remains valid on OASA services for 90 minutes from first validation, so this connection is covered if completed within that period. An X95 ticket is valid only for its single airport-bus journey, so a subsequent city bus or metro ride requires another fare.
• Piraeus: remain on Line 3. Athens International Airport confirms that the Blue Line runs through central Athens to Dimotiko Theatro, and STASY schedules Airport–Piraeus at about 61 minutes. The X95 is not the relevant airport bus for Piraeus; the airport’s public-transport overview identifies the X96 as the dedicated airport–Piraeus bus.

Metro travel time is more predictable because it is not exposed to road traffic. The tradeoff is frequency: airport trains currently run every 36 minutes, even though trains on the central section of Line 3 are much more frequent. Just missing an airport train can therefore erase much of its scheduled time advantage over the bus.

Pick the X95 for Syntagma, price or a late arrival

The X95 directly links the airport and Syntagma Square. OASA estimates the trip at approximately 60 minutes but says the duration depends on traffic. It also confirms that airport express buses operate 24 hours.

That makes the X95 the practical choice when:

• your hotel is within a manageable walk of Syntagma, including the eastern side of Plaka;
• saving €3.50 per person matters more than the metro’s shorter scheduled ride;
• you arrive after the last useful airport train;
• you would rather finish at street level in Syntagma than navigate a metro interchange with luggage.

The last point depends on the exact hotel. Plaka is not served equally well by one stop: accommodation toward Syntagma favors the X95, while an address toward Monastiraki usually favors Line 3. Check the hotel entrance—not merely the neighborhood label—against both stations, and account for Athens’s slopes and steps.

Current Sunday–Thursday evening disruption

At the time of checking, Line 3 has an important disruption. Because of rail-replacement work, five stations between Katehaki and Doukissis Plakentias close at 21:40 from Sunday through Thursday. Direct through service from the airport toward central Athens ends earlier: STASY lists the last Airport–Dimotiko Theatro train at 21:10 on affected nights. Later airport trains terminate at Doukissis Plakentias, with the temporary X25 bus bridging the closed section.

Unless your destination is before that break, the X95 is the simpler late-evening arrival on Sunday–Thursday while the notice remains in force. Do not assume that Friday’s or Saturday’s later city-center metro hours extend to the airport: STASY specifically excludes airport routes from Saturday’s 24-hour metro operation. Check the service alert on the Line 3 timetable shortly before travel because the work arrangements can change.

Tickets and contactless payment

OASA accepts contactless Visa and Mastercard, including supported cards in Apple Pay and Google Pay, for both the €9 airport metro fare and the €5.50 airport express bus fare. For the metro, use the same physical card or device to tap in and out. Do not tap in with a phone and out with the underlying plastic card; OASA treats these as different payment methods. Discount fares are not available through bank-card contactless payment. The operator’s Tap2Ride instructions give the current card rules.

A standard €1.20 Athens ticket or €4.10 daily ticket does not cover either the airport section of Line 3 or the airport express bus. One alternative may suit a short visit: the €20 three-day tourist ticket includes one journey from and one journey to the airport by metro or express bus, plus urban transport for three 24-hour periods. Compare that with the €16 metro return ticket, whose return portion is valid within 30 days.

The short decision

• Syntagma or east Plaka: X95 for cost and simplicity; metro for a faster, more predictable daytime ride.
• Monastiraki, Psyrri, Evangelismos or Megaro Moussikis: Metro Line 3.
• Koukaki or Makrygianni: Metro, then Line 2 at Syntagma.
• Piraeus: Metro Line 3, not X95.
• Overnight, or late Sunday–Thursday during the current works: X95.
• A group prioritizing the lowest public-transport cost: X95, saving €3.50 per person each way.

The choice is less about “bus versus train” than about the final Athens stop. Syntagma makes the two services genuine competitors; elsewhere, Line 3’s direct stations and included 90-minute connections usually decide it.