When our kids were in need of a break from city exploring, we headed over for a beach day on Aegina Island. Read on for our tips on how to get to Aegina Island with teens and tweens.
How to get to Piraeus Port from central Athens with teens and tweens
You could get a taxi from your accommodation to the port, but public transport is relatively easy, quick, and cheap. The Athens metro only has 3 lines so it is easy to navigate.
We took the metro from Syngrou-Fix, a 5 minute walk downhill from our apartment (see our apartment review here). We changed trains at Omonia for the green line (line 2) which takes you down to the port. You can also get on at Monastiraki Square. The port is not the last stop on the line so it is worth noting the name of the stop before so you can be ready to get off.
All signs and announcements on the metro are in English as well as Greek. We used the self-service ticket machines which had an option to change the language to English. We bought 24-hour tickets for 4.50 Euros each. I thought this was reasonable value and allowed us to use the metro as much as we wanted within a 24-hour period from first use.
The google maps app on my phone was struggling as we came out of Piraeus Port metro station. However, as soon as we were above ground and looking towards the sea, we could see the sign for E8 (the gate for ferries to Aegina) so simply walked towards that.
How to get from Piraeus Port to Aegina Island
Ferries to Aegina depart from Gate E8 at Piraeus Port. The journey takes around 1 hour 10 minutes. A few different companies serve the route from Piraeus to Aegina, but we went with Saronic Ferries (who seemed to be the main operator).
I bought our tickets in advance from the Ferryhopper website and they cost 24 Euros per person. Unfortunately, I couldn’t see any discounts for tweens or teens. I had electronic tickets on my phone, and these were just scanned as we boarded – no need for printed copies.
When we got to E8, we couldn’t see any obvious passenger terminal or place for foot passengers to wait. In the end, I found a ticket desk for Saronic Ferries and asked. The guy replied that our ferry was on the way across. He pointed to where it would pull in and just told us to go there when we saw it had arrived.
As it turned out, there is no real organisation. People, cars, bikes, vans etc simply all mill about near where the ferry will load. They then all push forwards to get on as quickly as possible once boarding starts! Be prepared for none of the locals to queue! The Ferryhopper website had suggested we should be at the port 90 minutes before our ferry was due to depart. However, having made the trip, I cannot see any point being there more than 30 minutes in advance.
Onboard
Inside the ferry was fairly comfortable with plenty of seating and tables, clean toilets, and a café. We did start with a table at the front of the boat with a good view. However, and despite leaving our bags on our seats whilst we went to the loo, an older Greek lady simply dumped our bags on the floor and took the chairs for her and her friend, ignoring the (fairly half-hearted) protests from my husband and younger boy.
And that is how to get to Aegina Island with teens and tweens!
