Taxi in Greece is a fast, reliable and safe mode of transport, available at any time of the day. You will not find drivers who work as a private cab driver or illegal taxi drivers in Greece – passenger transportation licensed and strictly controlled. Therefore, if you want to catch a car on the street, you have no other options for how to stop a car with checkers (or rather, with a glowing “taxi” board on the roof of the car).
The color of the taxi is different in each Greek city. In Athens (and some other cities) taxis are yellow, and in Thessaloniki – dark blue with a white top. In Kalamata, famous for its olives, there are … olive taxis (with a white top), in Patras – red, in Heraklion of silver color, in Patras, blue-blue Corfud, etc. On the glass, at the bottom left, a corner lights up the inscription “(“Free”). If the sign with an asterisk replaced by the inscription “απεργια” (“Strike”), find the nearest bus stop, metro or other public transport station.
Taxi prices in Greece
- Boarding costs €1.30
- Fare 1 (daily fare in the city) – 0,74 euro/1 km
- Tariff 2 (day rate in the country zone and night rate from 24.00 to 5.00) – 1,30 eur/1 km
- Calling a taxi or ordering a car for a certain time – from 0.00 to 6.20 euros
- The minimum cost of a trip in Athens and Thessaloniki is 3.50 euros
- The minimum cost in other parts of the country is 3.70 euros
Prices from/to airports fixed. The road from Athens airport to the center will cost you 38 euros in the daytime and 54 euros at night. From Thessaloniki airport to the city centre you will pay 20 euros in the daytime, 28 euros in the period 00.00 – 05.00
Methods of calculating the trip
In Greece, there are two ways of calculation, depending on the type of trip:
- Classic – payment by counter, depending on the distance and time (in all major cities of Greece)
- Fixed, acting, as a rule, on certain routes (outside the urban area), or by prior agreement between the passenger and the driver.
In certain cases, an additional fee for taxi services, which also regulated by the Ministry of Transport. We are talking about the following cases: a trip from / to airports, ports, railway stations; call/order a radio taxi, luggage (more than 10 kg).
Taxi Fares from Athens airports, Thessaloniki, Kavala
For trips from some airports (to airports) there are special fixed tariffs. These official tariffs have been introduced and adjusted gradually from February 1, 2011 until now.
Recently, Greece has reduced the VAT tax for some industries, including taxis. Therefore, fixed tariffs have decreased since June 2020. Current rates are lower. On April 30, 2021, the tax credit expires and tariffs will increase again. And maybe the tax benefit will be extended, then they will not increase. We’ll have to wait and see.
Conditions: fares include all surcharges, including baggage surcharge; the fare type is determined by the time of arrival at the destination.
| from 5-00 to 24-00 | from 00-00 to 5-00 | |
| From Athens airport to the city or back | EUR 35 | 49 EUR |
| From Kavala airport to the city or back | 35 | 35 |
| From Thessaloniki airport to the city or back | 20 | 28 |
| From Athens airport to the city and port of Piraeus or back | 47 | 72 |
| From Athens Airport to Rafina or Vice Versa | 35 | 50 |
| From Athens Airport to Lavrion or Vice Versa | 47 | 70 |
| From Athens Airport to Glyfada or Vice Versa | 32 | 40 |
| From Athens airport to Kifyssia or back | 33 | 50 |
Applications for ordering a Taxi in Greece
There are a lot of applications: iMove Athens, Beat Ride, Taxiplon, Aegean App. Each application works in certain provinces and on certain islands. Read the descriptions of the application to understand whether it works in the place of your rest.
Beat believed to have the best coverage. We recommend it first. Available for Android and iOS in Greek and English.
Until April 2018, UBER in Greece worked fully – there were UberX and UberTAXI tariffs. However, in 2018, amendments to the laws were adopted that made the further work of UberX impossible. Only UberTAXI remains. In fact, with the help of the UBER application, you can call an official taxi. Use it, it’s convenient. But it doesn’t work on the islands yet.
How to use taxi services in Greece
– By phone (in every Greek city there are many taxi radio services, some of them charge extra for the order, some will send you a car for free)
- In Athens: Radio taxi “Hellas”, tel. 18180 (no extra charge)
- In Thessaloniki: Radio Taxi “Macedonia”, tel. 18288, 2310 550500
- In all cities of Greece: Radio taxi “Cosmos”, tel. 18300
– Parking lot
– Catch on the Street
– Taxi online (On company websites or using mobile apps, a good example is –Taxibeat)
In addition to the traditional taxi, in Athens you can use the Uber mobile application, which is especially popular among foreigners. The first trip (in the range of 7-9 euros) will cost you free of charge. Payment is made by card, according to a pre-calculated route, after which you do not have to worry about the price in the event that you get into traffic jams.
