From Rafina, one of the harbours close to Athens, you can reach many islands in the Cyclades very quickly, depending on what kind of a boat you are on. You also find the boats to Evia here. There are ferries and high speed boats going to the islands. Most of them depart in the morning or at the end of the afternoon / beginning of the evening. On some days there are also boats which leave later until about 11 in the evening or around. On Fridays and during the weekend there usually is an increase in the number of boats and the destinations as the people from Athens and other Greeks venture away for a couple of days on one of their islands. If you are lucky you will see a beautiful sunset from your boat as we did.

Rafina is a quiet alternative to the much larger port of Piraeus. The destinations are Andros, Tinos, Mykonos, Paros, Naxos, Santorini and Evia. From Tinos and Mykonos you can take another ferry to a whole bunch of other Cyclades islands. The journey from the airport to the port of Rafina takes about 30 to 45 minutes by bus or taxi. When you walk out of the airport of Athens you will see the Sofitel Hotel. The bus to Rafina has a bus stop just opposite this hotel and you will see the time table with the departure times of the buses to Rafina. There are no night buses. Buses will be in time to meet the ferry and a ticket costs 3 euro. The bus ticket you buy in the bus itself (last update 2014). Tickets for the trip to the islands you can buy in the ticket offices that are situated opposite the place where the ferries depart. They open for a while before the ferry departures. If you take a taxi to Rafina you ask for the price before you get into the taxi (the price is fixed but there are taxi drivers that want to take advantage of tourist- I speak from personal experience). If you want you can also reserve a taxi ahead.

Suppose you have a bad time on your flight and you must spend a night in Rafina and wait for the ferry the next day than it is absolutely no punishment to stay overnight in Rafina. It is a cozy village with some nice taverns in the harbour and with a nice atmosphere. There is a beach, a harbour with fishing boats, an an attractive square and there are several shopping streets just behind the harbour boulevard. You can just start your holiday right here. The same for the return flight: it's a great place to stay the night before you fly back home. The ferry ticket offices are opposite where the boats departure and just outside the harbour where the ferries dock you will find plenty more ticket offices. If you want you can also book ferry tickets ahead (especially handy in case you are with a car).

Ideally located for a visit combining city and island trips, this hotel is within walking distance of the ferry, town square and airport bus terminal and has an excellent free of charge airport shuttle! There are not many hotels that you can book ahead of your arrival and this one is really easy. It saves you carrying your bags around looking for a place. Especially in high season it is wise to book ahead. Since it is so close to the ferry harbour it also saves you dragging the luggage over long distances, or you can ask for the free transfer to or from the airport, even if it is in the middle of the night.

Awake in your comfortable bed and greet the sunny day. Take the short, pleasant stroll to the ferry port to take a trip to the glorious islands of Evia or Mykonos, Siros, Tinos and Andros. Or you can stay closer to the hotel; just 200 metres away is Rafina's blue flag beach. Rafina town is one of the most colourful and vivid places of Attika, with a variety of fish tavernas, bars and restaurants by the sea. The new conference hall of Avra Airport Hotel has capacity for up to 250 people, and the beautiful verandas overlooking the bay of Rafina make this renovated and pleasant hotel an ideal choice for meetings, conferences and product launches.

We have also once spent an hour or 7 in the Avra hotel, because our flight from Naxos to Athens was in the morning and our flight from Athens to Amsterdam in the evening. We arrived at 11 o'clock and a very nice receptionist arranged that we could check in earlier. Within fifteen minutes there was a room available for us. In the meantime we could drink some coffee in the breakfast room. Our room was very nice, at the front, overlooking the harbour and the beach. It was also spotless. It was very nice to see the boats arrive and depart from the balcony. We also had quite a good lunch at the hotel itself (customers get a 20% discount). Directly at the Avra hotel is also a stop for the bus to Athens, so if you want you do not want to walk to the harbour if you have to go to the airport you don't have to (the walk to the harbour takes a few minutes).

We came back in May 2017 because we had an early morning flight from Athens. For May 2018 we have also already booked because we have to stay overnight while waiting for our flight to the island of Skyros. Avra Hotel has a day and night shuttle service to and from the airport: excellent (the name of the hotel is on the shuttle bus)!! This time we stayed in an inter-connecting room (2 rooms next to each other with a door in between, two bathrooms, one large balcony). Excellent value for money, good service. Good choice if you start or end island hopping or have to catch a plane and don't want to spend time in busy Athens but prefer it quiet with a view over the sea. The restaurant is very good as well, but you can also have lunch or dinner in one of the many a fish restaurants in the harbour. We will be back.

Check availability and prices & book Hotel Avra in Rafina - click here.