Central Athens for the Acropolis, or Piraeus for an early boarding. Four hotels we checked, which terminal you are likely heading for, and the cheapest and easiest ways to get there.
If you are deciding where to stay in Athens before a cruise, the first thing to know is that your ship does not leave from Athens. It leaves from Piraeus, a separate port city on the coast south-west of the centre, joined to Athens by metro, bus and a road that is often busy. So the choice is between sleeping near the Acropolis and doing the trip to the port on embarkation day, or sleeping in Piraeus and seeing less of Athens.
This guide covers both, with four hotels we checked on their own websites on 27 October 2026: three in central Athens and one in Piraeus. It also covers the port itself, which has three cruise terminals that are further apart than they look on a map.
For one night with a full afternoon in the city, the Herodion, below the Acropolis and a minute from the Acropolis Museum. It is a good-value four-star with a roof garden facing the Parthenon.
For two or three nights in more comfort, the Electra Palace in Plaka, which has a pool with an Acropolis view and a rooftop restaurant, or the Electra Metropolis by Syntagma Square if you want the larger, more central hotel.
For a late-night flight and an early boarding, stay in Piraeus. The Savoy is a plain, practical city hotel a few hundred metres from the harbour, and it is the one we would book when sleep matters more than sightseeing.
Who this is not for: anyone planning to fly in on the morning of the sailing. The drive from the airport to the port takes about an hour in normal traffic, according to Holland America’s port page, and flights into Athens in peak season are often late. Land the day before.
The Piraeus Port Authority runs three cruise passenger terminals and has eleven berths for cruise ships, so on a busy day several ships board at once. Holland America’s port page lists Terminal A (Miaoulis) as the one nearest the port entrance at Gate 11, with Terminal B (Themistocles) and Terminal C (Alkimos) at Gate 12. The street address for all three is Akti Miaouli 10, but your taxi driver will want the terminal letter or the gate number, not the address.
Terminal assignments can change at short notice, so check your cruise documents the week before you sail, and again on the morning. The port authority runs a free shuttle bus between the terminals and the ships, which helps if you are dropped at the wrong one.
There is no public parking at the cruise piers and no luggage storage there, according to Holland America. If you are boarding in the afternoon and checking out of a hotel in the morning, leave your bags at the hotel, not at the port.
By taxi, Holland America puts the airport to Piraeus run at about 32 km, about an hour, and roughly €60. It is the easiest option with luggage, and with three or four of you sharing it costs little more than public transport.
By bus, the X96 express runs between the airport and Piraeus. The port authority lists it among the transport options from the port, leaving from Akti Xaveriou. The Athens transport authority, OASA, sets the airport express bus fare at €5.50 one way (checked 27 October 2026). It is the cheapest option, and the slowest in traffic.
By metro, the airport ticket costs €9 one way, according to OASA. Holland America says the walk from Dimotiko Theatro metro station is about 15 minutes to Terminal A and about 30 minutes to Terminals B and C. That is fine with a small bag and a long wait with a big suitcase.
From a central Athens hotel, take a taxi. Ask the hotel to book it the night before for a time that gets you to the port at the start of your boarding window. Traffic between Athens and Piraeus is the variable, so leave more time than the map suggests, especially on weekday mornings.
The Herodion is a family-owned four-star with 90 rooms on the south side of the Acropolis. By the hotel’s own figures it is 100 metres from the Acropolis Museum, 200 metres from Acropolis metro station and about 400 metres from the Acropolis itself. The roof garden has olive trees, two hot tubs and a direct view of the Parthenon, which is where we would spend the evening before a cruise.
It is the pick for one night if you want to see the Acropolis and the museum before you sail. Go to the museum in the afternoon, walk up to the rock late in the day when it is cooler and quieter, and eat in Makrygianni or Koukaki rather than the Plaka tourist strip.
Not for: anyone who wants a pool or a big-hotel lobby. This is a comfortable, well-run city hotel, not a resort.
The Electra Palace is a neoclassical five-star on Nikodimou Street, on the edge of Plaka, the old neighbourhood under the Acropolis. It has two pools: an outdoor pool with an Acropolis view that is open in season, and an indoor pool open all year. Both are for hotel guests only. The Electra Roof Garden restaurant on the eighth floor serves Mediterranean food with the same view, from 1pm to just after midnight.
Ask for a Superior room, a Junior Suite or a Suite if you want the Acropolis from your window. The hotel says its Classic rooms look over the surrounding area instead.
It suits two or three nights, especially in the warmer months when a pool after a morning of sightseeing makes the difference. Syntagma, the Acropolis and the shopping streets are all walkable.
The Electra Metropolis is a five-star with 216 rooms and suites at the start of Mitropoleos Street, a few minutes’ walk from Syntagma Square. Some rooms and the roof garden look onto the Acropolis, and the 16th-century chapel of Agia Dynami is built into the structure of the building, which is a strange and memorable sight.
This is the more central of the two Electra hotels, and the better choice for a group that wants Syntagma, Kolonaki’s shops and Plaka all on foot. The hotel will book a taxi from the airport if you ask, so you are met at arrivals rather than queueing.
Not for: a quiet, small-hotel night. It is a large hotel on a busy street.
The Savoy is a city hotel in central Piraeus that has been running for more than forty years. By its own account it is 300 metres from the Port of Piraeus, 30 metres from the main bus station and about six minutes on foot from a metro station. It has a restaurant and bar, and free (unattended) parking next door, which is useful if someone is driving you down.
Piraeus is a working port, and the harbour is long. Even from a hotel this close, with luggage take a short taxi rather than walking, and give the driver your terminal letter or gate number.
It is the pick if you land late, if your boarding window opens early, or if Athens is not new to you. It is not the pick if you have never seen the Acropolis. You would be close to the ship and a long way from the reason most people add a night in Athens.
If Athens is new to you, two nights is the minimum we would book: one day for the Acropolis and the Acropolis Museum, one for the National Archaeological Museum or a morning at Cape Sounion. If you know the city, one night in Piraeus is enough.
Check the city calendar before you book. The Athens Marathon runs on 8 November 2026, and on race weekend central hotels fill early and roads close. Our What’s on calendar lists it.
Piraeus also works the other way round. Several sailings end there: SeaDream’s Venice to Piraeus yacht voyage in June 2027, which we wrote about in Small ship cruises from Venice, and Holland America’s Oosterdam, which sails Trieste to Piraeus on 10 November 2027 and Piraeus to Barcelona on 21 November 2027. Disembarkation is in the morning, so a night or two in Athens after the cruise is often the easier way to fit the city in.
Book these hotels direct on their own sites. We have not quoted rates because they move with the season and the cruise calendar, and on busy turnaround days in summer the hotels nearest the port and the Acropolis fill early. Book the hotel as soon as your sailing is confirmed, and read the cancellation terms before you pay.
If you have not chosen the sailing yet, tell us your dates and we will suggest the ship, check which terminal it uses, and match the hotel to the boarding time.