TAXIS

Taxis can be ordered by telephone or easily flagged down in the street provided that you are in a built up area. All taxis in the Athens area are yellow and have a large taxi sign on the roof. They also have an electronic sign on the driver's side indicating whether the taxi is free or not. Some drivers will take more than one fare at a time (although legally they are not supposed to do this and certainly should not if you specifically ask the driver to refrain from doing so). If you do get into a taxi with another passenger on board, care should be taken to ensure that the passenger in the taxi is going to a destination on your route - you do not want to be driven ten miles out of your way before getting to where you want to be as you will have to pay for the extra ten miles regardless. It is now illegal to smoke in taxis - it remains to be seen whether this law will be enforced.

There is a minimum taxi fare of €1.50 and this applies for all journeys. The taxi's meter should be on rate 1 before midnight and then rate 2 from midnight to 6am. Taxi drivers also make a surcharge for extra luggage. It should be noted that a taxi to the airport costs about €20 and that once a taxi leaves the Athens area its metre will be on rate 2.

There are several radio taxi companies operating in Athens. Surcharges apply to the basic taxi fares if you call for a radio taxi: Simple call surcharge: €0.90 and Special appointment surcharge: €1.50.