Taxis in Greece, and the Athens airport flat fare

FreeNow, formerly Beat, is the app most used by Greeks themselves and has the largest fleet, so it is the one to install first. Uber works too, as Uber Taxi, which dispatches the same licensed yellow taxis rather than private cars, and Bolt arrived in 2025 and uses the same fleet with frequent promo codes. The catch to understand is that UberX, the private-car model, is not legal in Greece, so every app here simply calls a regular licensed yellow taxi.

The real advantage of the apps is not a different car but a better ride: you see the fare estimate, the plate and the driver in advance, and you can pay by card, which solves the age-old problem of an older taxi with no working card machine. Coverage is strong in Athens and Thessaloniki and on the bigger islands like Santorini, Mykonos, Corfu, Paros and Crete.

The key protection for arriving visitors is a flat fare fixed by law from Athens Airport (ATH) into the city center: 40 euros in the daytime, from 05:00 to midnight, and 55 euros at night, from midnight to 05:00, with tolls and luggage included and no surge. Yellow taxis wait 24 hours a day at Exit 3 on the arrivals level, with no booking needed, and a dispatcher assigns you a cab.

The apps charge the same flat fare plus a small booking fee, so ordering an Uber Taxi, Bolt or FreeNow costs about the same as the rank and can be quicker. Note the flat fare is for the city center specifically, while other destinations from the airport run on the meter. If you are traveling light, the metro into the city is only about 9 euros.

The classic Greek taxi problem is meter games. A driver refuses to switch on the meter, drapes a hand towel over it, or simply announces a flat price, and this happens most at the port, like Piraeus, and on the islands, where oversight is looser and tourist demand is high. The fix is to insist the meter is on from the start and to refuse any announced fare, and to watch for an invented service fee tacked on at the end.

Booking through FreeNow, Uber or Bolt avoids the whole thing, because the fare is the regulated meter price shown before you ride and paid by card. If you do take a street taxi, check the meter is running and visible before you set off, and keep an eye on it during the trip.

The Athens day meter is roughly a 1.80 euro base plus about 0.90 euro per kilometer, with legitimate higher rates at night and on holidays and a small charge for luggage. Those surcharges are set by the state, not invented by the driver. In the apps you pay by card, and tipping is not expected, so rounding up to a convenient figure is plenty.

In central Athens you often do not need a taxi at all, since the metro and walking cover the sights well, from Syntagma to the Acropolis and Plaka. For the wider money picture, including how much cash to carry, see the Greece money guide.

Common questions

Quick answers.

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• Tipping in GreeceGreece has a modest tipping culture. Staff earn a wage, tips are appreciated rather than expected, and there is no US-style percentage. Here is what you actually owe, and when to check the bill first.
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