Rafina

Rafina is a town on the eastern coast of Attica in the Athens metropolitan area of Greece.

Understand

Rafina is a port town. Its port is the second largest of Athens, after that of Piraeus. Rafina Port is further away from the city centre of Athens than Piraeus, but quite close to Athens International Airport (Eleftherios Venizelos Airport). It is a smaller port mainly serving the southern part of Evvia and the northern part of the Cyclades (Andros, Tinos and Mykonos).

Get in

From the center of Athens:

• By taxi: 60-90 minutes depending on the traffic.
• By regional bus. Take the bus from Pedion tou Areos at Mavromateon Street (close to the National Archaeological Museum and Viktoria Metro Station). It will take you 1.5 hours to get to Rafina from the city center. It is 35 km and the roads through and out of Athens can get very busy. Note that Pedion tou Areos (where the buses depart from) is a considerable distance away from the sites (Syntagma, Acropolis, Plaka, Monastiraki etc) and you will need to get a taxi or public transport to get there.
• Alternatively you can take the Metro or bus to the airport and then take the bus to Rafina.

From the Athens International Airport:

• By taxi: 40 minutes depending on the traffic. A taxi costs about €30 during daytime.
• By regional bus. The line departs from the Arrivals Level, opposite the Sofitel Hotel. The ticket booth for the Athens buses does not sell tickets for Rafina - you just pay on the bus. The bus fee is €3.
  • From the airport to Rafina: 4:50AM+, 5:40AM, 6:10AM+, 7:05AM, 8:50AM, 10:30AM, 12:15PM, 1PM++, 2:10PM, 3:20PM, 4:45PM, 6PM, 7:20PM, 8:45PM and 10:15PM.
  • From Rafina to the airport: 5:15AM+, 6:05AM, 6:45AM+, 8:00AM, 9:40AM, 11:20AM, 12:15PM++, 1PM, 2:40PM, 4PM, 5:20PM, 6:40PM, 8:00PM and 9:15PM.

+ not on Saturdays and Sundays, ++ not on Saturdays, Sundays and public holidays.

A point for the return journey - the bus stop adjacent to the square in Rafina is only served by the Athens buses. If you want the airport bus you must descend the steps to the port road at the other (seaside) end of the square and the bus stop next to a little newspaper shop is where the airport bus picks you up as it leaves the port.

Do

• 1 Rafina municipal swimming pool (Δημοτικό κολυμβητήριο Ραφήνας). a place of recreation and sports with a playground, cafeteria, soccer fields, basketball and volleyball, with forest and pool and with parking space. It also has a very nice waterfall and theater and church. During the summers there are children's camps in the area. It has also paintball facilities. (updated Sep 2015)

Eat

There a number of good fish taverns around the old port.

• Ioakeim, Rafina. A good fish restaurant, but not cheap. 
• 1 To Limeni, Plateia Rafinas, Rafina. Reasonable prices. 

Drink

Two huge open-air café-bars immediately above the harbour bustle with locals until well after midnight.

Sleep

Rafina is a good location for an overnight stopover for visitors to the Cyclades and Crete, who have arrived at the airport too late to catch the last ferry to their island destination. Still a fairly sleepy seaside town, the area has been slowly increasing its level of accommodation, and now offers accommodation of both three and two-star categories.

• 1 Avra Rafina, 3 Arafinidon Alon, ☏ +30 22940 22780, fax: +30 22940 23320, avra@otenet.gr. A 3-star hotel offering 96 small but renovated rooms, all with private bath or shower, many of which with sea view. from €65. 
• Corali, Plateia N. Plastira 11 (on the main square, a five-minute walk from the quayside), ☏ +30 22940 22477, mail@hotel-corali.gr. From €60. 

Go next

Move on by boat to the Cyclades and Crete, especially the islands of Andros, Tinos, Mykonos, Santorini and Heraklion.