Athens’ New Tap2 Ride Ticketing Makes Seeing This Ancient City a Breeze

Athens is a beautiful destination to visit, with many archaeological attractions, museums, and shopping and dining areas spread out across the expansive city. But with any large metropolis, no matter how ancient, comes a modern problem: traffic. Getting across the city can be hard enough when you don’t know your way, but add the nightmare traffic Athens has become known for and you have a logistical nightmare on your hands, one that makes travel with kids especially difficult.

Thanks to the new Tap2Ride ticketing system recently rolled out across the city, getting from the Acropolis to other historic sites like Kallimarmaro, the historic Panathenaic Stadium made entirely of marble, has never been easier. The new system rolled out in January and allows people to purchase tickets for buses, trams, trolleys and the metro (subway) system using bank cards, prepaid cards or digital payment forms on their smartphones or smartwatches.

The goal of this new system is to make public transportation more user-friendly, especially helpful for foreign visitors trying to figure out the intricacies of the city’s public transportation system. You’ll no longer have to purchase tickets ahead of time by finding a ticket vending machine or sales booth and waiting in line. You also won’t have to figure out the pay machines to try to determine exactly which ticket you need to buy — the system is designed to calculate the most economical fare and charge you accordingly.

The new tap and pay system, which requires you to simply tap your card, phone or smartwatch is similar to other large European metropolises like London, Madrid and Milan, as well as the tap-and-pay system used for New York City’s subway system.

With this new system, visitors simply have to figure out which mode of transport they want to use and which line they want to take, then swipe their card or smart device to purchase a ticket for each member of the family. The system should alleviate the frustrations some tourists experience trying to figure out how to get around, eliminate the need to sit in costly taxis that spend too much time stuck in traffic and allow visitors to leave less of a carbon footprint on the city when they visit.