Stipend and Costs

The National Endowment for the Humanities provides a $3,300 stipend to help participants pay for living and travel expenses for this four-week Summer Institute.

The cost of accommodations, provided by the Athens Centre, will be deducted from your stipend with your approval upon acceptance into the Institute. For more information about the rooms, please see our housing webpage. With your approval upon acceptance into the Institute, approximately $775 (for a double) or $1,375 (for a single) will be deducted from your $3,300 stipend to cover your preferred housing option; the exact amount will depend on the exchange rate at the time. Housing in Nafplion during our planned weekend trip is included in these rates. The number of single rooms is limited and will be assigned on a first-come, first-served basis. Please indicate if you are interested in this option.

Participants’ stipends, minus the housing fee, will be dispersed in one payment no later than two weeks prior to the beginning of the Institute.

Your personal travel, including transportation to Greece, local transportation in Athens, and any weekend travel beyond the planned group trip to Nafplion and the Peloponnesus, will be your responsibility. The Athens Centre will arrange our transportation to Nafplion and around the Peloponnesus during the group trip.

Participants should plan to arrive at the Athens Centre at the start of the Institute, which begins with a welcome dinner on Sunday, June 29. The Institute ends on Friday, July 25 with a farewell dinner, and participants will have a free day before checking out of housing on Sunday, July 27.

Approximate Projected Costs

Expense Type | Cost
Airfare: $1,600 – $2,300
Lodging: $775 – $1,375
Local Transportation: $170 – $250
Living Expenses: $1,000 – $1,500
Total: $3,545 – $5,454

Traveling to Athens

Before traveling to Athens, you will need a valid passport that will remain valid for at least three months after you have returned from Greece. You will not need a visa to attend this Institute, as U.S. citizens may enter Greece for up to 90 days without a visa. For further information about traveling to Greece, please see the U.S. Department of State’s website. Please also plan to bring with you to Athens two passport-sized photos, which will be used to create your library card for the Blegen Library at the American School of Classical Studies.

Participants should plan to fly into the Athens International Airport – Eleftherios Venizelos (ATH). From the airport, please plan to travel directly to the apartment building to check in to your housing. The apartment building is located at: Stilponos 33, Pagrati, Athens. (Please note: If you will be accommodated at the Art Gallery Hotel, please go directly to the hotel to check-in: 5 Erehtheiou St., Koukaki, Athens. Please also see the arrival information on eCommons for additional contact information.) From the airport, please find the apartments via the following transportation options:

• Taxi: Taxis are available in a designated taxi waiting area, located by Exit 3 of the arrivals level. The fixed fare will be 35 Euros (do not pay more). Please plan to have Euros in hand when you arrive in Athens, or plan to exchange money at the airport. Tell the driver the address of the apartment building: “I’m going to Stilponos 33, Pagrati Athens.”
• Metro: There is a rail station adjacent to the airport that is accessible via an elevated walkway. Take Line 3 of the Athens Metro, which will take you to Syntagma Square. The metro ticket will cost 8 Euros. From Syntagma, the apartments are a 15-minute walk or quick taxi ride away. From Syntagma Square to the apartments, a taxi will cost around 4-5 Euros.
• Bus: Take bus X95 to Syntagma Square; the ticket costs 5 Euros. From Syntagma Square to the apartments, a taxi will cost around 4-5 Euros.

Public transportation from the airport will take around one to 1.5 hours, depending on which option you choose.

The Athens Centre is located at:
48 Archimidous Street 116 36 Athens, Greece
Telephone: (+30) 210 7012268 and (+30) 210 7015242
Emergency Mobile (24 hours): (+30) 6932 269 010

Local Transportation

The Athens public transportation system includes the metro, elektriko, buses, trams, and taxi.

The Metro / Elektriko

The metro/ elektriko is a subway train network with 3 lines:

• red (metro)
• blue (metro)
• green (generally known as elektriko, ISAP in Greek)

The three central metro/elektriko stations and connecting points are:

• Syntagma (red and blue line; the closest station to the Athens Centre, about a 15 minute walk)
• Omonia (red and green line)
• Monastiraki (green and blue line)

You can obtain a metro map at any metro or elektriko (ISAP) station. All of Athens is not accessible through the metro/elektriko.

• The green line (elektriko or ISAP) goes from Piraeus (the port of Athens) to Kifissia (a northern suburb of Athens). Two other train stations you might use are Monastiraki and Thisseio (beautiful walking and café areas in Athens’ old city, close to the Acropolis and a number of archaeological sites).
• The red line (metro) goes from Aghios Antonios to Aghios Dimitrios. The stations include Syntagma and Omonia, two of the central stations and connecting points in Athens, as well as Acropolis and Panepistimiou (the old university of Athens, National Library, many bookstores, close to a few movie theatres).
• The blue line (metro) goes from Aigaleo to Airport (some trains do not go all the way to the airport but final destination Ethniki Amyna or Doukissis Plakentias). There are also direct trains from Monastiraki and Syntagma to the airport (they take about 45 minutes).

The metro and elektriko are the most reliable means of public transport and are always on time: they run every 3 minutes at peak times and every 5-15 minutes at off-peak times. They start running at about 5:30 am and stop around midnight. On Friday and Saturday, they stop running at around 1:00 am.

Before you enter the metro/elektriko, you will need to buy a ticket and validate it at the machine at the entrance gates. You may buy it either with the clerks behind the ticket windows or at the ticket machines. For any other discount tickets, you can acquire information with the clerks who speak English as well as Greek. If you do not have a validated ticket, inspectors can stop you and fine you on the spot.

A ticket for the metro (red and blue line) and for the elektriko (green line) costs 1.40 EUR. Tickets are valid for 1.5 hours for all transfers apart from transport to the airport. A ticket to the airport with the metro costs around 8 EUR.

For further information about metro, ask the person behind the counter in the metro station or call 210 – 5194012 (also in English) or check www.ametro.gr or ask in the office of the Athens Centre.

Trams

The tram is the means of public transportation that you would take to get to the beach. The tram station ZAPPEIO is a 5 minute-walk from the Athens Centre down Markou Moussourou Street.

The three tram lines are:

• The red line 1 “Aristotle” from Syntagma – SEF (Peace & Friendship Stadium)
• The green line 2 “Platon” from Syntagma – Kolimvitirio (TO BEACHES)
• The blue line 3 “Thoukididis”

The tram operates from approx. 5:30 a.m. until approx. 01:00 a.m., and 24 hours Fri/Sat.

A ticket costs around 1.40 EUR and can be bought only at the ticket machines at the tram stations. They are valid for 1.5 hours and can be used for all other public transfers as well. It should be validated either at the station or in the tram. If you don’t have a validated ticket, you risk a fine.

For further information about trams, check www.tramsa.gr or ask in the Athens Centre office.

Buses

Buses and trolleys in Athens take you almost everywhere, but they are slow and often hot and crowded. The trolleys can be distinguished by their yellow color and by the connection extending from their roof to a cable network. The trolley stops are often next to the bus stops and can be recognized by their yellow signs. There are buses that go to cities outside of Athens within Attika, which are the KTEL buses. The fares are more expensive, depending on where you want to go. There are X95 buses to the airport 24 hours every 15 minutes from Syntagma Square. A ticket costs 5 EUR and can be bought at the ticket booth at the bus station, which is on the left hand side of the square in front of the banks.

The bus schedules at the bus stops are either non-existent or very imprecise, so don’t count on exact timings. Bus schedules depend on the amount of traffic at any given hour.

A ticket for the bus or the trolley (not for the KTEL Intercity buses) costs 1.40 EUR and can be purchased at most kiosks (it is useful to buy a couple at a time so you do not have to buy one every time you take a bus). It has to be validated in the bus in the validating machine.

For further info about buses, ask at the Athens Centre office or call 185 (they speak English, too).

Taxis

Taxis take you anywhere you want to go at relatively reasonable prices. When you get in a taxi, make sure they turn the meter on. After midnight the prices go up.

You wave taxis toward you and shout into the rolled down car window the place you want to go, and the taxi either stops or decides to go on, depending on whether it is unoccupied and is going in that direction. When they refuse to take you it means they have a customer who has called them and they have to be there at a certain time. If you are going in that direction, they will take you even if they have an appointment.

At night, you can recognize the unoccupied taxis by the taxi signs on top. If the light is switched on, they are unoccupied; otherwise, the light is switched off.

You can also order a taxi with the following telephone number: IKARUS (they speak English) 210 – 515-2800, or ask the Athens Centre office to talk to them for you.

 

Medical Insurance

Participants should make certain that they have adequate medical insurance coverage for travel to Greece. Many HMO plans provide coverage only for emergency room treatment. However, several insurers provide special riders or medical plans for travelers.

 

Banking in Greece

For a short stay, it does not make sense to open a local bank account, as the process can take weeks. Instead, we recommend using a debit card to obtain cash from ATM machines, which you will find everywhere in Athens. In Greece, banks typically do not charge a fee when you use a debit card from another bank; your home banking institution may do so, however, and it may impose a surcharge of 2-3% on overseas withdrawals. Check with your bank to determine the amount of the fee as well as your daily withdrawal limit. Please also make certain that your card can be used at overseas locations and notify your bank that you will be using your card outside of the U.S. Typically, exchange rates are quite favorable when using an ATM card.

Streetside ATMs are the most common in Greece; some hotels, restaurants, and tavernas may have one as well. ATMs at Greek banks are often in glass-enclosed rooms just outside of the bank. The locked doors will open upon swiping your ATM card, no matter from what country. Please note that in busy tourist locations, ATM machines may run out of money during the weekends; ATM refilling, too, can sometimes fall off schedule. We advise planning ahead by obtaining money during the week and avoiding late-night ATM visits.

 

Climate

Summers in Greece are dry and hot. The average temperature in July is about 27° C, or about 80° F. Highs during the day can reach 90° F or above. Summer winds can have a moderating effect along the coast, and summer nights tend to stay warm.

 

Other Tips

Outlet adapters: In order to use and charge your electronic devices in Greece, you’ll need to purchase a special adapter. Look for a round plug that is marked for Greece or for Southern Europe (sometimes abbreviated as “So Europe”). If your device can run on either 110V or 220V, an adapter plug is all you’ll need. This covers most laptops, cell phone chargers, hair dryers, and many other devices, but we advise that you check your device to be sure. (If you are traveling with specialized medical equipment or your device requires something other than 110V or 220V, you will want to bring a heavier transformer with a plug to avoid damage to your device.) Because some Greek wall outlets have deep sockets, you may wish to have several plug adapters that you can connect together for extension. If you have many devices with you, you may also wish to obtain a Greek power extension cord, which can be purchased cheaply while in Greece.