The Athens metro card, and why getting around Athens is cheap

OASA, the Athens urban transport organisation, publishes its fares directly. The passes that matter for anyone living in Athens:

• 30-day pass — €27 (discounted €13.50)
• 365-day pass — €300 (discounted €150)

Both give unlimited journeys on buses, trolleybuses, trams, metro lines 1, 2 and 3 (to Koropi station) and the suburban railway between Magoula, Piraeus and Koropi, from the first validation. Neither covers the airport express buses or the metro section between Koropi and the airport.

Long-term passes are held on a personalised ATH.ENA card, which carries your photo and name.

Source: OASA — Prices of Products and OASA — ATH.ENA Card, read 7 October 2026.

OASA's short-term fares:

• 90-minute single ticket — €1.20 (discounted €0.50), valid across buses, trolleybuses, trams, metro and the suburban railway in the urban zone
• 24-hour ticket — €4.10, which also covers the X80 bus line
• 5-day ticket — €8.20
• 3-day tourist ticket — €20, which includes a return trip to and from the airport

Ticket packs of 2, 5 and 10+1 are also available. And there's a built-in cap: OASA states the maximum charge per day in the urban zone equals the price of a daily ticket, €4.10, if you travel on stored value — so a busy day never costs more than that.

Discount tickets and their packs can only be loaded onto a personalised card.

For newcomers, the anonymous ATH.ENA card is the quick start. It's sold at all ticket counters, holds short-term tickets, airport tickets and up to €50 of stored value, and can be topped up with a phone through the ATH.ENA Card app if your phone has NFC.

Two things to know. It can hold up to two products at a time. And because it isn't registered to you, OASA cannot replace or refund it if it's lost or stolen — which is the main reason to switch to a personalised card once you've settled.

For a resident, the arithmetic is simple: at €1.20 a ticket, the €27 monthly pass pays for itself after 23 journeys.