As a tourist, I usually prefer visiting the big cities and there usually are direct flights to get there. However, when I am in France, I prefer taking the train -- as France is reputed for having fast trains. Sometimes, I go to small towns, where I must connect flights -- please note connecting can be horrible! .

As many of you live in Greece, you probably use the car to travel nationally, right? I'm not sure if there are many airports in the country. You might have good trains there; I don't know.

What kind of transportation to you take to get to your final destination, when you travel?

in Greece, trains are slow especially in the southern part where my origins are ( the InterCity rail system is not as fast as in central Europe but it is very trustworthy for the northern part of the country ). In Greece we have a Guiness record : rail system used below Athens is different/incompatible with the one above it geographically !

Anyway, airports are sort of primitive in Greede too ( this doesn;t apply for Athens: we have one of the most modern and sophisticated airports in the world )

bus transport is good if you are not in a hurry or have a good way to get to the bus depot too.

Sea transport is the only way in some occasions ( islands with no decent air service ) but i am not from an island so i only go there for holidays.

I typically drive to [wiki]Kalamata[/wiki], southern Peloponese and i take my car. Airplane is almost the only way when i travel abroad ( although i went to Bulgaria last year by car )

Are they quality trains? I suppose they are not many lines in Greece.

When you talk about bus, do you mean bus as local bus or coach as national coach?

there is both of course... but to move outside Athens you can only do so using KTEL ( ΚΤΕΛ = Κοινά Ταμεία Εισπράξεων Λεωφορείων or Shared Bus Money Income and yes, this is a funny translation !)

buses in Greece are a rather cheap and very convenient way to travel aroudn the country, considering the Rail System was never too advanced or populare in the citizens' thoughts

Well i will desagree with NTG at this point cause in the northern part of Greece (he explained the reasons) most people prefer to use trains cause they are cheaper and tend to get to their destination the hours they say they will and not 1-2 hours later like KTEL's buses.Of cource for the southern part is the exact opposite cause train routes are in a neaterdal situation .Also another thing that the traveler should know is that most of the trains have 2 types of vagons,the new -arrived and well-preserved and the ones from the '60's and '70's in the SAME train.. it's like a travel in time when you travel with these vagons cause you can walk from the new one to the old one and with one step you go back 30 or 40 years...

It's kind of romantic though () ...


P.S.
Inside the train you can meet all kinds of people,from typical often-travel men to jesus prophets(!!!) and magicians...


-.-

I think the railways isn't very developped in many countries. France has one of the best trains in the world; Going from Paris to Marseille only takes 3 hours! Is there a sort of suburban train in Athens?

suburban train system is rather primitive and very very new : it is attached to the Metro System thus connecting the SubWay to the airport which is about 15 kms outside Athens. It also connects nearby cities to Athens. This started in 2004 ( glorious Olympics ) and has yet a lot of steps untill it is established as a convenient way to move around.

Athens 2004 Olympics also brought a new means of transport in the city : the tram, which had been demolished back in 1956 is nwo back to our lives

I suppose they had to build some city transportation for the olympics. Are they currently building an underground subway?

Athens Metro System started in 1997 and now consists of 2 main lines and roughly 20 stations. It is by far the most popular transport system in Athens enabling people to get to the center of the city in less than 15' when it could take them about an hour or even more by bus or using their own car. It still suffers by few parking lots and many districts ( mine included ) not so near to a Metro station but it is constantly evolving : there are extensions under construction as we speak.

Of course it can never be compared to the Metro system London or Paris use. Although Athens is not a small city.

Athens is pretty big; it's a little smaller than Madrid I think. I'm sure the metro system will be in the future very useful. DC also has a metro, with roughly 30 stations. However, I do appreciate the comfort of DC subways. They are not planning on expanding it, as Washington DC is pretty small.

Is the bus system in Athens useful?

bus system is handy but a lot underrated due to slow speeds, bad behavior from drivers against buses and bad driving skills form bus drivers in some occasions

When you think about it, buses can reduce traffic a lot. Simply by putting many people in one vehicule is great, but there needs to be enough buses.