Tips for Athens, Greece

Metro

Exit customs first before going to the baggage area to get your luggage.

Turn right after you exit and you will see a sign for trains. Go outside and cross the road. Take the elevator to the second floor and take the long escalator and you will see the ticket station in front of you. Buy the metro ticket for Euro 9 one way and the platform is on your right after you finish buying the ticket.

Take the elevator downstairs and you are at the blue line platform.

The metro has a fixed schedule and it takes almost 40 minutes from the Athen airport to Syntagma.

There are a lot of police around, some in cars, some in motorcycles and some in bicycles. I feel safer in Athens compared to Paris Or Italy where I didn’t see much police presence. Most of the stores have a security as well even Starbucks has a security standing inside the store. But looks like Athens also has a high rate of stealing like other European countries, so still need to be watchful of your valuables.

The prices here is like other European countries where it already included all the taxes and tips are optional. Notice that stores in Athens charge extra for plastic lids which is different than U.S.

Has to pay an accommodation tax/climate fee of Euro 15/night per room and it depends on the number of stars of the hotel. For 5 stars, it is Euro 15/night per room.

Tax refund for purchasing LV bag is 12%.

Use Uber instead of arranging car beforehand as it’s much cheaper using Uber as they also use Taxi which is the same as arranging a car with aviator beforehand.

Day 2 — Doha, Qatar

 5/31/2025 Saturday

Itinerary:

• Doha Airport
• Transit tour - Discover Doha
• Al Mourjan Business Lounge
• Museum of Islamic Art
• Katara Cultural Village
• Karata/Blue Mosque
• Galeries Lafayette
• Souq Waqif
• Al Mourjan Business Lounge - The Garden

After landing at Doha International Airport, I went straight to the Qatar transit tour desk near the Yellow Bear to book my transit tour. We had layover at Doha 3 times but never went out of the airport to visit the city. So, this time, I decided to take the transit tour to discover the city of Doha. There are some requirements for the transit tour and one of the requirements is that you need to have at least 6 hours or more layover time and you need to meet 90 minutes before your scheduled tour. I arrived at the desk around 5pm and was able to book the 8pm tour as we have to meet at 6:30pm at the desk.

After paying about $32 for the tour, I was given a receipt and asked to come back at 6:30pm. Since I still have some time to kill, I went to the Al Mourjan Business Lounge nearby for a quick drink and snack. When it was time to meet, I left the lounge and went to the transit tour where I saw the rest of the group that will be going on the same tour with me. The guide took us all to the immigration line and asked those who have business class tickets to wait while the others went through the line. She then took us to the business class lounge and told us that we have 40 minutes to rest at the lounge before we have to clear the immigration inside the lounge. There was no line at the lounge, so we had some time to eat some snacks and have a drink. After resting, we went through the immigration and went to meet the rest of the people at the front desk. A tour guide came and started calling our names. Once all the names are called, he took us outside and cross the road to a big bus where we all went. 

First stop was the Museum of Islamic Art where we saw the beautiful waterfront and since it was the night tour, we couldn't visit the Museum. We stayed for 10 minutes to take some pictures and enjoy the beautiful nightlights.

Second stop was the Katara Cultural Village where the tour guide took us to see the Katara Mosque (or Blue Mosque) which was designed by a Turkish lady architect and saw the pigeon towers next to the mosque. We took some pictures and the tour guide took us along the riverfront and amphitheatre before heading to the outdoor air-conditioned pathways to Galeries Lafayette. It wasn't as hot as I had expected since it was already dark and there was a nice breeze. While we were there at the Galeries Lafayette, we could feel the nice AC while we walked along the shopping area. 

On the way to our third and last stop, we saw the St Regis hotel where President Trump stayed at the week before when he was visiting Doha. We stopped by the famous Souq Waqif for 30 minutes while we shopped for souvenirs and food before heading back to the bus to take us back to the airport.

The tour lasted 3 hours and we were back at the airport at 11pm sharp. We went through the immigration and I headed to The Garden Business Lounge for a shower and quick snack.

Day 1 -- San Francisco, USA

 5/30/2025 Friday

Itinerary:

• SFO Lark Creek Grill
• SFO Golden Gate Lounge
• Qatar Airline

We took an Uber to the airport and checked in to Qatar Airline for our flight to Athens with a 8 hour layover in Doha, Qatar. After getting our boarding passes, we went through security check and went to buy some chicken wings at Lark Creek Grill before heading to the Golden Gate Lounge.

We ate some light snacks and drinks at the lounge before heading to the gate for our flight in Qatar Qsuites to Doha. As usual, we had a great flight and service for the 13 hours+.