Taxi from the airport

[Kedi Yavrusu]

Can anyone tell me how much a taxi costs from the airport, how long it takes and can we get one easlily enough?

Thanks
Kedi

[madhatter]

Kedi,

The taxis are plentiful. We have yet to arrive and there not to be at least five available (and that was at 03.00hrs late in the season). The licensed taxis are mostly silver coloured Mercedes. Cost is between 20 and 25 euros to Mastihari - depending on how number of passengers and how much luggage there is. Depending on how busy the roads are it'll take between 10 and 15 minutes to get to Mastihari itself.

The airport is on one level. Expect a coach to transfer from the aricraft to the arrivals section of the terminal (which is one building). The passport control leads straight out to the two baggage reclaim carousels. The exit from the terminal feeds out to the single car park - wiith the taxi "rank" immediately obvious from the queue of Mercedes.

Whilst most drivers know the major hotels, by way of belt-and-braces I'd suggest taking a printout of a map to show where you want to be dropped-off.

Chris.

[Kedi Yavrusu]

Thanks for the detailed information, it will be help when we get there

Kedi

[Vic and Linda]

One word of warning about the taxis is that as you are arriving in August, the airport is a lot busier than Madhatter is used to. We have been known to wait up to 20 mins for them to start coming back into the airport. An alternative though a bit more costly, would be to order a pre booked taxi through Daphne, I know it eats into the beer money, but with two young children in tow may just be worth it.

[Kedi Yavrusu]

Thanks, we may do that then. We arrive in the evening and the girls will probably be tired so I think the extra cost will be worth it. What happens if you pre-book a taxi, does the driver wait with your name on a board like they do at home?

[Mark]

We always pre book the taxi which is normally about 5 euro for the privellige, the driver will be standing just inside the doors and has a board with your name on, never had any problems they drivers are always efficient and courteous and you will be in Mastihari in know time, probably because they don't hang about M25 it isn't.

Yammas

Mark

p.s Don't forget to add your name to the when and where thread, it is always nice to meet up with fellow Mastihari.commers if you are out there, and of course Daphne

[Vic and Linda]

Whilst we're on the subject of the airport, I think it worth clarifying a cuople of issues for those new to Mastihari.

We are all grateful and smug in the knowledge that we will be in the taverna of our choice within half an hour of grabbing our luggage! After all Mastihari is only 15 mins max away!! The first time we booked in 2000, I was rather apprehensive about staying 15 mins away from the airport

The point is that it is 15 mins down a big hill!! KGS is up in the mountains and with the prevailing wind being roughly northerly during the season, landing approach is normally over the other side of the island For take off, by the time they get near to Mastihari, they are already fairly high, and seem to observe some sort of noise abatement procedure until clear of Kalymnos The end result being that you hardly notice them except to feel very smug again because you are on the beach, and they're not

Now some advice for smokers!! Once you have arrived in baggage claim, you will be looking at probably half hour for the carousels to deliver the luggage. You are no longer in the UK, so off you trot through the sliding doors into the pick up area and replenish your nicotene levels! No one will bat an eyelid

[Ian K]

Have to say, we were charged 15 Euros in both directions last June/July. If it really has gone up to between 20 and 25 in the meantime, then I'd definitely say do it through Daphne, something we've also done in the past. Not much difference in price if that is the case and it's good to have nothing to worry about when you arrive, regardless of time of day or time of year.

[nora]

We are arriving late September on a day time flight. On Daphne's website it looks like the local bus stops right outside the airport and then on to mastihari. I think we will be trying that and making our own way to The Irene Apartments. Has anybody else done the same?

[usoli]

We are arriving late September on a day time flight. On Daphne's website it looks like the local bus stops right outside the airport and then on to mastihari. I think we will be trying that and making our own way to The Irene Apartments. Has anybody else done the same?

No, because there wasn't a bus before!! Just a word of warning to everyone before making decisions; there is going to be further debate about the bus service as the tourist bus drives are not happy about them being where they are. I can't see that the service will be stopped as it was last year, however I will keep my site updated and will put in a summer timetable when there is one. If it operates as expected it wil be fine. I would imagine that the bus will stop at the harbour so suitcases will be to pull to wherever you are staying.

Daphne/Usoli.

[Vic and Linda]

Wise advice from Usoli!!

IF the bus service is operating this year, I doubt it will be in a position to provide a service to meet all flights for operational reasons, and I suspect it will still only tie in with flights from Athens. We have already decided that if a bus is there, we may as well use that method of transfer, as a taxi would drop us at the harbour in any case. We only have a short distance to our accommodation which is on the flat. I would not fancy dragging the bags up the hill to Irene though!

[nora]

Thanks for the advice - I'll wait and see what happens over the summer then. Whichever way- i'm looking forward to it!