Travel Information for CASC'2005 August 14, 2005: Important updates have been added

The conference will be held in the town of Kalamata which is in the region of Messinia in Peloponnese. Kalamata is in southwest corner of mainland Greece in the Southern Peloponnese region.


Map of Pelloponnese	Map of Messinia	Map of Greece

Pictures of bus / metro tickets in Athens. Cheaper tickets exist for those using different means of transport, or buying a 24-hour ticket.

How to get to Kalamata

fly to Athens, to the Athens International Airport. From Athens, there are basically 4 ways to travel to Kalamata, listed below.
- by train
- by coach bus
- by renting a car
- by hiring a taxi
- by airplane (domestic flight, Athens-Kalamata)
fly to Kalamata, to the Kalamata International Airport. During the Summer season (April to October) there are charter flights between Kalamata and major european cities i.e. Paris-CDG, Berlin etc.

General note on taxis. The taxi stand at the Airport extends from Door 4 to Door 1 at the Arrivals Level. Their cost is inexpensive in Greece by EU standards, but it is a good idea to ask for a price estimate beforehand. Below we give our price estimates, without including surcharges for luggage, late night rides, servicing airports and terminals. Tipping is not required and seldom practiced, but drivers tend to round up their fare. Tolls are paid by the driver and added up in the final price. Taxis shall normally take up to 4 people (sometimes 5), including seating in the front seat.

The Athens Metro. Hours of Operation: 05:30-24:00. The stations of the Athens metro (some are used below) are shown in the following figure. Information about the metro of Athens is available at the web site of the company Attiko Metro.

1 Travelling from Athens' Airport to Kalamata by bus

(quite comfortable -- highly recommended)

All regular coach buses from Athens to Kalamata (and all other Peloponnese destinations) depart from the Kifissos Intercity Bus Terminal. They are all operated by the Coach Bus cooperative "KTEL".

The bus number X93, goes from the airport to Kifissos Intercity Bus Terminal.
For arriving to the Kifissos Intercity Bus Terminal from the International Airport, you may either hire a taxi from the airport (cost about 40 Euro) or go to Larisis Station and take a taxi from there (cost about 5 Euro). Here is how you may reach Larisis Station.

Recommended: take the "Proastiakos" (means suburban) train, which costs 7 Euro to "Larisis Station".
take the Metro Line 3 (Blue Line - Monastiraki direction) to the Syntagma Station where you change to the Line 2 Red Line - Sepolia direction) and get off at Larisis Station.
take the E95 bus from Athens International Airport to Syntagma metro station (ticket is 3 Euro, Schedules and ticket info for E93,E94 and E95 bus lines can be found in the web site of OASA. More info on buses). From there you enter the Metro Line 2 (Red Line - Sepolia direction) and get off at Larisis Station.

On the return trip, the KTEL buses that arrive to Athens from Pelloponnese, before reaching the Kifisos terminal, make a stop at the metro station "METAXOURGIO" (line 2, red line), which is situated at the Karaiskaki Place. Getting off at "Metaxourgio" is practical for: (1) getting to the airport faster (2) visit the center of Athens using the metro.

There are daily 13 connections from Athens to Kalamata at the summer time ( departure hours 6:00,07:30,08:45,10:30,11:30,12:30,14:00,15:30,16:30,17:30,19:00,21:00,23:00). The trip lasts about 4 hours. Information about bus scedules can be found in the KTEL web site.

2 Travelling from Athens' Airport to Kalamata by train

(most inexpensive, but rather complicated and quite uncomfortable -- not recommended)

Trains depart from the "Agioi Anargyroi" station, a rather small station replacing (since early August) the old Peloponnese Railway Station. The new station is situated geographically near the old station and near Larisis Station, but transportation to/from "Agioi Anargyroi" is slow.

Both the old Peloponnese station and "Agioi Anargyroi" are located near the Larisis Station, which corresponds to a Metro stop and a Proastiakos (suburban) train stop. To get from Athens International Airport to the Larisis Station, see the previous section (going to Kalamata by bus). Once you arrive at Larisis Station, hire a taxi (cost about 5 Euro) to "Agioi Anargyroi".

You may take a taxi from the Airport and get to "Agioi Anargyroi" Railway Station (cost about 40 Euro). Tell the driver you are going to Kalamata by train.

There are daily three connections from Athens to Kalamata (departure hours 06:29, 14:30 and 22:47). The trip duration is about 6 hours and 15 minutes. The price of the ticket is 7 euros. Updated nnformation on train schedules and prices be found at OSE web site.
phone number for OSE information: 1110 (inside Greece)
automated phone service for itineraries information: 1440 (inside Greece)

3 Travelling from Athens' Airport to Kalamata by car

At the airport there are many car rental companies you can use. Here is the related airport page. There are also many other companies for rent a car in greece, as for example the following link rent a car in greece. An approximation of the route that will someone follow to get from Athens to Kalamata appears in the figure below

.

4 Hiring a taxi driver from Athens' Airport to Kalamata

Taxi drivers at the Athens International Airport can be hired to drive to any city in Greece, including Kalamata. A reasonable price for a ride to Kalamata, would be 200 euros. Prices are negotiated individually between passengers and drivers. Most drivers that perform rides to cities in the province, speak english.

Visa Information for CASC'2005

European Union countries citizens do not require a visa to enter Greece.
They only require a valid passport or an ID card (for Schengen countries)

Australia, Canada, Israel, Japan, New Zealand, Iceland, Switzerland and USA
citizens, entering Greece for a period of less than 3 months require only a valid passport.
They do not require a visa.
For visits exceeding 3 months, authorization must be obtained in person by applying
to the Aliens Bureau at least 20 days prior to the 3-month expiration date.

Citizens of countries other than the above, should contact the nearest Greek Consulate office
or Greek Embassy with regard to visa requirements. To locate the Greek Consulate office or
Greek Embassy nearest to you, please refer to the following lists:

Greek Embassies and Greek Consulates
provided by http://www.mfa.gr/ (Ministry of Foreign Affairs)
Greek Authorities in North and South America, Europe, Asia, Africa and Australia.
provided by http://www.greekembassy.org/ (Embassy of Greece in Washigton D.C.)

If you require an official document stating that you will be traveling to Grecce to attend
CASC'2005, to submit it to the appropriate Greek Consular Authorities, please
send e-mail to casc2005@in.tum.de

Please make sure that you deal with these matters as early as possible, so
as to have enough time to deal with possible and/or unexpected difficulties.

INVITATION LETTERS

If you require an Invitation Letter to apply for a visa to enter Greece,
e-mail the following information to casc2005@in.tum.de
1./ first and last name, exactly as written in the passport
2./ affiliation (institution name, address, phone, fax, e-mail)
3./ date of birth
4./ passport number
5./ country where the passport was issued
6./ date passport was issued
7./ date of expiry of the passport
8./ dates of your stay in Greece (i.e. September 10, 2005 - September 20, 2005)
The invitation letter can be:
1./ e-mailed to you as a .pdf file
2./ sent to you by fax
Indicate in your e-mail if you prefer a .pdf file or a fax, or both.

If you have any particular questions, please do not hesitate to request more information
by sending e-mail to casc2005@in.tum.de or to the conference General Chairs and the Local Arrangements Committee.

For more information please send e-mail to casc2005@in.tum.de