Athens - Post Report Question and Answers
What is your housing like? What are typical housing sizes, locations, and commute times for expatriates?
Our housing was very large (four floors!). A lot of the housing in the outskirt neighborhoods are similarly large and new (doesn't always mean nicer). They houses are older and smaller as you get closer to the Embassy and downtown. Housing has quite a few challenges despite being Europe, mold, incomplete construction. Our yard was basically inaccessible and only useful to raise our herd of mosquitos. It was a beautiful house with a lot of natural light, however, it felt a bit form over function. - Oct 2023
In my opinion, the housing pool is not great in Athens. Larger families will be put on the outskirts of Athens where the housing is a little better. However, if you want to live closer to the Embassy expect housing that is, in my opinion, severely dated, and often filled with issues that are rarely seem to be addressed in a timely manner. While we were we heard there were several people had major issues that took housing months to fix (water that was making people sick, major water leaks causing mold, no electric ground, non-functioning water heaters etc). We lived closer to the Embassy so our commute was relatively easy, however those out further had to fight Athens traffic, which is not for the faint of heart. - Jan 2023
Housing is not a strong point at post; there are many issues in the housing pool (e.g., mold, garage issues, many repairs) and housing can be far away from the embassy. Unfortunately, this is problematic since there is no shuttle service making this challenging for new arrivals and those who rely on one car per family since public transportation can be iffy. - Mar 2022
Housing varies from stand alone, townhouse and apartments throughout city center and suburbs. Those near the city tend to walk to work within 5-10 minutes. Those in the outer/northern suburbs commute with times varying from 15 - 60 minutes depending on where you live and traffic. - Jan 2020
Housing is good, but we have one of only houses near metro line and school. The commute time around 30 min door to door by car or metro. House is large with a yard. - Mar 2018
I live in a small townhouse. - Feb 2018
Nice townhouse. Not as nice as our housing in Africa. - Oct 2017
We live in a townhouse-style home in an upper class neighborhood, with a 20-minute commute to the American embassy and a 30-minute commute to our daughter's school. Other families live in apartments downtown, houses in a town 30 minutes away from downtown, and everywhere in between. Many houses are nice, but many are not. There is a good bit of dissatisfaction with housing. - Jan 2017
Athens is a cosmopolitan city with a nice variety of housing available, from downtown apartments, to more spacious housing in the suburbs. Expat families choose to live in the northern suburbs where larger housing is available and where the international schools are located. Commute times can be lengthy due to traffic sometimes. On a really bad weekday, commute times can be 45 minutes to an hour from the northern suburbs to downtown. - Dec 2016
Housing is primarily apartments: closer to the Embassy is more crowded and less space, but shorter commute time. The northern suburbs are larger, but the commute, for less than 10 miles, takes an hour or more. Driving is horrendous in Athens. The drivers do not follow laws and basically drive like idiots. The first time I stopped at a stop sign near my home the driver behind me honked (note: they do not stop at stop signs). - Sep 2013
Apartments and houses in the northern suburbs, near where the Embassy is located. Better climate and houses in the southern suburbs. Traffic in Athens can be horrible, although the small Metro has helped alleviate some of it. - Jul 2012
Embassy housing varies greatly. The closer to the embassy you are, the smaller the house you get. Commute times are really long if you live more than 5 miles from the embassy. Except in August. There is no traffic then. - Jun 2010
Large beautiful homes can be had if you want to live in Kifissia. It can take 45 min to an hour on a bad day, although it is less than 10 miles to the Embassy. Not a lot of parks in this area. Psychico and Filothei are closer to the Embassy, less than 5 miles with lots of green parks/playgrounds. Kolonaki is great for couples with out children. Most housing is apartments, and they almost all have balconies. - Jan 2009
Usually apartments. The farther you get from the Embassy, the nicer they get. - Dec 2008
We live in Kifissia. It takes about an hour to get to the US Embassy when the traffic is heavy, which is any time after 8 am. There are some back ways to get around the heavily congested Kiffissias Avenue, but it takes time to figure them out. I highly recommend using a GPS device. - Jun 2008
