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7th Panhellenic Logic Symposium - Travel Info

Venue and location

Conference venue

The University of Patras Conference centre (http://www.confer.upatras.gr/) is situated within the University campus. This is a unique establishment for Greek Universities. Since its opening in 1999, it has hosted more than 800 scientific and cultural events.

The Centre covers an area of 9,300 m2 in two layers. It has the potential to host conferences of up to 2,000 participants. It has a main hall with capacity of 1,080, an a mphitheatre for 250 persons, 10 smaller rooms for 60-130 persons, and a combined area of 1,400 m2 for exhibitions and posters.

Location

Patras is the capital city of the Prefecture of Achaia and of the Region of Western Greece. The region covers the North-Western part of Peloponnese and the Western part of the mainland and due to its geographical position is the transportation centre between the European Union and the East. Patras is a major port for Greece and the Mediterranean as a whole, and it is considered as the Greece's gate to the West. It is also the main commercial and administrative centre for Western Greece with rail and road links to Athens and other major cities.

The new Rio-Antirio bridge, the longest suspended bridge in the world links Patras with the coast of Western mainland of Greece and offers an impressive view from the Conference Centre.

Patras is a vibrant city with a population of around a quarter of a million. Along the very attractive coastline, there are many picturesque seaside villages with taverns, offering fresh fish and traditional dishes. The city has a range of hotels, restaurants, indoor and open-air cafeterias, late nightclubs with live music or just a good atmosphere, all within easy reach from the centre. Also the city is close to important monuments of classical times, most notably ancient Olympia, host of the ancient Olympic Games, Delphi, Epidaurus, Mycenae. Also, connection with mainland of Greece is established by the newly built Rion-Antirion bridge, the longest cable bridge in the world with a continuous deck of 2,250 meters.

The University of Patras Conference and Cultural Center, where the conference is proposed to be hosted is located within the University Campus, just 7 kilometres East of the city of Patras, in the area of Rio.

How to reach Patras

Patras can be reached in a number of ways.

From the Athens International Airport

The conference site is located 220 km away from the new Athens International Airport. (El. Venizelos). This is a major airport connected to most European and international destinations.

Currently Patras can be reached from Athens airport via the following routes:

Athens International Airport (bus/taxi) Athens Central/Kifisos Coach Station (coach) Patras Central Coach Station

There is a frequent bus service from the Athens Airport to Athens Central Bus Station (duration: about 50 min). Also, there is a high quality coach service that runs almost every half an hour (6.00 to 23.00) from Athens Central/Kifisos Coach Station to Patras Station (for details see http://www.ktel.org/en/) (duration: 2.5 to 3h).

Athens International Airport (metro/suburban/taxi) Athens Central Railway Station (Larissis Station)€“ (train) Patras Central Railway Station

There is a metro/suburban service every half an hour from airport to Athens Railway Station (duration: about half an hour). There is a train service between Athens Central Railway Station and Patras five times a day (see http://www.ose.gr/ose/content/Home.aspx?d=41&rd=16507206&f=-1&rf=-1&m=-1&rm=-1&l=1duration: about 3.5h). We expect, however, a vast improvement of this service in the next years.

For information about transportation from/to the airport can be found at http://www.aia.gr/pages.asp?langID=2&pageID=977

Athens International Airport (train with a possible change) Patras Central Railway Station

We expect improvements to the above during the next years till 2008, reducing the trip from Athens International Airport to Patras Central Railway Station to less than 2 hours.

Additionally, the organisers will arrange for special bus services from the Athens International Airport directly to the major hotels and vice versa for the first and last day of the conference, respectively. The duration of the trip will be 2.5-3.0 hours:

Athens International Airport (special bus service) Patras Hotels

Via other destinations:

Zakinthos (Zakynthos, Zante) and Kefalonia (Kefallinia, Cephalonia) are nearby islands that are hot tourist spots and during the summer you should be able to find a flight to these places direct form most European countries (and, especially, the UK and Germany). Once in Zakinthos or Kefalonia, you can travel to Patras onboard buses of local companies that will drop you in Patras (city centre) on their way to Athens (the bus tranasfer also takes care of your boat connection no need for extra arrangements).

From Araxos Airport:

There is a local airport at Araxos (about 35 km from Patras city center) servicing charter flights from several European cities (Frankfurt, Zurich, Hamburg, Munich, Wien, Prague, Brussels, etc) operated at a weekly basis. This will be particularly useful for conference participants who wish to combine the conference with holidays at nearby resorts via tourist packages.

By sea:

Patras is the western gate of Greece to Italy and Western Europe. More than 50 ship-services every week link the city with the major Italian ports (Venice, Ancona, Bari etc.) and the Ionian Islands. Port Authority (Tel.: +30-2610-341002) Two of the major operators in ferry lines between Italy and Greece are Minoan Lines (http://www.minoan.gr/) and ANEK Lines (http://www.anek.gr/). You should visit their site for up-to-date information, however, the following links for connections between Patras and Venice or Ancona were functional at the time this web page was edited:

http://www.anek.gr/english/dromol/ancona2.html

http://www.anek.gr/english/dromol/venice2.html

http://www.minoan.gr/index.asp?a_id=1825 (Venice)

http://www.minoan.gr/index.asp?a_id=1826 (Ancona)

Once in Patras, participants can reach the venue by the local bus (15-20 min, about 1 Euro) or taxi (10-15 min, about 5 Euros).

 

© 2008-2009: University of Patras
Page maintained by A. Fotinopoulos and P. Peppas
(Last update: July 13, 2009, 21:35)