Greece – Athens

Athens, Greece

Where would Athens be without its Parthenon, an iconic world-wide symbol for the city. Take the long walk up the sloping walkway to reach it for, not only the sight of one of the most famous temples in the world, but a view over Athens unrivalled by any other. The city holds amphitheatres, more Temples, theatres, old city Forums and Palaces.

Stand on the winner’s podium at the original Olympic Stadium, take coffee at the many café bars lining the avenues and dine alfresco on the side of the Acropolis. Catch the changing of the guard at the Parliament building, then nip across the road for tea and cake at the Grande Bretagne Hotel, an iconic top hotel.

How to get to Athens from the airport. 

We arrived at Athens Airport, (click here for info), and the transfer is actually quite easy. Several options are available and depending on your budget and need for ease /adventure chose from the following.

Athens Metro.

You can take the Metro, (click for transport info here), into the city centre (where our hotel was). Metro Line 3 (blue line), connects Athens airport with the city centre and interconnects with the other two lines in the centre of the city so if your hotel is in the centre then this is a really easy way to get around town. It costs about 10 Euros to the centre per person but the walk is around 7 minutes following the signs that say “Trains” (not Metro) along a slightly confusing route out of the terminal building.

Trains run about every 30 minutes, 7 days a week from 6:30 a.m. to 11:30 p.m. and the time into the centre was about 40 minutes. The Athens Metro is superb. Modern, clean and efficient and the outside graffiti stops literally at the entrance, as it is well maintained.

Taxis

Taxis are at the airport but with it being about 35km from the centre and Athens traffic being notoriously congested we didn’t even consider that option. However I heard from several people that if you are a group of 4 the cost can be the same/slightly cheaper than the Metro and of course you go door to door.

A line of yellow taxis waits outside Arrivals so they are relatively easy to use and there is a flat rate daytime of around 38Euros, higher fares after midnight however.

Airport Bus

Airport Bus is also available, (click for info here). There are 4 bus routes that operate out of the airport but the X95 to Syntagma Sq in the centre is the most popular, also X96 to Piraeus operates and two other lines to other parts of the city. Ticket booth is just outside the arrivals hall to the right (blue office) and the stops are marked nearby.

Frequency depends on the route but the two main routes leave about every 15 mins and run all day , less late at might. Don’t forget to validate your ticket (about 6 Euros) at the stamping post inside the bus – watch others do it if you have never done this before. I have heard that the buses can get crowded so if you are heavily laden or don’t know the stops on route then this method can be confusing/heavy going. Of course traffic flow slows it down so expect anything between 40-90 mins for travel to the centre.

Athens was an eye opener for me.

I had visions of the beauty of ancient buildings intermingling with more modern low rise buildings, important sites perfectly maintained and pretty little restaurants and bars dotted around the city. I found it quite different.

Don’t get me wrong, the main sites are amazing and all I expected them to be, but in-between, the sight of horrendous graffiti, dilapidated and abandoned buildings and pavements, civic areas smashed and broken pavements was heart breaking.

Perhaps I was focussing too much on the not-so-nice, rather than the nice, but I could not avoid many of the visual assaults I was encountering. It actually reminded me a lot of Bucharest in this aspect of ruinous graffiti, (blog on Bucharest here).

My hotel was 5 star but just outside were bargain basement stores and round the corner buildings that were literally falling down, held up by scaffolding and tarpaulins, having been abandoned 5 -10 years ago. The graffiti was head high and completely covered walls, graffiti on graffiti so much that it had become just a myriad of spray paint , losing any artistic, or whatever, appeal.

Anyhow, let’s concentrate on the good stuff and start with the most famous attraction in Athens – The Parthenon and Acropolis

The nearest Metro is Acropoli and once out of the station head towards Dionysiou Areopagitou Street. This is a picturesque long pedestrianised street that runs alongside the base of the acropolis hill and leads to the entrance some 20 mins walk away. This street also takes you past The Acropolis Museum, an excellent place to visit either before or after and not to be missed for all the history and artefacts it holds about the Acropolis/Parthenon.

The street also goes past the entrances to The Theatre of Dionysus and The Odeon of Herodes Atticus, both amphitheatre styled and must visits.

Carry on along the walkway and eventually on the right a wide walkway goes uphill on a curving walk up to the top. It is a long and somewhat tiring climb but at the entrance to the site there is a little café for refreshments. Get you tickets from the nearby office and climb further to the gateway ….. Parthenon, here I come.

If you are a keen photographer, the Porch of the Caryatids is a must see. The huge Greek flag for selfies is on one side but a view down to the city and the below amphitheatres or across the hills to the Med are amazing sights on a clear day.

The Forum/Agora of ancient Athens.

We approached the site via Monastraki Metro and upon exit from the station walked around the open air square with its street sellers, stalls, little church and then along a small pedestrianised lane full of tourist and trinket shops with the usual hassling to buy from the vendors, but also some cute cafes/bars and antique shops.

At the end of the street turn left and head towards the entrance ticket booth, buy your ticket ( you can buy a multi-ticket for other sites as well), enter and just go and explore it completely.

The Forum/Agora area of Athens is huge, again, but at least is at ground level, with no hills to climb!

It is a strange set up as there are various buildings that have been built in the area over the centuries that have survived (churches, taverns, houses etc). These are scattered among the ruins and reconstructed parts of the site. A walk around the site takes a couple of hours and is done via several separate streets and then open areas.

The Panathenaic Stadium is just up the road from the Temple of Zeus so an easy extension of your walk from The Zeus Temple. So, if you want to be where the first Olympics were held then this is the place. It eventually fell into disuse but was then rediscovered under tons of earth in 1869.

It was then was used as the venue for the first ever Olympic Games of 1896. Quite a history and is still used today for sporting and music events.

5 Euros to go in and you can climb the seats and run round the track and even stand on the winners podium ! No better place for a selfie !

There is also a small but interesting museum underneath the stand. I loved standing in the middle of this history and yes, I had my picture taken on the winners podium. !

General atmosphere of Athens at night.

At night I felt uncomfortable in several areas, especially large squares (Omonia Sq in particular). These should be tourist attractions, but due to the presence of many unsavoury characters, doing what looked like drug dealing and severe homelessness I felt uneasy in these areas, even in the centre of the city.

The high Police presence in armoured vehicles made me feel apprehensive as to why they were needed on ordinary streets The fact that many of the Police were nonchantly smoking on street corners, drinking in the bars and at some points seemingly chatting and enjoying time with these groups of dodgy looking people made me doubt their effectiveness. Maybe I was biased and was guessing at their antics but it was not a reassuring landscape at times.

Where to dine in Athens.

Ok, there are so many little restaurants around that you are spoilt for choice. Just wander the streets, especially in the old Plaka area, nestled into the hill of the Acropolis, and drop in on one that looks good. I found the area around the Acropolis Museum and Vyronos Street had many and several we ate at here were excellent.

The main shopping streets have huge numbers of cafes and sitting with a coffee and people-watching is great fun to get a feel for the city. Choose your seat well and you may even get a view of an old chapel in the street just in front of you!

Athens is only a short hope from two nearby countries that also hold a wealth of options to visit. I travelled to these countries too, so if you wish to combine Athens into a multi-city and location visit, here are the nearest options that I have reviewed.

For Istanbul in Turkey click here.

For Beirut in Lebanon click here

For Anjar, Baalbek and the Ksara Vineyard in Lebanon click here

For Byblos, Harissa and Jeita in Lebanon click here.

Jan 2016.