Athens, Greece — Where to Go
Athens Sightseeing Overview
As a city state, the coastal capital of Athens reached its heyday in the fifth century BC. The office of the statesman, Pericles, between 461BC and his death in 429BC, saw an unprecedented spate of construction resulting in many of the great classical buildings (the Parthenon, Erechtheion, Hephaisteion and the temple at Sounion) now regarded as icons of Ancient Greece.
Physical evidence of the city's success was matched by achievements in the intellectual arts. Democracy was born, drama flourished and Socrates conceived the foundations of Western philosophy.
Remarkably, although the cultural legacy of this period has influenced Western civilization ever since, the classical age in Athens only lasted for five decades. Under the Macedonians and Romans, the city retained a privileged cultural and political position but became a prestigious backwater of the Empire rather than a major player.
Five centuries of Roman rule preceded the Byzantine period, which in turn was followed by four centuries of Turkish domination, as of 1456, which has left an indelible cultural mark on the city. By the end of the 18th century, Athens was also suffering the indignity of having the artistic achievements of its classical past removed by looting collectors.
Modern Athens was born in 1834, when the city was restored as the capital of a newly independent Greece. Greek refugees flooded the city at the end of the Greek-Turkish war, swelling the population.
After WWII, American money funded a massive expansion and industrialization program. The rapid growth of the post-war years and the high temperatures of its Mediterranean climate have created a city that can often be polluted and could be described as an urban sprawl.
Athens is divided into districts but Plateía Síndagmatos (Syntagma or Constitution Square) is the epicenter of the city - almost everything worth seeing in Athens is within half an hour's walk of here.
Other landmarks are the Akrópoli (Acropolis) and Lykavittós Hill. The Pláka covers the area below the Acropolis, to the east of the Agorá. Despite being heavily commercialized, this is the most pleasant part of the city to explore on foot. Narrow winding streets are lined with 19th-century buildings, souvenir shops and bustling tavernas, plus several specialist museums.
On the edge of Pláka, the Monastíraki bazaar is a grimy, bustling slice of authentic Athenian life, with neighboring Psirri a fashionable area for bars, restaurants and nightlife.
At the other end of the scale, the Kolonáki district on the edge of Lykavittós is wealthy and fashionable, providing a welcome retreat from the harder edges of the city.
The tourist season lasts from April to October and is at its peak in August, when the city is crowded and often horribly hot.
Athens Tourist Information
Greek National Tourism Organization (GNTO)
Amalias 26
Tel: 210 331 0392.
Websites: www.gnto.gr; www.breathtakingathens.com
Opening hours: Mon-Fri 0900-1900, Sat-Sun 1000-1600.
Athens Sightseeing
It is possible to buy a block ticket for the ‘Archaeological Sites of Athens'. The ticket is valid for four days and can be bought at any of the participating sites. These include the Acropolis, the Theater of Dionysus, the Agorá, Kerameikós, the Roman Forum and the Temple of Olympian Zeus.
Athens Sightseeing
It is possible to buy a block ticket for the ‘Archaeological Sites of Athens'. The ticket is valid for four days and can be bought at any of the participating sites. These include the Acropolis, the Theater of Dionysus, the Agorá, Kerameikós, the Roman Forum and the Temple of Olympian Zeus.
Key Attractions in Athens, Greece
Akrópoli (Acropolis)
The Acropolis (upper city) dominates both the city's skyline and any tourist's itinerary. The name refers to the rocky outcrop that formed the site of the original settlement in Athens. Foundations for a temple dedicated to Athena were laid in 490BC, however, work did not begin in earnest until the Golden Age of Pericles (461-429BC). The Acropolis site includes the Acropolis Museum and four sacred buildings, all from the fifth century BC. The steep ascent to the summit leads to the Propylaea, a monumental gateway in the Ionic and Doric styles, which serves as the entrance to the site. The Temple of Athena Nike is to the left of the Propylaea - the original was destroyed by Turkish forces in the 17th century but has been beautifully restored. The Parthenon is the largest building on the Acropolis and an icon of Western civilization. Built entirely from marble, the Parthenon was intended as a sanctuary for Athena and housed a statue (no longer in existence) of the goddess. Despite the tourists, the perfect harmony of the structure is still awe-inspiring. The Erechtheion temple is a dual shrine to Athena and Poseidon-Erechtheus and was built on the site of the mythical battle between the two deities. The south side features a series of six support columns designed as maidens or caryatids. Due to severe environmental damage, the caryatids have been replaced by models.
Acropolis Hill, center of Athens
Opening hours: Daily 0800-1900 (summer); daily 0830-1500 (winter).
Admission charge: Y.
Disabled access: Y.
UNESCO site: Y.
Agorá (Market)
Although the site is now a jumble of monuments and ruins from different periods, in Athens' heyday, the Agorá was the focus of city life, serving not only as a place of trade but also as the city's political, administrative and cultural heart. Law courts, temples and public offices were all based in this area, where ordinary Athenians, stall holders and merchants mingled with officials, politicians and philosophers. The site is dominated by the Hephaisteion (Temple of Haephaistos), from the fifth century BC, one of the best-preserved ancient temples in Greece. The fascinating Museo tis Agoras (Museum of Agorá) contains an eccentric array of everyday artifacts found in the area. It is housed in the Stoa Attalou (Stoa of Attalos). This two-story structure from the second century BC was restored by the American School of Archaeology and is thought to have been an early shopping arcade containing 42 separate shops.
Adrianou 24, Monastiráki
Tel: 210 321 0180.
Opening hours: Daily 0800-1900 (summer); daily 0830-1500 (winter).
Admission charge: Y.
Disabled access: Y.
Ethnikó Archaiologikó Mouseio (National Archaeological Museum)
Housed in a late 19th-century building, the renovated Archaeological Museum is undoubtedly the best museum in Greece with one of the finest collections of ancient and classical Greek artifacts. Fascinating pieces include the Mycenaen Collection featuring hordes of finely crafted gold work dating from between the 16th and 11th centuries BC, and the Bronze Collection, including an imposing bronze statue of Poseidon from 460BC. Refreshments are available in the museum café overlooking the internal sculpture garden.
Patission 44, Omonia
Tel: 210 821 7717.
Website: www.namuseum.gr
Opening hours: Mon 1330-2000, Tues-Sun 0830-1500.
Admission charge: Y.
Disabled access: Y.
Mouseio Benaki (Benaki Museum)
The museum houses the private collection of Antonios Benakis (1873-1954), the son of a wealthy Greek from Alexandria, Egypt. Displayed in a neo-classical mansion, the collection traces the development of Greek art, from the Stone Age up to the 20th century, with jewelry, ceramics, painting, sculpture, furniture and costumes laid out in chronological order. There is a roof top terrace café and a museum shop selling reproductions of the exhibits on display.
Vassilissis Sofias & Koumbari 1, Kolonaki
Tel: 210 367 1000.
Website: www.benaki.gr
Opening hours: Mon, Wed, Fri, Sat 0900-1700, Thurs 0900-2400, Sun 0900-1500.
Admission charge: Y (free Thurs).
Mouseío Kykladikís kai Archaías Ellinikís Téchnis (Museum of Cycladic and Ancient Greek Art)
The museum houses the private collection of Nikolas P Goulandris. Beautiful exhibits from the Cycladic civilization (3000-2000BC) form the focus of the collection but other artifacts cover the pre-Minoan Bronze Age and the post-Mycenaen age up to 700BC, and a collection of Ancient Cypriot Art was added in 2004. The museum shop offers an excellent selection of quality reproduction pieces, while the light and airy atrium café is a good place for coffee or a light lunch.
Neofítou Dhouká 4, Kolonáki
Tel: 210 722 8321.
Website: www.cycladic-m.gr
Opening hours: Mon, Wed, Fri and Sat 1000-1700, Thurs 1000-2000, Sun 1100-1700.
Admission charge: Y.
Disabled access: Y.
Néo Mouseío Akrópolis (New Acropolis Museum)
The long awaited New Acropolis Museum finally opened in June 2009. An impressive ultra-modern glass structure designed by Swiss architect Bernard Tschumi, it showcases statues and artifacts from the Acropolis site. Greeks hope it will persuade the British Museum in London to return the controversial Parthenon Marbles, seized by Lord Elgin in 1799.
Makrigianni 2-4, Pláka
Tel: 210 900 0900.
Website: www.newacropolismuseum.gr
Opening hours: Tue-Sun 0800-2000.
Admission charge: Y.
Disabled access: Y.
Olympieion (Temple of Olympian Zeus)
Lying close to the National Gardens and Pláka, this was one of largest temples in the ancient world, being dedicated to the god of all gods, Zeus. Building work began in 515BC, but was only completed some 700 years later in AD131 under the Roman Emperor Hadrian. Today, 16 of the original 104 marble columns, which are 17m (56ft) high, survive. On the edge of the site stands the triumphal arch named Hadrian's Arch.
Leoforos Vassilissis. Olgas and Amalias
Tel: 210 922 6330.
Opening hours: Daily 0800-1900 (summer); daily 0830-1500 (winter).
Admission charge: Y.
Disabled access: Y.
Panathinaiko Stádio (Panathenaic Stadium)
The elegant three-sided stone stadium was built in 1896, for the first of the modern-day Olympic Games. The design by Ernst Ziller was based on the plan of a fourth-century-BC stadium that originally stood on the site. During the 2004 Olympic Games, this stadium hosted the fencing contests and the marathon ended here. It should not be confused with the modern Olympic Stadium in the north of the city that formed the center stage of the 2004 Olympics.
Leoforos Ardhittou
Opening hours: Daily dawn-dusk.
Admission charge: N.
Disabled access: Y.
Théatro Dionysou (Theater of Dionysus)
On the southern slopes of the Acropolis Hill, the Théatro Dionysou was home to the original performances of the tragedies of Aeschylus, Sophocles and Euripedes and the comedies of Aristophanes. This stone auditorium, from the fourth century BC, held 17,000 spectators and the ruins remain one of the most atmospheric of Athens' ancient sites.
D Areopagitou, Pláka
Tel: 210 322 4625.
Opening hours: Daily 0800-1900 (summer); daily 0830-1500 (winter).
Admission charge: Y.
Disabled access: Y.
Vizantino Mouseio (Byzantine Museum)
Housed in the grounds of a delightful neoclassical villa, this museum's open-plan exhibition space lies below the central courtyard, with exhibits presented in chronological order, tracing the development of the Byzantine Empire. Besides boasting one of the richest collections of religious icons in the world, the museum exhibits mosaics, frescoes, sculptural works and jewelry from the area that is now Greece, as well as from other regions of the former Byzantine Empire.
Vassilissis Sofias 22, Kolonáki
Tel: 210 729 4926.
Website: www.byzantinemuseum.gr
Opening hours: Tue-Sun 0800-2000, Mon 1330-2000 (summer); Tues-Sun 0830-1500 (winter).
Admission charge: Y.
Disabled access: Y.
Further Distractions
Green Spaces
The Ethnikós Kipos (National Gardens), Amalias, Syntagma, are a welcome green haven in the center of the city. The gardens have peacocks and a small botanical museum. Another calm spot is the Kerameikós Cemetery, Ermou 148, Kerameikós, named after the patron saint of potters and ceramics and dating from the 12th century BC. Tombstones range from the grand to the poignantly simple. There is also a small museum on site, which houses the originals of some of the more valuable tombstones that have been replaced with replicas in the actual cemetery.
Mouseío Ellinikis Laikis Technis (Museum of Greek Folk Art)
Lying on the edge of Pláka, this museum displays a vast and colorful collection of folk art that dates from 1650 onwards. Works are divided into specific sections devoted to costumes, embroidery, weaving, gold and silver jewelry, woodwork, weaponry, Greek shadow theater and hand-painted ceramics. The highlights are the traditional costumes, set off against suggestive reconstructions of houses relating to their specific regions. Another highlight is the Theofilis Room, the reconstruction of a house on the island of Lesvos, which was frescoed by Theofilis Hadjimichael (1868-1934).
Kidathineon 17, Pláka
Tel: 210 321 3018.
Opening hours: Tues-Sun 0830-1400.
Admission charge: Y.
Disabled access: Y.
Mouseío Ellinikón Mousikon Orgánon (Museum of Greek Musical Instruments)
Housed in a renovated 19th-century mansion in the heart of Pláka, the Museum of Greek Musical Instruments displays a collection accumulated by the musicologist, Fivos Anoyanakis. This museum is great fun - each display case is accompanied by a headset, so that visitors can listen to the sound of the instruments. Films in the entrance feature their construction and performance. Information is provided in English.
Diogenous 1-3, Pláka
Tel: 210 325 4119.
Opening hours: Tues and Thurs-Sun 1000-1400, Wed 1200-1800.
Amission charge: N.
Disabled access: Y.
