The Best Full-Day 1 Tours
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05_9781118045961-ch01.indd_9781118045961-ch01.indd 7 88/15/11/15/11 77:17:17 PM 8 The Best in One Day
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05_9781118045961-ch01.indd_9781118045961-ch01.indd 8 88/15/11/15/11 77:17:17 PM 9 The Best ven if you’ve set your sights on a sunny Aegean island, Eyou will not want to overlook the city that gave rise to much of western culture. Give yourself at least a day to explore this sprawling metropolis, where all you have to do is lift your eyes to gaze upon in
the symbol of the Golden Age of Greece, the Acropolis. A day hardly One Day does justice to the city, but it will be enough time to see many of the masterworks of the ancient world, and to get a sense of modern Greek life as well. START: Thissio Square. Metro: Thissio.
days when St. Paul preached Christi- ★★ 1 Plateia Thissio. Begin the anity here and Socrates sat on a day as many Athenians do, lingering bench expounding his philosophical over a coffee and a “toast” (a grilled principles. @ 1 hr. See p 34. cheese or grilled ham-and-cheese sandwich) at a cafe. Athinaion Polit- 3 ★★★ Grand Promenade. A eia (33 Apostolou Pavlou and 1 Aka- cobblestone-and-marble, pedes- mantos sts.; y 210/341-3795) and trian-only boulevard skirts the other cafes on this animated square Acropolis Hill, providing a stroll afford views of the Ancient Agora, through the millennia all the way the Acropolis, and across the city, from the Agora (p 34) to Hadrian’s Lycabettus Hill. @ 30 min. Apostolou Arch (p 31). Follow the walkway Pavlou and Iraklidon sts. $. through scented pine, olive, and cypress groves around the base of Filopappou Hill, then make the 2 ★★ Ancient Agora. The cen- ascent for a close-up look at the ter of commercial, administrative, Acropolis through the Beule Gate. and social life in ancient Athens is @ 15 min. See p 26. today a jumble of broken columns and crumbling foundations strewn 4 ★★★ Acropolis. The beloved, among olive, pink oleander, 2,400-year-old landmark of Greece’s cypress, and palm trees. The sole Golden Age stands high above the remaining ancient structure is the city (Acropolis means “High City”), an Hephaisteion, the best-preserved enduring symbol of perfection that Greek temple in the world, from the instills pride in even the most hard- 5th century B.C. The Stoa of Attalos nosed Athenians and awe in their vis- is a mid-20th-century reconstruc- itors. Wars, plunder, pollution, and tion, but all the same evokes the neglect have taken their toll on the
For 2,400 years, a climb to the Acropolis has proven to be a peak experience for visitors.
05_9781118045961-ch01.indd_9781118045961-ch01.indd 9 88/15/11/15/11 77:17:17 PM 10 Full-Day Tours The Best The entrance to the Acropolis Museum overlooks the Makriyanni excavation site.
Parthenon, the harmonious temple galleries. What’s not here are many to Athena, and the smaller monu- segments of the Parthenon Frieze, ments that surround it on the hilltop. carted off to England from 1801 to Even so, in its sun-bleached beauty, 1804. Greece wants these treasures the Acropolis continues to show the back, and stunning quarters on the heights to which a civilized society museum’s top floor await their can aspire. @ 2 hr. See p 22. return. @ 2 hr. See p 28. 5 ★★★ Acropolis Museum. 6 ★★ Hadrian’s Arch. This The sculptures and statuary that beautifully preserved, albeit soot- once adorned the temples of the darkened, triumphal arch was Acropolis—a breathtaking presence erected in honor of the emperor in through the tall windows—are A.D. 131. The monument then shown to beautiful advantage among divided the old Greek city from the acres of glass and marble. Caryatids new Roman city that Hadrian, an (sculptures of women taking the ardent Hellenophile, endowed with place of columns or architectural many temples and monuments. supports), statues of korai (maidens) Hadrian considered Athens to be dedicated to Athena, figures of kouri the cultural capital of the Roman (young men), and elaborate Empire and struck his claims to the friezes—4,000 works altogether— city by having the marble on the are displayed in the light-filled east side of the arch inscribed with “this is the city of Hadrian and not of The Plaka is brimming with souvenirs and Theseus” and the west side with shoppers. “This is Athens, once the city of The- seus.” @ 10 min. See p 31. 7 ★★ Plaka. The sprawling old quarter beneath the Acropolis is a remnant of 19th-century Athens, with Byzantine churches and the occasional fragment of the ancient city sprinkled among the narrow lanes. With alleys, simple, bougain- villea-clad houses, and a round-the- clock holiday atmosphere, the Plaka also exudes the cheerful ambiance of a Greek island. Vendors hawk sou- venirs (especially along Adrianou
05_9781118045961-ch01.indd_9781118045961-ch01.indd 1010 88/15/11/15/11 77:17:17 PM 11 The Best and Pandrossou streets), chicly clad antiquities. Galleries behind the young Athenians sit in cafes along- neoclassical facade are filled with side their worry-bead wielding sensuous marble statues that once elders, and waiters try to lure pass- adorned temples throughout Greece ersby into restaurants serving some and other treasures that span Greek in
of the city’s most undistinguished history from the age of Homer to the One Day cuisine. It’s easy to feel you’ve stum- days of the Roman empire. Three bled into a tourist trap as you amble collections steal the spotlight: the through the Plaka, but this colorful gold death mask and other treasures heart of old Athens is quintessen- that Heinrich Schliemann excavated tially and alluringly Greek. @ 1 hr. in the royal tombs at Mycenae in See p 60. 1876; the colorful Minoan frescoes buried during a volcanic eruption on the island of Santorini around 1600 8 Thanasis. It’s best to stick to B.C.; and the sinuous marble figures simple fare when eating in the that Cycladic peoples fashioned Plaka. Thanasis or any of the other 5,000 years ago. In winter, the psistaries (“cookhouses”) on museum closes at 3pm Tuesday to Mitropoleos Street dispense deli- Sunday, so adjust your timing cious kebabs (juicy slices of souvlaki accordingly. @ 2 hr. See p 38. with yogurt sauce served in a pita) for about 2€. $. 0 ★ Exarchia Square. You might want to head back to your hotel to collapse, but if you still have You will probably want to take stamina, walk to Exarchia, the stu- the Metro (to Victoria Station) or dent quarter just south of the trolley to the museum, but the museum. The neighborhood’s prox- walk through Omonia (p 66) intro- imity to the Polytechnic university duces you to the bustle of down- makes it a magnet for artists, intel- town Athens. The best route lectuals, and hordes of youth who takes you north from the Plaka to frequent the cafe-bars and shops Omonia on Aiolou, an animated around the square. A student upris- pedestrian walkway. ing in Exarchia on November 17, 9 ★★★ National Archaeologi- 1973, left 34 dead but eventually cal Museum. The splendor of brought down Greece’s oppressive ancient Greece comes to the fore in military dictatorship. @ 30 min. the world’s finest collection of Greek Stournari and Themistokleous sts.
The National Archaeological Museum.
05_9781118045961-ch01.indd_9781118045961-ch01.indd 1111 88/15/11/15/11 77:17:17 PM 12
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H i
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T y s o i M u i A
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a a u s u o s k l I C u r o i i o o A d o Greco, mementoes of the o A i t o u L
r r
f e s ★
s p 2 Plateia Kolonaki. d s r a d a c n o i i i h a M O N t o o A n l r S p u A V n i a e o P i War of Independence— o
r o
O e
P P r
t The Teleferik drops you v i h
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P s i that is, anything Greek.
a i l
l p s C l l l o back in Kolonaki, a shady
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P o r u e u o G
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A enclave where you’ll
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a s e are displayed in the family i a f i o
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o a a o i R r K n i t r mansion and a modern wing. o r s s g s f i r d s sion that the well-heeled I e e e u o D a f A o t t I l c d
n R i a a n @ u i a 1 hr. See p 64. a r t
o r r A o e t e
o residents do nothing but a t R u r i t o o t k S h e c i A g Y S A p u T s
E n o H A S
a g shop or sit at the cafes
i A i g r P . O A ceramic pitcher from the Benaki
e i q u z
h ie around Kolonaki Square. S o t r
f K
a u Museum, one of about 40,000 items l i o e i
l r s l i u o y
E k Take a seat at a cafe of your
a g
r o o
l e i on display there.
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s l t l
c a g i D s
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l
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d r i o
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l n The highest point in Athens, Lycabettus Hill rises above the Kolonaki quarter.
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E
05_9781118045961-ch01.indd_9781118045961-ch01.indd 1313 88/15/11/15/11 77:17:17 PM 14 Full-Day Tours The Best
The changing of the guard takes place hourly in front of Parliament on Syntagma Square.
4 ★★★ Museum of Cycladic mound of earth behind a glass wall Art. One of Greece’s early civiliza- is especially poignant—a skeleton, tions produced elegant, almost segments of a road, and other bits abstract marble figures that seem and pieces reveal century after cen- strikingly modern and were an inspi- tury of human enterprise on the ration to such 20th-century sculp- site. @ 30 min. See p 57. tors as Picasso, Modigliani, and 6 ★★ = Changing of the Brancusi. Greece’s wealthiest ship- Guard. The two soldiers (evzones) ping dynasty, the Goulandris family who stand guard over the Tomb of amassed more than 300 of these the Unknown Soldier in front of Par- figures, housed in light-filled mod- liament ceremoniously change ern galleries. The adjoining Statha- places with their replacements tos Mansion, an opulent creation of every hour or so. Guards are chosen 19th-century German architect for their height and looks and put on Ernest Ziller, houses temporary quite a show: Attired in short exhibitions and warrants a walk pleated skirts, red shoes with pom- through no matter what’s on view. poms, and tasseled red caps—said @ 1 hr. See p 64. to replicate the garb revolutionaries 5 ★ Syntagma (Constitution) wore during the 1820s War of Inde- Square. The heart of Athens takes pendence—they go through a cho- its name from the constitution that reographed routine of slow-motion unpopular sovereign Otto of Bavaria high kicks that seems almost like a was forced to adopt after an upris- surreal dance. @ 15 min. See p 53. ing in 1843. Otto’s imposing palace 7 ★ National Gardens. Queen at one end of the square is now the Amalia, wife of King Otto, almost seat of Parliament. Make your way started another revolution back in through the hordes of young Athe- the mid–19th century when she nians who congregate around the banned the Greek public from using splashing fountain, then descend the 16 hectares (40 acres) of paths, into the metro station-cum-museum ponds, gardens full of exotic plants, for a look at the many Greek, and shady lawns behind her palace. Roman, and Byzantine artifacts The gardens have been open to all unearthed during excavations. A
05_9781118045961-ch01.indd_9781118045961-ch01.indd 1414 88/15/11/15/11 77:17:17 PM 15 The Best since 1923 and are a welcome ref- Agora and the Acropolis. 37–39 uge from the swirl of traffic just out- Adrianou St. (look for the logo of an side the gates. @ 15 min. See p 53. ancient ship logo on the awnings). ★ 8 Zappeion Gardens. This y 210/325-3323 or 3333. Drinks in € shady oasis adjoining the National and snacks about 15 . $$. Two Days Gardens is crisscrossed by broad promenades and surrounds the Zap- peion, a vast, neoclassical exhibition ! ★★ Technopolis. Old brick hall put up for the 1898 Olympics smokestacks that once infamously and intended to re-create the monu- spewed toxic fumes now glow with mental buildings of ancient Athens. colored lights and provide a beacon Step inside for a look at the spectac- above the increasingly hip Gazi ular oval atrium, enclosed by a two- neighborhood—Gazi translates as story colonnade of columns and “gas lands,” a reference to the caryatids. @ 15 min. See p 45. unwelcome effect this former gas- works once had on the surround- 9 ★★ Temple of Olympian ings. The city of Athens converted Zeus. The greatest monument that the complex to an arts and culture Roman emperor Hadrian bestowed center in the late 1990s (Technopo- upon his beloved Athens (p 32) is lis means “Arts City”), and brick and this massive temple, the largest in stone-walled exhibition spaces sur- Greece, completed in A.D. 131. round a courtyard that is often used Hadrian finished the work that the for concerts. One hall houses the tyrant Peisistratos began in the mid- Maria Callas Museum, allowing a 500s B.C. but abandoned for lack of voyeuristic peek at some of the funds. @ 30 min. See p 31. diva’s personal effects and clothing. The main exhibition spaces at Tech- 0 Dioskouroi. Take a well- nopolis are usually open until 9pm; deserved rest before setting out to for a late dinner (early by Greek explore Athens by night. Begin with standards), move on to one of the a walk through the Plaka and a drink many restaurants and cafes that and some meze on the terrace of have sprung up in Gazi and adjoin- this pleasant cafe overlooking the ing Psyrri. @ 1 hr. See p 59.
Soaring columns still pay homage to the supreme god at the Temple of Zeus.
05_9781118045961-ch01.indd_9781118045961-ch01.indd 1515 88/15/11/15/11 77:17:17 PM 16
The Best in Three Days
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Vasiliou tou Megalou tou Vasiliou V Central Market Central Krinos Psyrri Cemetery Kerameikos Gelatomania Plateia Monastiraki markets Monastiraki Ermou Street Roman Forum of the Winds Tower Museum of Greek Musical Instruments Little Mitropolis of Poseidon The Temple 1 3 4 6 7 8 9 2 5 11 12 10 13
05_9781118045961-ch01.indd_9781118045961-ch01.indd 1616 88/15/11/15/11 77:17:17 PM 17 The Best ay three begins in a place close to the heart of all Athe-
nians, the bustling Central Market. Stock up on some portable u D
t o
i o t n i p
l comestibles, then begin a walking tour that will reveal many sides
v e s p a o a a
i
n g k a m i i n
p e Z L
u P a o p o i n
t d and eras of this complex city, from the here and now to the ancient i
in l ri u a t r u r
o o o
i
Z i
la o a a a i t
s a s i
t e
A
V P e
s k G u N u
l
i p past. Old and new are piled on top of the other in Athens, so any
e
r Three Days o e e r
e p t
M s
u Z t
u
M
a i a a m o f
o
s d k g G
n Z r
A l r i
a o START: m walk like this one becomes a journey through time. Central
u o
a
. n a O A g a i o i
m
A n
s . e q
S
V a l
O p
o m s s m t T
S o a t i a p h l g n g a m Market, Athinas Street near Omonia Square. Metro to Omonia. t n V y a N
a
m m y
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A l
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Pa N X n
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s u i l u u n o
V a u i o
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a s m e a i o
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a i s s
k r a a n d y i
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S k l i m A i a L g l o
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A L o D s o n o r y V r s i o
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to n n v Pro s ] s i M R r o o a A u i o ir y r R o n R M u Athenians stock up on fresh fish and other staples at the Central Market. g t d o r o r s s s f k i s a Y A a e e e u i o ld r n D a f u ib t r t a
G
S I l
c D
A d a i n a
i a a n
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e o t e o a t r i s t o t
S h c u e A g S o
u A ★★
T 1 Central Market. The s n
o H M A M a ig A i Loukoumades (fritters sprinkled
r g . e O sheep heads, live chickens, calf car-
q i l
h z e l S t i r i with cinnamon and drizzled with f K u e H
l o
ri casses, and other wares probably E u o
k u
o o honey) are the specialty, though
l e o i
u L n
p won’t tempt you, and even much of l p o
i to
a l g i D u
m lo p boughasta (cream pies) and other
n av i o
P H a l s
i u
i A olo the snack food on offer, such as . n
st p x g n m o
A o p
A o o y
o o treats also emerge from the l d i
r i i e
l n
s a
u n
F steaming bowls of tripe soup, can e i s s
P
i o r
P s t
M h kitchen. Aiolou 87, Central Market.
m o
n O
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n seem a bit, uh, exotic. But few s o o s i t O k n
E i f m o y A d
I o € i a y
r l 210/321-6852. 2 . $. e k
i k
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r t a
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u y P m k a I o r m a l A n o r e u
H more colorful, and the scent of wild t
o e
C
o i
a
K u T o t e t p k A v u a s r herbs wafting through the vast halls o N
e ★★ o 3 l Psyrri. Many nocturnal
u e s
l
i
s
b o s s
o
s n
i o h u t l h c i a is transporting. The heaping piles of s
N i o P r a E i
O e
ik l habitués of Athens’s trendiest neigh- t k
a i M s i i a l t l I S
a comestibles provide a culinary tour
n borhood wouldn’t recognize the nar- G o o
r
I T of Greece: You probably never knew u o i n o l l o p A row lanes and squares by the light of Z
A n there were so many kinds of olives s
s o u day. You’ll have to come back after
n o s
G n
e o s t
o o e n
i h o t n o s d f i
l o
n k n n l or varieties of creatures in the sea. o i a m
O K o i n x r o dark to see the bars and clubs in full
o i D n i
a E o s n
d o o r r n
i n
h n
a o e o d o
e i h e p o o c
I T r Cheese, bread, sliced meats, and
l r r p d a n i T
a I
d r i swing, but on a daytime walk
t h t o e i l I
l l
u T n n
o a m k i o r a T P
v a other picnic fare are sold at the d V E r i through this once run-down warren I K
s n north end of the market. The market
o of workshops and little houses you
o n
s o
e i e k
d f i i
a
n i
r r r o i
l
K a a opens at 6am Monday through Sat-
n s o
O s can appreciate the picturesque n o n e
h D
d o n T
i i o
s l n o e l o e k a s e D l urday and should be in full swing by E a e a
r charms of one of the city’s last
s l t
u i i i t
s l
n i F
p o e
n s l e n o o i
o n
o P the time you arrive in the morning. a o
n i
M s r
d m
d t remaining 19th-century enclaves. i
g
e i f k
s o
o l m u s v e
o h A
I d P A
e o c i e @
r n 30 min. See p 81.
n M a a o u
ad a o The neighborhood’s current reputa- G o
u ni r i
A u m m m i o d l
i P i o e
A p l l
t m o i o a n s k on t i tion for debauchery is entirely in
o ale u S d o
r Di P e p
o d
v i i o e l D i l
i g N s A keeping with tradition—Psyrri was E
a 2 Krinos. Athenians have been V making this cramped cafe a manda- long known as a haven for under- tory morning stop since the 1920s. world thugs and as a hotbed for rev- olutionaries. @ 30 min. See p 63.
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478 B.C. and once extended from Kerameikos as far as the port at Piraeus. The well-preserved Sacred Gate was reserved for pilgrims arriv- ing for the Panathenaic Festival, who followed the Sacred Way from Kerameikos to the Agora and up to
Full-Day Tours the Acropolis. @ 1 hr. See p 34.
5 Gelatomania. Though you’ve just indulged your sweet tooth at The Best Krinos, you can’t come to Psyrri without tasting the best gelato in Athens, made on the premises. Aisopou 21. y 210/323-0001. 2€. $.
You can follow Ermou Street about 10 blocks east to Plateia Trendy Psyrri is bustling with street ven- Monastiraki, or take the Metro; dors peddling jewelry and other wares. Monastiraki is just one stop away from Kerameikos station. 4 ★★★ Kerameikos Ceme- tery. From the 7th century B.C. to 6 ★★ Plateia Monastiraki. the 1st century A.D., Athenians of This lively square, paved in gold means and status were laid to rest mosaics, takes it name from a medi- in this extensive city of the dead, eval monastery and poorhouse of preferably on the remarkably well- which only the church of Panayia preserved Street of Tombs. In antiq- Pantanassa remains. More promi- uity, Kerameikos was a busy nent is the tiled-domed 18th-century crossroads where all roads to Ath- Tzistarakis Mosque, a remnant from ens converged at the Dipylon Gate, the days of Ottoman rule, and infa- the largest gateway in ancient mously linked with a desecration—a Greece; traces of this monumental Turkish administrator destroyed a entryway remain, as do the city column from the Temple of Olym- walls that Themistockles erected in pian Zeus to extract lime for the
The Tzistarakis Tzami mosque on Monastiraki Square.
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Three Days
Busy Ermou is one of the city’s main shopping streets.
construction, and a plague soon nearby Kyntou and Adrianou streets. swept through the city. You can @ 30 min. See p 81. step beyond the porch into several 8 ★ Ermou Street. Ermou is halls that display beautiful Turkish closed to traffic between Monasti- ceramics. @ 30 min. See p 58. raki and Syntagma and one of the 7 ★★ Monastiraki markets. A cities most popular shopping ven- Turkish bazaar grew up around the ues, an endless parade of depart- Tzistarakis Mosque, and narrow alley- ment stores, specialty shops, and ways leading off the square, espe- antiques dealers. You will strike gold cially Ifestou and Pandrosou streets, if you are in the market for foot- still have a souklike feel to them and wear, since Ermou is especially pop- are lined with stalls and tiny shops. ular with shoemakers (p 80). Should The exotic aura is especially in evi- you become weary of commercial- dence on Sunday mornings, when a ism, you can take refuge in Kapnik- flea market snakes along Ifestou and area, a handsome little 10th-century
An Ancient Soap Opera
Watching the sea and the distant Peloponnesian mountains fade into the sunset ether from the Temple of Poseidon may well put you in the mood to ponder the myth of Theseus. The Athenian youth was sent to Crete to be sacrificed to the Minotaur in the maze of King Minos, but the king’s daughter, Ariadne, fell in love with him and gave him a sword to slay the Minotaur and a ball of fleece he could unravel to find his way out of the maze. The pair set sail for Athens, but Theseus abandoned Ariadne on the island of Naxos. The jilted Ariadne put a curse on Theseus, and under her spell, he changed the sails of his ship to black (a sign he had died). His father, Aegeus, saw the black-sailed ship approaching from Sounion, assumed his son was dead, and leapt from the cliff into the sea that to this day bears his name.
05_9781118045961-ch01.indd_9781118045961-ch01.indd 1919 88/15/11/15/11 77:17:17 PM 20 is inscribed with images of Boreas and other personifications of the winds; a water-propelled clock at the top of the tower, no longer there, was powered by a stream running down the Acropo- lis Hill and was one of the great scien- tific achievements of ancient Rome.
Full-Day Tours @ 15 min. See p 33. ! ★ Museum of Greek Popu- lar Musical Instruments. The lyres and other instruments on dis- The Best play here are beautifully crafted, and headphones deliver a pleasant intro- duction to centuries of Greek music. Better yet, the museum occasionally hosts concerts of traditional music in its attractive courtyard. @ 30 min. See p 41. @ ★★ Little Mitropolis. The Mitropolis, cathedral of Athens, is justifiably important as the center of the Greek Orthodox Church, but its The frieze atop the Tower of the Winds tiny, 12th-century neighbor, Panagia in the Roman Agora depicts Greek wind Gorgoepikos (unofficially Little deities. Mitropolis) steals the show. Reliefs of animals and zodiac signs cover church that sits right in the middle the exterior walls, and a miraculous of the street. @ 30 min. See p 58. painting of the Virgin Mary resides 9 ★★ Roman Forum. When the inside. @ 15 min. See p 61. Romans took Athens in the 1st cen- # ★★★ = The Temple of tury B.C., Julius Caesar and Augustus Poseidon. In mid- to late-afternoon, decreed that the Ancient Agora set out by bus (either by public ser- (p 34) was too crowded and relo- vice or on an organized tour) for Cape cated the center of commerce to an Sounion, a promontory at the south- airy courtyard surrounded by an ern tip of the Attica Peninsula. Here, arcade of shops. Their names are in 444 B.C., the statesman Pericles inscribed on the Gate of Athena (who also built the Parthenon) com- Archegetis, and the Ottomans left missioned the Temple of Poseidon their mark with the beautiful, 15th- atop a seaside cliff. Little remains century Fethiye Mosque, built to cel- except 15 Doric columns, fashioned ebrate their conquest of Athens. from marble quarried nearby in the @ 1 hr. See p 63. Agrileza Valley. For ancient sailors, a 0 ★★★ Tower of the Winds. sighting of the temple meant they The most remarkable structure in the were nearing home; for today’s visi- forum predates the Roman market- tors, climbing to the ruins to enjoy the place, built by Syrian astronomer view over a broad sweep of the Andronikos Kyristes around 50 B.C. The Aegean can be one of the most mem- octagonal tower is the best-preserved orable experiences of their travels in Roman monument in Athens and one Greece. The outlook from the temple of the most distinctive buildings of the is famously spectacular (and popular) ancient world. Each of the eight sides at sunset. @ 4 hr. See p 91.
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