ATHENS TOP SIGHTS • LOCAL LIFE • MADE EASY Alexis Averbuck 00--title-contents-pk-ath3.inddtitle-contents-pk-ath3.indd 1 99/10/2015/10/2015 111:09:261:09:26 AM In This Book 16 Need to Know 17 18 Neighbourhoods 19 Before You Go Arriving in Athens Getting Around National Archaeo- logical Museum & Ancient Agora, Athens Exarhia (p000) Need to Your Daily Budget Most visitors arrive at Athens’ Eleftherios Athens has an extensive and inexpensive Monastiraki & Discover the treasures Venizelos International Airport at Spata, integrated public-transport network of buses, Psyrri (p000) Budget less than €100 27km east of the city centre. Most ferries and metro, trolleybuses and trams. Pick up maps at the world's foremost Know Neighbourhoods The ancient Athenian X Dorm beds €25, pension doubles from €65 cruises arrive at the port of Piraeus. and timetables at the EOT tourist office, collection of Greek art civic centre spills into Benaki Museum & QuickStart (p165) the airport or online at www.oasa.gr. and antiquities, then X Eat at souvlaki shops and tavernas the modern city's For more information, A From Eleftherios Venizelos soak up the vibe in Kolonaki (p000) The metro (www.amel.gr) is the best way central shopping hub – see Survival Guide (p157). X Save euros in the shoulder or low season International Airport Consistently fashionable to get around town. Conveniently, all public E# National bohemian Exarhia. a heady mix of eclectic Archaeological E and loaded with popular Destination Best Transport transport operates under the same ticketing shops, restaurants and Top Sights Currency Midrange €100–200 Museum boutiques, cafes and system. Tickets good for 70 minutes (€1.20) bars. National Archaeological Euro (€). X Doubles in midrange hotels €80–160 Syntagma & Plaka metro (blue line); bars, Kolonaki is also express bus X95 and a 24-hour/five-day travel pass (€4/10) E Top Sights Museum home to some of the X Local tavernas have hearty midrange fare are valid for all forms of public transport city's premier museums, Language Monastiraki metro (blue line) Keramikos & Gazi Ancient Agora X Most sights have reasonable entrance fees except for airport services (airport metro €8, Greek. (p000) including the Benaki. Thisio metro (blue line to bus €5). E The city's ancient Top Sights Top End more than €200 green line) Visas The three-day tourist pass (€20) includes cemetery, Keramikos, Benaki Museum X Double rooms in top hotels from €150 Not required for citizens of the EU or Kolonaki metro (blue line); one airport round trip. leads to the illuminated Schengen countries; not required for stays X Excellent dining; some accompanied by express bus X95 towers of Gazi's Keramikos Metro # Greek Parliament, of up to 90 days for citizens of the US, Michelin stars m Technopolis and one of E Makrygianni metro (blue line to Benaki Syntagma & Plaka Guide Canada, Australia and New Zealand. Three colour-coded lines criss-cross central Athens' hottest bar Museum X Nightlife and cocktail bars abound red line) Athens. Line 1 (green) also serves Piraeus. districts. E# (p58) Psyrri metro (blue line) Line 2 (red) gets the closest to the Acropolis E E# Ancient Parliament anchors Money Top Sights Agora Useful Websites and the Acropolis Museum. Line 3 (blue) enormous Plateia ATMs widely available. Credit cards Keramikos Syntagmatos, and the Athens’ Official Site (www. thisisathens.org) From Piraeus Port serves the airport, and at the time of writing accepted in many hotels, restaurants and N winding lanes of Plaka, shops, but not all. With what’s-on listings. was being extended to Piraeus. The central Destination Best Transport lined with shops, Arts & Culture (www.elculture.gr) Theatre, hubs are Syntagma (blue and red lines) and Temple of AcropolisE# become quaintly Mobile Phones music and cinema listings. Syntagma & Plaka metro (green line to Monastiraki (blue and green lines). E# Olympian Zeus residential as they twist Local SIM cards can be used in European blue line); bus 040 E# Ministry of Culture (www.culture.gr) J Bus, Trolleybus & Tram up the slope of the and Australian phones. Most other phones Monastiraki metro (green line) Filopappou Hill & E# Acropolis Museums and archaeological sites. Blue-and-white local express buses, regular Acropolis. can be set to roaming. US/Canadian phones Thisio (p000) Filopappou Museum Greek National Tourism Organisation Thisio metro (green line) buses and electric trolleybuses operate every Hill need to have a dual- or tri-band system. Unwind in the quiet 11111 (www.visitgreece.gr) 15 minutes from 5am to midnight. They are 111111 1 1 Kolonaki metro (green line stretch of town Temple of Your keys to under- generally slower than the metro, and best for 11111 1 1 1 to blue line) spanning ruin-strewn Time Lonely Planet (www.lonelyplanet.com/ 11111 neighbourhoods outside the centre. The free Olympian Zeus & Eastern European Time (GMT/UTC plus two Greece/Athens) Destination information, Makrygianni metro (green line Filopappou Hill and the Acropolis Area 1111 Panathenaic OASA map shows most routes. cafe-lined pedestri- 11111 hours). hotel bookings, traveller forum. to red line) (p000) 1111 Stadium (p000) Athens’ tram (www.stasy.gr) offers a slow, anised streets of cool Explore the grand The colossal temple Psyrri metro (green line) Thisio. Plugs & Adaptors scenic coastal journey to Faliro and Voula, E Acropolis and the leads to the stadium, Plugs have two round pins; electrical current Advance Planning via Glyfada. Top Sights superb Acropolis Three months before Reserve your hotel the home of the first is 220–240V. North American visitors will Filopappou Hill Museum, then wander early to increase choice and reduce price. modern Olympic games, require an adaptor and a transformer. K Taxi the relatively quiet and laid-back residential One month before Book tickets for a perfor- Avoid driving in Athens at all costs – it is streets of Makrygianni. neighbourhoods Mets Tipping mance at Odeon of Herodes Atticus (p28) or much simpler and cheaper to take a cab, but E Top Sights and Pangrati. standing the city – Megaron Mousikis (p34). Reserve a table at Small change and rounding up is customary. beware of taxi-driver scams. Fixed fares to/ E Top Sights top-end restaurants. from the airport are posted at the airport Acropolis Temple of Olympian taxi stand; expect day/night (midnight to Acropolis Museum One week before Check online for strike Zeus information (http://livingingreece.gr/ 5am) €35/50 to the city centre, and €47/72 we help you decide strikes); book tours. to Piraeus. what to do and how Need to Know Neighbourhood s to do it Tips for a What’s where smooth trip 12 Local Life 13 24 Acropolis Area Acropolis 25 yTop Tips Don’t Miss Athens Top Sights f Visit early in the Parthenon morning to escape the crowds and heat. Local Life Acropolis The Parthenon is the monument that epitomises 1 Map p32, B1 the glory of Ancient Greece. It is dedicated to f The main entrance The Acropolis is the most important ancient site Athena Parthenos, the goddess embodying the is from Dionysiou Areo- %210 321 0219, disabled Insider tips to help you À nd the real city in the Western world. Crowned by the Parthenon, power and prestige of the city. The largest Doric pagitou near the Odeon access %210 321 4172 it rises over Athens, visible from almost every- temple ever completed in Greece, and the only one of Herodes Atticus. where within the city. Its monuments of Pentelic http://odysseus.culture.gr built completely of Pentelic marble (apart from the /GETTY IMAGES © marble gleam white in the midday sun and wood in its roof), it was designed by Iktinos and f Wheelchairs access Explore the site via a cage lift; After visiting Athens’ magniÀ cent ancient wonders it’s time to experience adult/child/concession gradually take on a honey hue as the sun sinks, Kallicrates to be the preeminent monument of the neighbourhood life in the city: we’ll show you the way through the downtown hurly- €12/free/6 call ahead to arrange it while at night they stand brilliantly illuminated Acropolis and was completed in time for the Great burly to quiet shaded cafes and delightful neighbourhood squares, and guide you above the city. A glimpse of this magnificent sight (%210 321 4172) then go h8am-8pm Apr-Oct, to 5pm Panathenaic Festival of 438 BC. to the main entrance. to Athenians’ favourite dining haunts, shopping spots, galleries and bars. cannot fail to exalt your spirit. Other great places Nov-Mar, last entry 30min Cafes, Kolonaki (p78) Parthenon Columns f Large bags must be to experience the before closing The eight fluted Doric columns at either end and left at the main entrance Plaka – with its his- city like a local: art galleries and favour- its super, laid-back eater- mAkropoli 17 on each side were ingeniously curved to create cloakroom. Exploring Wandering the toric houses, Byzantine ite low-key tavernas. ies and join its dynamic Ancient an optical illusion: the foundations (like all the Monastiraki Central Market churches and winding f The Acropolis admis- Then pick between a student nightlife. Promenade (p37) ‘horizontal’ surfaces of the temple) are slightly /GETTY IMAGES © narrow lanes climbing sion pass (p35) (p44) (p56) night watching a film concave and the columns are slightly convex mak- the slopes of the Acropo- includes entry to several X Bustling markets X Awesome people-watching under the stars or club- Kalamaki ing both appear straight. Supervised by Pheidias, lis – is much more than a A Night Out in sights. X Favourite hang-outs X Sensory extravaganzas bing with the fashion- Kolonaki (p85 ) the sculptors Agoracritos and Alcamenes worked Monastiraki’s antique- Athens’ Central Market tourist mecca.