Welcome to Athens, a city named after Athena, the Greek goddess of wisdom. Looking around a lot of the city, with its “it’ll be nice when it’s finished” look, it’s hard to imagine that it’s a city with a great and glorious past.
Athens is a busy, chaotic and sometimes messy city that is trying to hard to marry its ancient monuments into a massive plan of regeneration that's dragging it kicking and screaming to become one of the most modern cities in Europe, despite it being the continent's oldest city.
Main Tourist Sights
If you do find yourself with some spare time on your hands, then without doubt the biggest attraction in Athens is the Acropolis, a limestone plateau supporting the Parthenon, the all-marble temple dedicated to the goddess Athena.
For the best view of Athens, take the funicular railway to the top of Ploutarchou Street in Kolonaki and see the whole city, the port of Piraeus and the island of Aegina from the top of Lycavittos Hill. It’s a good excuse to stop and have a drink or two at the café there and pay a visit to the Chapel of St George.
Chances are you’ll also find yourself in Syntagma Square at some point, which is home to the Greek Parliament. It’s worth stopping to take in the changing of the guard every hour if only for the comedy value of the uniforms and marching style.
Getting Around Generally
Although Athens is a huge sprawling city, nearly everything of interest to travellers lies within a small area bounded by Omonia Square (Plateia Omonias) to the north, Monastiraki (Plateia Monastirakiou) to the west, Syntagma Square (Syntagmatos) to the east and Plaka to the south, which makes finding your way round on foot or by public transport somewhat easier.
Getting Around By Public Transport
The Greeks are extremely proud of their new metro system and you can expect to be greeted by a security guard if you drop litter or attempt a spot of graffiti. You’re also not allowed to take food or drink onto the subway system, nor, apparently, any “annoying” items.
The standard metro fare is 1 euro for trips between all stations, excluding the airport. The fare to or from the airport is 7 euros, 11 for a return journey within 48 hours. A day ticket of 4 euros will let you use all modes of transport.
Don’t forget to validate your ticket at the validation machines upon entering the station. If you’re caught travelling without a valid ticket, you will be fined 60 times the price of the ticket.
Athens is served by a network of different buses. Blue and white suburban buses run from 5am – midnight.
Special buses operate 24 hours a day to Piraeus (every 20 minutes up to midnight, then hourly until 6am). Bus 040 leaves from the corner of Syntagma and Filellinon and 049 leaves from the Omonia end of Athinas. Tickets for these services cost 0.45 euros and must be bought before you board – either from a ticket booth or from periptera (street kiosks).
Night bus routes include:
X14 Syntagma Square to Kifissia.
X92, X93, X95, X96, X97 – the airport buses.
A standard bus ticket costs 0.6 euros or 3.20 for a ticket to travel to or from the airport.
Getting Around By Taxi
Athenian taxis are yellow. The meter will always start at 1 euro and there is an additional surcharge of 0.60 from ports, train and bus stations, as well as a 1.18 surcharge from the airport. After that, the day rate (tariff 1 on the meter) is 0.23 / km. The rate doubles between midnight and 5am (tariff 2 on the meter). Baggage is charged at 0.30 euros per item heavier than 10kg. The minimum fare is 2.65 euros.
Taxi fare fraud is not as widespread as it used to be, but it does still exist, so make sure the rate is correct. If you think you’ve been overcharged, ask for a receipt (they are legally obliged to give you one) and take the plate number, then phone the tourist police on 171 to report it. Or, what worked for us was suggesting calling the police to arbitrate before we paid – the driver didn’t seem too keen on that and drove off without being paid at all.
