Athens in November
Discussion
Having been thoroughly underwhelmed by our Penzance trip earlier this year, we are considering a self catering trip in Athens. We will be booking flights and taking a taxi to the airport and back. We won't be hiring a car over there.
So what are the good things to see do and the bad things to avoid?
So what are the good things to see do and the bad things to avoid?
We had two weeks in Athens last October and were very lucky in having beautiful weather, pushed the boat out though in that we stayed at a very nice boutique hotel about 3 mins from Syntagma Sq. People said we were nuts going for 2 weeks but we found plenty to do and things to see.
Some tips but YMMV:
Ermou (off Syntagma) is very lively and busy in the evenings and we strolled around there most evenings after dinner as there was always some live music in the sq at the bottom.
The open top bus tour was a bit meh but helps get your bearings.
Get a public transport ticket that covers the light rail, trams, buses and Metro, available at the machines at Syntagma Metro station and is extremely good value.
Some tips but YMMV:
Ermou (off Syntagma) is very lively and busy in the evenings and we strolled around there most evenings after dinner as there was always some live music in the sq at the bottom.
The open top bus tour was a bit meh but helps get your bearings.
Get a public transport ticket that covers the light rail, trams, buses and Metro, available at the machines at Syntagma Metro station and is extremely good value.
Part 2:
Depending on the weather you can get the Metro then bus out to the Vouligliami beaches, the public beach club there is very good and very cheap for a day ticket and has cafes on site.
There are hundreds of restaurants around Ermou and it's side streets most notably Ergon House which is an unusual place but check it out from reviews (the description of the process there is causing the "Forbidden" message!!), beware the portions are huge. We often ate at the restaurant in front of the Lozenge Hotel (in Valaoritou Street) as is great for lighter options, we went quite a few times and they gave us free desserts as we went so often.
If going to the Acropolis book early and get the earliest entry tickets that you can as it gets very busy later and can have huge queues and get a dual ticket for the Museum as well. Do not eat at any of the restaurants around the Acropolis as they are a bit of a rip-off and we experienced very poor food at a couple of them, the further away the better.
Use the new Metro line to Pireus (not the old one that ends by the docks) and have a stroll around (we bought items at a Deli and sat in a park and had a bit of a picnic), go down to the Marina and get up close to the humungous super yachts and there is also a Maritime Museum down there - avoid the dock area though as it's a bit grim.
The only organised trip we went on was out to Corinth which was very enjoyable and informative.
We went to chill out after a very stressful year healthwise and really enjoyed being somewhere different and doing things in a strange city that we wouldn't normally do.
Can't think of anything else at the moment but come back if you think of anything to ask.
Depending on the weather you can get the Metro then bus out to the Vouligliami beaches, the public beach club there is very good and very cheap for a day ticket and has cafes on site.
There are hundreds of restaurants around Ermou and it's side streets most notably Ergon House which is an unusual place but check it out from reviews (the description of the process there is causing the "Forbidden" message!!), beware the portions are huge. We often ate at the restaurant in front of the Lozenge Hotel (in Valaoritou Street) as is great for lighter options, we went quite a few times and they gave us free desserts as we went so often.
If going to the Acropolis book early and get the earliest entry tickets that you can as it gets very busy later and can have huge queues and get a dual ticket for the Museum as well. Do not eat at any of the restaurants around the Acropolis as they are a bit of a rip-off and we experienced very poor food at a couple of them, the further away the better.
Use the new Metro line to Pireus (not the old one that ends by the docks) and have a stroll around (we bought items at a Deli and sat in a park and had a bit of a picnic), go down to the Marina and get up close to the humungous super yachts and there is also a Maritime Museum down there - avoid the dock area though as it's a bit grim.
The only organised trip we went on was out to Corinth which was very enjoyable and informative.
We went to chill out after a very stressful year healthwise and really enjoyed being somewhere different and doing things in a strange city that we wouldn't normally do.
Can't think of anything else at the moment but come back if you think of anything to ask.
WyrleyD said:
We had two weeks in Athens last October and were very lucky in having beautiful weather, pushed the boat out though in that we stayed at a very nice boutique hotel about 3 mins from Syntagma Sq. People said we were nuts going for 2 weeks but we found plenty to do and things to see.
Some tips but YMMV:
Ermou (off Syntagma) is very lively and busy in the evenings and we strolled around there most evenings after dinner as there was always some live music in the sq at the bottom.
The open top bus tour was a bit meh but helps get your bearings.
Get a public transport ticket that covers the light rail, trams, buses and Metro, available at the machines at Syntagma Metro station and is extremely good value.
Thanks for that, some really useful information there. We are looking at a boutique apartment in Ampelokipi district, which looks to be incredible value. We are going to do a mixture of eating out and self catering, because I reckon the fresh produce, particularly seafood is going to be a really high standard.Some tips but YMMV:
Ermou (off Syntagma) is very lively and busy in the evenings and we strolled around there most evenings after dinner as there was always some live music in the sq at the bottom.
The open top bus tour was a bit meh but helps get your bearings.
Get a public transport ticket that covers the light rail, trams, buses and Metro, available at the machines at Syntagma Metro station and is extremely good value.
I got back a week ago from a weeks trip around Greece, 1.5 days of which was in Athens, lovely city and would like to go back.
The acropolis was great, as was the museum. Get in as early as you can, the museum in particular was so quite at opening time, and dont miss the excavation beneath it. The only other historic bit we paid to enter was the Agora which was worth it for sure.
We stayed a few streets back from the acropolis near the museum and it was very quiet but with a few nice bars, restaurants and cafes about and only a 2 min walk from the main tourist areas. Taxi from the airport is about €50 each way, the metro is €9 i think. We hired a car and visited Delphi and Meteora, which was great. Santorini is a 30min plane ride away which we did for a few days.
Lots of amazing restaurants and bars, drink isnt cheap but food is reasonable.
Supposedly Athens is rife with pickpockets but we didnt see anything sketchy.
Highly recommend it.
The acropolis was great, as was the museum. Get in as early as you can, the museum in particular was so quite at opening time, and dont miss the excavation beneath it. The only other historic bit we paid to enter was the Agora which was worth it for sure.
We stayed a few streets back from the acropolis near the museum and it was very quiet but with a few nice bars, restaurants and cafes about and only a 2 min walk from the main tourist areas. Taxi from the airport is about €50 each way, the metro is €9 i think. We hired a car and visited Delphi and Meteora, which was great. Santorini is a 30min plane ride away which we did for a few days.
Lots of amazing restaurants and bars, drink isnt cheap but food is reasonable.
Supposedly Athens is rife with pickpockets but we didnt see anything sketchy.
Highly recommend it.
TheStig44 said:
The acropolis was great, as was the museum. Get in as early as you can, the museum in particular was so quite at opening time, and dont miss the excavation beneath it. The only other historic bit we paid to enter was the Agora which was worth it for sure.
Highly recommend it.
Buy a pass which entitles your to entrance to all the main sites and iirc is about the same price as entrance to the Acropolis and one other site.Highly recommend it.
To avoid the long ticket queue at the Acropolis buy the pass first from any other site, you can then walk straight in.
Go early to the Acropolis as others have said, but it's also relatively quiet late on, but you run the risk of not finding the entrance and therefore not giving yourself enough time there. The museum is great but I don't think that its entrance is included in the pass.
Delphi is a wonderful place and its small museum is also well worth a visit; in hindsight we felt that you get more out of the archaeological site if you visit the museum first.
Delphi however is quite a long drive from Athens.
Corinth canal (below) is interesting to see but whether it's worth a special journey .....?
The tour we went on to Corinth included the ancient town which was very interesting and the guide was excellent all-in-all it lasted most of the day with the commentary about ancient Greece on the way there and back. Did consider Delphi but deemed it was a bit far to do it justice in a day, didn't want to pay for another hotel as we were already paying for quite an expensive one in Athens.
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