Places Nearby
Located in the centre of Greece and under the sky of Attica, Athens is surrounded by the beauties of the Argosaronikos and the Aegean seas and the fantastic archaeological sites of the Peloponnese and Mainland Greece. Short excursions outside Athens offer a first-class opportunity for day or weekend trips. Abandon the noise and the stress of the capital and within a couple of hours you will be enjoying the sun, the sea, fresh air, mountain hikes, walks or outdoor sports.
The island of Hydra has unique charm.
The island of Poros has something from Venice.
The island of Spetses lays claim not only to our weekends but also our holidays.
Quaint alleyways, wooden balconies, nearby beaches, museums and churches make up the beauties of Nauplion.
Kalavryta is one of the most popular winter destinations in the Peloponnese

Beaches in Attica
Athens, apart from hours and days of work, entertainment, rushed daily pace, routine, obligations and stress, can offer relaxation and respite and still keep you close by. The beaches give you the opportunity for short trips.

Places to See
Modern tourists have the ancient Athenians to thank for the ease of getting to major landmarks around the city. Old Athens was miniscule compared to today's sprawling metropolis, which means that all the must-sees are conveniently huddled together in a fairly easy-to-manage rectangle.

Acropolis
The Acropolis is the most important ancient monument in the Western world. Crowned by the Parthenon, it stands sentinel over Athens, visible from around the city. Marble monuments gleam white in the midday sun and take on a honey hue at dusk, while at night they are brilliantly illuminated. A sudden glimpse of this magnificent sight will lift your spirits.
Pericles set about transforming the Acropolis into a city of temples after being informed by the Delphic oracle in 510 BC that it should become a province of the gods. Unsurpassed in grace and harmony, the Parthenon is the largest Doric temple ever completed in Greece, the only one built completely (apart from its wooden roof) of Pentelic marble.
The Parthenon had a dual purpose - to house the giant statue of Athena commissioned by Pericles and to serve as the treasury for the tribute money that had been moved from Delos. It was built on the site of four earlier temples, all dedicated to the worship of Athena.
Beside the Parthenon is the Erechtheion, immediately recognisable for its much-photographed Caryatids, the six maidens who take the place of columns. The Acropolis Museum houses a collection of sculptures and reliefs from the site.

Hours: Jun-Oct: 8:00am-7:30pm;

Nov-May: 8:00am-5:30pm

Anafiotika
This is one of the most picturesque districts in the city - a labyrinth of quiet, narrow, windy streets where bougainvillea cascade over the houses and bright pots of colour decorate the balconies and rooftops. The whitewashed Cycladic-style cube houses were built by tradesmen from the small island of Anafi.
The builders of Anafi were brought in to build the king's palace during the renovation of Athens after Independence, and the island is still home to the descendants of these original Anafi stonemasons, although the population has also been supplemented by artists and intellectuals.
There are many meticulously restored neoclassical houses,
along with their opposite - derelict old homes that are crumbling. Apart from the forever-reclining cats, washing hanging in the breeze is often the only evidence of habitation.
The 17th-century church of Agios Georgios (St George of the Rock) marks the southern border of Anafiotika, with the 1847 church of Agios Simeon situated to the north. The neoclassical building on the corner of Theorias and Klepsidra is the old university of Athens, now a museum.

Ancient Agora
The Agora (market) was Athens' meeting place in ancient times, the focal point of administrative, commercial, political and social life. All roads led to this bustling and crowded place, where Socrates once expounded his philosophy and, later, where St Paul disputed daily in an attempt to win converts to Christianity.
The site was first developed in the 6th century BC. It was devastated by the Persians in 480 BC, but a new agora was built in its place almost immediately. It was flourishing by Pericles' time and continued to do so until AD 267, when it was destroyed by the Herulians, a Gothic tribe from Scandinavia.
A good place to begin an exploration of the site is in the reconstructed Stoa of Attalos, originally built between 159 and 138BC; its expensive shops were a popular stamping ground for moneyed Athenians.
In the vicinity is the Agora Museum, where there's a model of the Agora upstairs along with a collection of finds from the site. The Temple of Hephaestus, on the western edge of the Agora, dates from 449BC and is the best-preserved Doric temple in Greece. To the northeast of the temple are the foundations of the Stoa of Zeus Eleutherios, one of the places where Socrates spoke to the masses.
Near the southern entrance of the market is the Church of the Holy Apostles, which was built in the early 11th century to commemorate St Paul and his teachings. Have a look at the Byzantine frescoes inside.

Hours: Tues-Sun 8:30am-3:00pm

Benaki Museum
Kolonaki, Koumbari 1
This establishment was born in 1931, when Antoine Benaki turned his family house into a museum and presented it to Greece. It houses a sumptuous and eclectic collection from Europe and Asia, including Bronze Age finds from Mycenae and Thessaly, and ecclesiastical furniture brought from Asia Minor by refugees.
It's the oldest museum in Greece and ranks among its best. More than 20,000 items are on display chronologically over four levels, beginning with prehistory to the formation of the modern Greek state. It has an excellent Byzantine collection and a gallery focusing on the development of Hellenism during foreign domination. The spectrum of Greek cultural history is covered, including Karaghiozi shadow puppets, a stunning array of costumes, jewellery, textiles, and paintings, including early works by El Greco.
The antiquities collection includes Bronze-age finds from Mycenae and Thessaly and Cycladic pottery, while the Egyptian collection includes fayum Greco-Roman funerary portraits. Benaki's heart is immured inside the Museum's entrance, but the soul of Greece is well-enshrined in his gift to the country.

Hours: Mon, Wed, Fri & Sat 9:00 am-5:00 pm, Thu 9:00 am-12:00 am, Sun 9:00 am-3:00 pm

Museum of Cycladic & Ancient Greek Art
Kolonaki, Neofytou Douka 4
This exceptional private museum houses the biggest private collection of Cycladic art in the world. This museum was custom-built for the collection, and the finds are beautifully displayed and well labelled. Although the exhibits cover all periods from Cycladic to Roman times, the emphasis is on the Cycladic era from 3000 BC to 2000 BC.
The 230 exhibits include the marble figurines with folded arms that inspired many 20th-century artists with their simplicity and purity of form. The Cycladic collection, on the 1st floor, includes lifesize marble statues, tiny figurines and pottery from the civilisation that flourished in the Aegean during the Bronze Age. The museum took over the 19th-century mansion next door, which is used for temporary exhibitions.

Hours: Mon, Wed-Fri 10:00 am-3:00 pm, Sat 10:00 am-3:00 pm

Museum of Greek Folk Art
Plaka, Kydathineon 17
This state-owned museum was founded in 1918 and housed in the old mosque before being relocated to Plaka in 1973. It has examples of folk art from 1650 to the present, including embroidery, weaving, shadow-theatre puppets and silverwork, not to mention a reconstructed traditional village house on the 2nd floor.
A visit to the museum will provide any Hellenophile with enough information to keep them as happy as a Greek in a horse. As well as the exhibits mentioned above, it also does a fine line in the works of selftaught folk painter Theofilos Hatzimichail (1868-1934).
Hatzimichail effectively painted the entire Hellenic history, from people and events of classic mythology to modern streetscapes, and scenes of everyday life.

Hours: Tue-Sun 10:00am-2:00pm

National Archaeological Museum
Exarhia, 28 Oktovriou-Patision 44
This is one of the world's great museums, housing the most
important finds from archaeological sites around the country. The museum's tour de force is its fabulous collection of Mycenaean antiquities, including the celebrated Mask of Agamemnon unearthed at Mycenae, and the Warrior Vase, depicting men leaving for war and a woman waving them goodbye.
The exquisite Vaphio gold cups, with scenes of men taming wild bulls, are regarded as among the finest examples of Mycenaean art. They were found in a tholos (Mycenaean tomb shaped like a beehive) at Vaphio, near Sparta.
The other big crowd-puller is the spectacular collection of Minoan frescos from Santorini (Thira).
The museum also houses a wonderful collection of sculpture, starting with the superb figurines of the Cycladic collection that inspired such artists as Picasso. Other stars of the sculpture galleries are the 460 BC bronze statue of 'Zeus or Poseidon', found in the sea off Evia, and the 2nd-century-BC 'horse and young rider'.
The pottery collection traces the development of pottery from the Bronze Age through the Protogeometric and Geometric periods, to the emergence of the famous Attic black-figured pottery of the 6th century and the red-figured pottery from the late 5th to early 4th century.

Hours: Jun-Oct: Mon 1:00pm-7:15pm, Tue-Sun 8:00am-7:15pm;
Nov-May: 8:00am-2:45pm

National Gardens
Syntagma, Green Refuge
The delightfully shady National Gardens, featuring subtropical trees, winding paths and ornamental ponds with waterfowl, are a nice refuge from the heat of the summer months. Besides the exhibits of the Botanical Museum, there's a children's playground, a duck pond and a cafe, which makes a pleasant spot for a break.
The Botanical Museum houses interesting drawings, paintings and photographs. A day spent here will refresh your eyes and lungs for another bout with the Athens streets.

Temple of Olympian Zeus
Syntagma, Vas Olgas
Greece's largest temple was begun by Peisistratos in the 6th century BC, but was abandoned for lack of funds. Other leaders had stabs at it before Hadrian completed the job in AD 131. It took over 700 years to build. The temple is impressive for the sheer size of its 104 Corinthian columns, of which 15 remain - the fallen column blew down in a gale in 1852.
Hadrian put a colossal gold and ivory statue of Zeus in the cella and, in typically immodest fashion, placed an equally large one of himself next to it.
Hadrian's Arch once linked a thoroughfare past the Lysikrates Monument along the Street of Tripods, where tripod trophies were dedicated to Dionysos by winners of ancient drama contests. Made of Pentelic marble, it was erected in honour of Hadrian in AD132, after the consecration of the temple.
The foundations of a small Doric temple dedicated to the ancient cult of Olympian Zeus (590- 560BC) also lie on the site.

Hours: Jun-Oct 8:00am-7:30pm;
Nov-May 8:00am-5:30pm

Theatre of Dionysos
Makrigianni, Dionysiou Areopagitou
The importance of theatre in the life of the Athenian citystate can be gauged from the dimensions of the enormous Theatre of Dionysos on the southeastern slope of the Acropolis. The first theatre on this site was a timber affair erected in the 6th century BC, where goatskin-clad performers sang and danced during the annual festival in Dionysos' honour.
During the golden age of the 5th century BC, dramas by Aeschylus, Sophocles and Aristophanes were commissioned for the Festival of Great Dionysia.
The theatre was reconstructed in stone and marble by Lycurgus between 342 and 326BC. The auditorium could seat 17,000; of an original 64 tiers of seats, about 20 tiers still survive. The 2nd-century reliefs at the rear of the stage depict the exploits of Dionysos.

Hours: May-Sep: 8:00 am-7:00 pm;
Nov-Mar: 8:00 am-5:00 pm