AtheNs is well known for her history , her museums and her many monuments.She is also know as the first stop of many tourists before they surge into the many aegean islands.

Athens is a town that has suffered a lot from poor town planning and air pollution .The smog similar to the one , that once held control of the London sky has now been removed.

There are some things that any tourist must know about this town. Athens primary role is to be the capital of the Greek state where some 4 million people live. But the most strange thing about this town is that she has been built in layers . There is an ancient town (about 2400 years old!) which is spread in a wide area and most of it can be seen as monuments or archeological sites. There are whole territories in the center , which there is nothing else but monuments. This ancient city is spread everywhere and this has provoked some strange effects : Three years ago the greeks began to expand the metro stations and everytime they were digging a new hole they kept on bumping on a new undiscovered ancient site, something that made the engineers nervous , the archeologists crazy and that delayed the whole program for a very long time.

There is a second layer , the graphic old city with its narrow streets and graphic tavernas ( restaurants) mainly built around the rock of Akropolis but you can find a place like that also in Pireas , Athens port.

The third and fourth layer is what is built after 1965 and differs a lot from place to place. There are places that are ugly and urban and others that are very nice and they worth drinking a coffee at.

WheRE toGo- wHeRe Not.

FirSt of All ask yourself what kind of vacations do you want . Do you visit Athens as a pitch-stop before going to the Greek islands ? Do you want to make a general tour ? Or you want to take a taste of the ancient history of this land?

It is general better to avoid going with special offices which have arranged for you where are you going to go , where to sleep and what to eat. It is better to find it on your own, have an adventure spirit.

Athens is a pretty big place so there is the factor of transportation which is very important. It would nice if you could afford a car to move from place to place. If you are british you would have problem with that because the driver seat and everything is opposite from your system. Now , there is a chapter which is called “How the greeks drive…” and it is full of speed, traffic , not following the rules and many many bad words . Try and drive following the rules and when you are on a fast lane drive fast and you wouldn`t have a problem with that. Also if you decide to rent a car , rent a small one so that you can find easily a parking spot.

Try and find a hotel as nearest as possible to Akropolis , because around there is where most of your excursions will be. Also it’s a very beautifull place to stay. Plaka , Thissio , Makrigiani are some of the neighborhoods around Akropolis. These places have very few roads to drive and many to walk.

When you are walking through Plaka you will notice that there are some people trying to invite you in their taverna : “Here the Best greek souvlaki, Hey beuatifull here…”. Just ignore them and see the funny side of that. They keep doing that same thing to greeks also, who have learned to ignore them.

The center of Athens has many interesting museums to visit and that’s near Akropolis. Visit Sintagma square near the national parliament, ask for a frappè cofee (it’s a cool greek coffee) in a cafèe in Thissio .

If you choose and stay in those areas you won`t need to move in any other area of Athens as things gET more complicated from there and on.

Nightclubbing is very different from that of the islands and other towns because the clubs are spread all over the city but that`s not the only reason. In a 60% of clubs you `ll need to be escorted if you are a man and you must be dressed in a way that will present yourself in a nice manner (?!) . For exemple , you wont be let to enter if you are dressed with a sport look wearing your spikes on and holding a ball….Also it is fairly expensive. Find a greek who seems young and he will tell you where all the action is.

If you want to have a dive into the big blue there are many beaches “near” Athens that are very clean but you `ll need a car. You can go there also by bus but it will take you much more time and effort. Saronikos , as the sea around Athens is called, has very nice sea life if you want to dive deeper and there are many places that rent SCUBA equipment ( There is one also near Akropolis, so ask for it) .Near Athens you will find mostly organised beaches but the ones that are really diamonds will cost you more gas , and believe me they worth it.

OtheR FelloW TouriSts and the MoNumeNts.

When you will visit Athens you will spot imediatelly the different tribes of tourists that walk her streets. * The Ancient History Lover. They came to meet the Ancient Greek Civilization and they hang around Akropolis and in the museums. * The Japanese - Always holding a camera , they can tell you everything about Akropolis. * The Wanderers. They just came to meet everything they can about Athens and are usually ennoyed by the two above types .They `ll go in bars , too.

When you `ll visit a monument usually they `ll tell you what`s this place`s name , and what`s the other. This can get really boring .

I once attented in one such tour in Akropolis and the woman speaking could not tell me why was this built , how and why is it after all so important. Four years later I made the same tour but this time the man speaking was an architect and revealed me a whole new world. Ask these “silly” questions : why is it important , how were the people then , and how on earth did they move those thousand of tons of stone from a mountain 10 Km away and put them on that high rock 2600 years ago?! It will get much more interesting.

These are some information about AtheNs one of the strangest and oldest towns of our Western Civilization.

TraVeL SmArt and MaY The BaBeLFiSh Be YouR GuIDE