Athens

Athens, the capital and largest city of Greece, is also capital of the Attica region. It has 745’000 inhabitants.

Getting There
There are many charter flights from many of the European international airports heading for Athens, but you can also get to Athens with regular flights at the major international airports. Olympic Airlines and Aegean Airlines are the airlines operating domestic flights. In summer, they carry out extra flights. (www.olympicair.com).

Climate
Athens enjoys a Mediterranean climate with hot dry summers and mild winters. There are some continental influences because of the mountains bordering the city tour. There is little precipitation even if a wind from the north can bring rain, and snow in winter.
The best months to see Athens are from April or May to September. Temperatures are pleasant and the city is not visited much by tourists.
Athens suffers from significant pollution problems since the late 70's. Even if measures taken in the 90s have improved air quality, that of today is still hardly breathable in summer.

History
As everyone knows, the city of Athens is steeped in history. Originally it was located on a rocky hill known as the Acropolis, it then spread southward.

It is today a cosmopolitan metropolis a heart of economy, finance, industry, politics and culture. In 2008, Athens was ranked as the 32nd richest city in the world in terms of purchasing power, and the 25th most expensive city.

Classical Athens was a powerful city-state, a center for the arts, scholarships and philosophy, home of Plato. Athens is considered the mother of mankind. It is the birthplace of Socrates, Plato, Aeschylus, Sophocles, Euripides and many others. It is often described as the cradle of Western civilization; of humanism, democracy and philosophy.

The legacy of the classical period (fifth and fourth centuries BC) is still evident in the city and is represented by many ancient buildings: The most famous of these is the Parthenon, widely regarded as a key point of Western Civilization. Athens retains many monuments of Roman and Byzantine culture and also a few Ottoman buildings.

Traces of modern Greece (formed in 1830) are also present; the Hellenic Parliament (Syntagma Square), the National Library of Greece, National Kapodistrian University of Athens and the Athens Academy. In 1896 Athens hosted the first modern Olympic Games, and 108 years later, the Summer Olympics of 2004.

Athens has a very good bus, trolley, tram and metro network.

City buses run from 5am to 11:30 pm (they are called the blue buses, managed by the company ETHEL). There are also trolley lines (20) following the same niche (ILPAP).

The tram has been operating since 2004. A line connects the center of Athens in the south of Piraeus (port); the other connects Neo Faliro Glyfada to Voula, along the coast. It runs from 5am to midnight weekdays including 24h on Friday and Saturday.

There are three subway lines that run from 5am/5:30am to midnight on weekdays and until 2am Fridays and Saturdays.

Motoring in Athens is an obstacle course. Parking is not really difficult, but many streets are narrow and one-way, and the Greeks love to double-park.

You can also take a taxi. There are no taxi-meters, prices are displayed on the dashboard; they are also available at the airport. The taxi is cheaper than in France. If the driver takes other passengers going in the same direction, the price is not divided by the number of people.

Events
Many events are held in the Greek capital; whether it’s sporting or cultural, they especially like them in summer.

- The Hellenic festival (Greek theater, contemporary theater, music and dance): it is held in the theater of Herod Atticus and Lycabettus Hill in Athens, and the theater of Epidaurus.
- The July Musical is a very important event in Greece; it takes place in the small ancient theater of Epidaurus.
- The “International Festival of Jazz and Blues” is held in June at the Lycabettus Theatre.
- The Athens Classic Marathon is held annually in November. It is really more symbolic than sports. It starts from the historic site of Marathon and ends in Athens in the stadium Panathinaiko - where the first Olympic Games took place.

The Easter and carnival events are also very important (see our general file on Greece).

Sights
We could recommend/mention all of the monuments and museums of Athens, but it would hurt your eyes to see all of them. Unavoidable are the:
• Parthenon on the Acropolis (rocky plateau at the center of the city)
• Agora of Athens
• Roman Agora and the Tower of Winds
• Theater Dionysus
• Panathenaic Stadium
• Olympieion
• Byzantine and Christian Museum
• National Archaeological Museum
• Benaki Museum
• Museum of Cycladic Art.

Do not miss the Syntagma Square; it is one of the most famous places in Athens. At the Syntagma Square there are many popular sites, such as: the Hellenic Parliament and the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier (you may see the changing of the guard of Evzones) or the maze of alleys of the old district of Plaka just beneath the Acropolis. You should also climb Lycabettus Hill, the highest point of the city. You can take the cable car to the top and admire the panorama of the Athenian Acropolis.
The large market of Athens and the Monastiraki flea market are also worth a detour!

For more information, check on the Hellenic National Tourism Office Homepage.