Visit Athens
Athens is a city of **white marble** and exhaust fumes where ancient temples look down on a dense sea of apartment blocks and orange trees. It is a chaotic and historical anchor for an Athens road trip through the Peloponnese and central Greece. You should visit the **Varvakios Central Market** to see the rows of hanging meats and stacks of local olives, a place that has been the city's stomach since 1886. The local culture is found in the kafeneio of the **Psirri district**, where old men play backgammon and drink strong coffee in the shadow of modern street art. For a unique view, head to the Lycabettus Hill at sunset to see the Acropolis glow against the Saronic Gulf as the city lights begin to flicker across the Attica basin. The city is dominated by the **Parthenon**, but you should also find the Anafiotika neighborhood. The tiny cluster of white washed houses built on the side of the Acropolis rock by builders from the island of Anafi who wanted to feel at home in the capital. You should walk through the National Garden, which was originally the royal garden of Queen Amalia and contains over five hundred species of plants and Roman mosaics. The **Panathenaic Stadium** is a specific detail you cannot miss, as it is the only stadium in the world built entirely of marble and hosted the first modern Olympic Games in 1896. You can find the remnants of the Ottoman era in the small mosques and hammams that are hidden among the Roman ruins of the Plaka. Driving out of the city toward the west involves navigating the Kifissos Avenue before hitting the toll roads toward the **Corinth Canal**. The road follows the coastline of the Saronic Gulf, offering views of the oil tankers and the distant islands. You will notice the landscape change from the dusty gray of the urban center to the silver green of the olive groves and the rocky mountain passes. Athens remains the primary gateway to the classical world and a place of endless human history.Top sights to visit
The best places to visit in Athens
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Best match
Hotel
Historic City Hotel
Design hotel · City Centre · Free bikes
from€195/night
Hotel
Canal View Suites
Boutique suites · Waterfront · Breakfast included
from€245/night
Museum
Museum
National History Museum
Art & culture · City Centre · Guided tours
from€18/person
Spa
Spa
Wellness & Spa Centre
Thermal baths · Art Deco · City centre
from€35/session
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History of Athens
Athens is the cradle of Western civilization, the place where the very concepts of democracy, philosophy and tragedy were born 2,500 years ago. Under the leadership of **Pericles**, the city reached its Golden Age, constructing the Parthenon as a temple to Athena and a symbol of human achievement. While empires like Rome and the Ottomans eventually took control, the intellectual legacy of Athens continued to educate the world, making the city a place of pilgrimage for scholars for two millennia. By the early 19th century, Athens had withered into a small, dusty village of just 4,000 people huddling beneath the ruins of the **Acropolis**. When Greece won its independence, the city was chosen as the capital purely for its glorious past. It was rebuilt by Bavarian architects who laid out wide boulevards and neoclassical palaces, attempting to bridge the gap between the ancient ruins and the needs of a modern European state. This Great Idea transformed Athens back into a sprawling metropolis. Modern Athens is a high-energy, chaotic and beautiful collision of eras. You can find ancient Greek temples, Byzantine churches and Ottoman mosques all within a single city block, surrounded by the concrete apartment buildings of the 1960s. It is a city that lives late into the night, where the smell of grilled souvlaki and the sound of traffic are the backdrop to a culture that still values public debate and hospitality. Driving through Athens is an exercise in navigating history at every turn.Stay in the loop
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