Athens
Athens is the capital city of Greece with over 3.7 million citizens, and is often considered to be the birthplace of Classical Greece culture, and thus it also is where Western civilization was born.
The actual city is considered a heritage site by UNESCO due to its ancient Greek and Roman architecture, which is easily seen from anywhere in the city.
Athens dates back to 3000BC when the Theseus, the King of Athens, brought ten different tribes under his rule to form the basis for the modern day city of Athens that we see today.
Mt. Ymettos, Mt. Pendeli, and Mt. Parnitha surround the city of Athens and due to the fact that the land is so rocky there are twelve distinct hills within Athens seven of which are historical hills worth visiting. Each of the hills (Areopagus, Observatory Hill, Pnyx, Tourkovouia, Lykavittos, Acropolis, and Hill of Philoppapus) are able to offer a calm respite from the city as well as the best views over the city.
All of the streets of Athens are labelled in both English and Greek and all lead towards the hub of the city which is the port at Piraeus, which is an ancient port that still sees a great deal of traffic.
Most of the tourist sites are found near Syntagma Square at the city centre. Some of the most significant sites to visit are the Acropolis which was known as the high city of Athens, the Nea Smyrni which is the upscale Europeanized section of Athens, Psiri where the best trendy restaurants are, and Kolonai is where there are many small cafes, galleries, and boutiques.
Public transportation in Athens is reliable due to the railway system and very wide roads, all of which were built for the 2004 Summer Olympics which Athens hosted. Also built during this period was a network of pedestrian streets, which link each of the most prominent ruins and monuments to each other, making it simple to take a self-guided tour of the best archaeological sites in Athens.
The best time to visit Athens is during late autumn or the spring due to the fact that summer can be extremely hot, and winter offers moderate temperatures but a great deal of precipitation. However, for those who want to plan a budget holiday to Athens winter will be the best time to find a deal.
Those who fly into Athens will arrive at the Athens Eleftherios Venizelos International Airport which is located to the east of the city centre. Once in the airport you can choose to get to the city centre either by taking the metro for six euro, to access the Larissis Railway Station, also six euro, where you can transfer to Northern Greece stations and downtown Syntagma, or by bus which will take you to a variety of places for about four euro. Taxi is also an option, but watch that the meter is on and switched to tariff 1 which is the day time rate. The trip should cost about 30 euros.
