Athens

Country Greece

Travel Companion Andrea Haney

My Favorites

Ancient Agora of Athens * Meteora day trip * Restaurant Scholarhio * Panathenaic Stadium * cooking class

Currency the Euro

Plan on having about 10-20 Euros in cash for each day that you are there. You will frequently encounter businesses that won’t take credit/debit cards. It is also helpful to have a contactless payment method because using a chip reader is available but uncommon.

Time of Visit July 2023

Weather 80-100 Degrees Fahrenheit

While you can prepare for Athens being hot if you go in July, Greece (along with many places around the world) was experiencing unusually high temperatures during my stay there. It cools down once the sun goes down and the humidity is relatively low (says the girl from Georgia, so some people may still think it’s humid). Popsicles and bubble teas were my favorite way to take a break from the heat (along with bottled water of course).

Closest Major Airport Athens International Airport "Eleftherios Venizelos”

You can also arrive in Athens via one of their three ports: Piraeus, Rafina, or Lavrio. The most common one is Piraeus and you can take public transport to the heart of the city from here.

Transport boat, bus, tram, metro, taxi

I most commonly used bus, tram, and metro to get from one location in the city to another. They all go to most of the same locations, so I chose which one to use based on which one was arriving to my location first. I used Google maps and selected the public transport option to help me get from point A to point B. You can purchase public transport trips at all of the metro stations, and the card works for the bus, tram, and metro. I arrived to Athens from Mykonos with a Blue Star ferry boat that came to the Piraeus port of Athens.

Andrea and I had to use a taxi one time to get to the airport because the metro was not open as early as we needed for our flight. The FREE NOW app works in Athens and is similar to Lyft and Uber. If I have to take a taxi while I am abroad, I try to use FREE NOW or a similar app because it is safer than just jumping into a taxi that you have to flag down. It also gives you a price range of what you can expect to pay so you are not overcharged.

Athens public transport ticket purchased at a metro station

Packing

hat * sunscreen * light/flowy clothes * activewear * walking shoes/sandals * modest outfit if you plan to visit Meteora

Above are the must-have items. If you want the complete list of what I packed for my 40 days in Europe, click here.

Accommodation AirBnB “The Underground Diamond”

This was a good AirBnB and one of the nicest places that Andrea and I stayed during our 40 days in Europe. It was very easy to get to the room from the Piraeus port via the metro. The AirBnB is only 200 meters from the Sygrou - Fix metro station. Inside the room, there is a kitchen with all necessary appliances, Wi-Fi, 50” HDTV, free washer and dryer in unit, hair dryer, air conditioning (a must), and patio.

What I Did in Athens

Day 1: I arrived in Athens at night from Mykonos via a Blue Star ferry boat that came in to the Piraeus port of Athens. I didn’t do any exploring on this first day because it was so late when I arrived that I spent most of the night finding the AirBnB and getting settled.

the ferry we took from Mykonos to Athens

stDay 2: I was out the door by 9 AM and first took the bus to Starbucks because I had spent a few weeks on the Greek islands where there aren’t any Starbucks. I know it sounds silly, but there’s something nice about being able to order something familiar that you can be sure you are going to enjoy. On the bus to the Starbucks, there was the cutest elderly man who helped me find a seat. He also thought I was going straight to the Acropolis and kept insisting that I needed to get off at the next stop or I would miss it, but another Greek woman helped explain to him that I was going somewhere else.

My Starbucks refresher was delicious and I had a buttered pretzel to go along with it. We need these at home, they’re so yummy. I walked with my Starbucks through Monastiraki Flea Market and stumbled upon an active archaeological dig site at the end of the market. It was very interesting to watch everyone at work.

From here, I went to Ancient Agora of Athens. I bought a combined ticket at this site for 30 Euros. The combined ticket is valid for 3 days after you purchase it. I purchased mine on July 17th and it was valid until the 21st. This ticket gives you entrance to the Acropolis and its slopes, Ancient Agora, Hadrian’s Library, Kerameikos, Aristotle’s School (Lykeion), Olympieion, and Roman Agora. I recommend purchasing this ticket at any site but the Acropolis because the ticket line at the Acropolis can get very long. By purchasing the combined ticket here at Ancient Agora, I was able to skip the line at every other place I visited which saved me from standing in long lines in the heat.

The Ancient Agora of Athens was a favorite because it was very spacious, had a museum, and had great views of the Acropolis. From here, I walked to Hadrian’s Library then the Roman Agora. After visiting the Roman Agora, I made my way up the hill to Areopagus Hill. This was very easy to get to and climb up. It offered a great view of the city and the Acropolis.

I next went to the Acropolis and walked right up to the ticket scanner instead of waiting in the purchase line because I had the combined ticket from the Ancient Agora of Athens. I saw the Odeon of Herodes Atticus and took a quick break here because I managed to get a splinter in my foot. I couldn’t get the splinter out, so I toughed it out the rest of the day until I could find tweezers.

From the Odeon of Herodes Atticus, I walked up to the Parthenon with every other tourist in Athens (there were so many people). This part took a long time because everyone has to funnel into one entry and exit. The Parthenon was huge and you can walk around all sides of it. Behind the Parthenon is a Greek flag where an overlook is and you can see views of Athens National Garden, the Temple of Olympian Zeus, and the Panathenaic Stadium.

I exited the Acropolis through the other ticket entrance/exit which allowed me to walk past the Theatre of Dionysus. I would recommend entering at the entrance/exit by Areopagus Hill because it is a shorter uphill climb than entering down by the Theatre of Dionysus. When I exited the Acropolis, I planned on going to the Acropolis Museum but was unaware this wasn’t part of the combined ticket I had purchased earlier, so I passed on this experience. If you have the time/money to go in the Acropolis Museum, I would recommend it because, during my time in Athens, I met a lot of people who had gone in and really liked the museum.

From here, I went to the Temple of Olympian Zeus then got on a bus to the Panathenaic Stadium. I coached track the last two years I was a high school teacher, so this was another one of my Athens favorites. The ticket included an audio guide which made the experience very informative and helped put meaning to what I was looking at. It was fun to watch everyone get excited when they got on the track. People were racing each other, standing on the podium, and living their best life. It was fun to watch and participate in. After spending about an hour at the Panathenaic Stadium, I walked through the Athens National Garden to the Monument to the Unknown Soldier. There is a changing of the guards here every hour and there is a special changing of the guards every Sunday morning.

I had a cheap lunch today at the Bread Factory. This place was awesome. They had anything you could want for lunch and it was well priced. I had dinner at Restaurant Scholarhio and it was delicious. I had moussaka for the first but definitely not the last time.

Day 5: I had a late start to the day because of the day trip to Meteora the day before (read about Day 3 and Day 4 below). I started my day around 2 PM with a Greek-famous frappe and a stop at Street Souvlaki for grilled halloumi (this is my favorite cheese of all time). At 4 PM I went to my Greek cooking class and this was such a fun way to end my time in Athens and my trip in Europe.

In this class we learned how to make a salad, tzatziki, moussaka, spanakopita, and milk pie. We worked as a group to make some items, but each item we put together went into an individualized plate that was personalized depending on how we wanted to add things. Our chef was super helpful and super cute - I hope you’re reading this Stam :). After we made all of the dishes, we got to eat them with a view of the Acropolis (so cool!).

After the cooking class, I walked to Little Kook. I am so upset I didn’t know about this place sooner or I would have made reservations to have a drink and desert here. The Little Kook is decorated like a fairy tale and has fairy-tale-themed deserts and drinks. It is so cute and it was a fun way to end my last day in Athens.

Day Trips from Athens

Day 3: Today was a day trip to Delphi, aka (according to my tour guide) the Greek Machu Picchu. This tour started at 8:30 AM and our guide shared knowledge from the moment the bus left until we returned. She knew so much and it was very helpful when we made each of our stops.

We spent an hour walking through the archaeological site of Delphi and another hour going through the Museum of Delphi. If you go by yourself and not with a guided group, I would recommend going through the Museum before you go to the archaeological site so you can read about what everything is before you go see it. This will help you know what you are looking at.

After the tour, I went to Monastiraki square then to the fanciest H&M I’ve ever seen (see below). Monastiraki square was very overwhelming, but around this area is where you should go if you want to do some shopping. Once I had visited H&M, I called it a night because that was way too many people for me.

Day 4: Today was a day trip to Meteora and this was one of the highlights of my entire trip and definitely an Athens favorite. I booked the trip through Travel Meteora and they organized everything. The only thing I had to do was show up at the train station on time. If you are traveling to Meteora and plan to visit any of the monasteries there, men need to wear pants and cover their shoulders while women need to wear skirts/dresses that cover their knees and have their shoulders covered.

I had to be at the train station by 8:30 AM and the train ride was a little over 4 hours to Kalambaka station. A tiny tour bus picked everyone up from the train station and took us to three monasteries They also drove us around the amazing rock formations of Meteora. The history of this area is very interesting and our guide did an amazing job of explaining everything from the geology to the current monks and nuns living in the monasteries today. The tour was a little less than 5 hours and then I was back on the train for the 4 hour ride back to Athens. This day was packed, but incredibly worth it.

Pro Tip: For long train rides, bring your own toilet paper and hand sanitizer as the toilet paper is almost always out and the sink is almost always broken. In addition, bring your neck pillow and some form of entertainment because 4 hours can go by quickly or painfully slow.

Kenya Pre-Departure

Europe 2023