Athens

The more I travel, though, the more perspective I gain on how to actually use all of those reviews and resources. Sure, there are facts, figures, routes and maps that are fairly objective. But people’s opinions and descriptions of places can vary wildly, and until you’ve experienced somewhere for yourself, it’s best to take them with a grain of salt. Beauty is in the eye of the beholder, after all. On my recent trip to Greece, I found that particularly true. This summer, I spent eight days in Greece with my family. As usual, I did all the research. I heard the same advice over and over again—spend no more than a day or two in Athens and then get out to the islands. Yes, everyone agreed, since you’re flying into Athens anyway, you need to see the Acropolis. But after that? The real treasures of Greece are on the islands, and you’d be better off getting there as quickly as possible. I wasn’t convinced. When traveling with my daughters, I’ve often divided our trips into halves—a big, touristy city to explore followed by a relaxing beach destination. Think Lisbon and the Algarve, Madrid and Malaga, and for this trip, Athens and Paros. If I’d listened to most of the advice I read, I would have booked two nights in Athens and six in Paros. Instead, I split our eight nights right down the middle. Four nights in Athens. Four nights in Paros. I simply couldn’t imagine how we could do everything I wanted to do in Athens in just two nights. Still, as the trip got closer, I started to wonder if I’d made a mistake. Would we get bored in Athens? Was it really as grungy as some people described? Would I regret taking precious time away from Paros? As soon as we arrived, those worries disappeared. The hustle and rhythm of a city give me energy. The sounds and smells of somewhere new heighten my senses and make me feel alive in a way almost nothing else can anymore. Athens was the perfect example. The heartbeat of the city was nothing short of bliss to me. The people were incredibly warm and friendly. The views were incomparable. And the food—well, the food was otherworldly. And then there was the Acropolis. Looming high above the city, this awesome ancient complex perched on a rocky hill seems to peek out at you from unexpected street corners and rooftop terraces all over Athens. I had four rooftop breakfasts there, sipping coffee with the Acropolis as my backdrop. There is simply no more inspiring view. So while plenty of people told me two nights in Athens would be enough, I could have happily spent all eight days soaking up its chaotic glory. I can understand how Athens might feel a little rough around the edges to some people. But I didn’t go to Greece for elegance. I went for authenticity, history and, let’s be real, souvlaki. Athens gave me all of that and so much more. Here’s how I spent four incredible nights in Athens. Arrival Day: Our First Taste of Athens We arrived in Athens in the afternoon and headed straight to our hotel, the Electra Metropolis, near Syntagma Square and the Hellenic Parliament. We had been in Athens for maybe an hour, and already two incredibly warm, charismatic and helpful Athenians had personally taken care of us. The first was our driver from the airport. As we made our way into the city, he pointed out landmarks, offered recommendations for food and sightseeing, and showed us the incredible views stretching across the sprawling metropolis toward the Aegean Sea. The second was the gentleman who greeted us at the hotel. My point—the people of Athens were strikingly friendly and warm. We were exhausted after a long day of travel, but the city—and our bellies—beckoned. So we dropped our bags, quickly freshened up and headed back out in search of food. Just a few blocks from the hotel, we ducked into one of Athens’ many souvlaki shops, Meat the Greek. We ordered chicken and pork souvlakis along with a shareable portion of perfectly crispy fries smothered in feta. Nothing fancy. Nothing complicated but it was the perfect first dinner to remind ourselves—we made it to Greece. Just a Few More Blocks... We were tired enough that we probably should have gone straight back to the hotel after dinner. But we couldn’t quite do it. There was too much energy outside. We wanted to find the source of all that noise and life and chaos we had felt since arriving. So we walked a few more blocks. And then a few more. We wandered toward Plaka, exploring without an agenda, until we turned a corner and there it was. High above us, gleaming from the top of the hill, was our first glimpse of the Acropolis. We stopped. There are certain sights in the world that photographs simply cannot prepare you for, and for me, the Acropolis is one of them. You can see a thousand pictures before you go, but you need to actually stand there and feel its presence above the city to truly “get” it. And this wasn’t even our Acropolis day. We weren’t on a tour or standing at some carefully researched viewpoint. We had simply gone out looking for dinner, wandered a little farther than planned and suddenly found ourselves staring up at something thousands of years old. Satisfied with our awesome discovery, we snapped our first photos of the trip. Now we could call it a night. Day Two: Rooftop Views, Food Tour & Lycabettus Hill We started day two with that rooftop breakfast I mentioned earlier. Turns out, the view of the Acropolis from our hotel rooftop was even better than the one we had stumbled upon the night before. I sat there in awe for most of breakfast, slowly sipping my coffee and staring at it. I don’t know how anyone could ever tire of that view. Does a native Athenian eventually start taking the Acropolis for granted? Does it somehow become commonplace when you’ve seen it every day of your life? I can’t imagine it. But I suppose anything is possible. A Morning in the National Garden After breakfast, we headed over to the National Garden, Athens’ largest park. I think you can learn a lot about a city from its parks. And one of the first things I learned in Athens was that these people are serious about running. There were runners everywhere. Not joggers. Not casual, pre-work two-milers. I’m talking fast, serious runners dashing through the park. When you’re in Athens, you’ll surely hear the story of the marathon, and I couldn’t help but imagine that every one of these people was training for one. Beyond the runners, the National Garden was lush and green, with plenty of shade and places to sit. It felt like a little refuge from the busy city just outside. In the morning, the paths were filled with runners and other exercise enthusiasts. By afternoon, families took over. And if you’re lucky, you might even stumble upon an orchestra giving a free concert one evening. It’s exactly the kind of city park I love—not necessarily somewhere you need to spend hours, but somewhere that gives you a glimpse into everyday life in a place. Eating Our Way Through Athens After our walk through the park, we headed to the edgier Psyrri neighborhood for a food tour. My family and I love food tours. They’re one of our favorite ways to get acquainted with a new city. You get the lay of the land, recommendations from a local guide, and a chance to meet other travelers and hear their stories. Plus, you get to eat. Our Athens food tour was fantastic—and a little exotic. We tasted the best flaky, savory spinach pie I’ve ever eaten, along with plenty of other Greek specialties. Then we walked through the city’s Central Market, where the experience became decidedly less delicate. Whole sheep heads. Innards of every variety. All of it right there on display. What a day to remember. Sunset From Lycabettus Hill After a little rest and refresh at the hotel, we headed back out for the evening and made our way up Lycabettus Hill, one of the best viewpoints in Athens. You can walk to the top or take the funicular. Either way, once you get there, you’re rewarded with sweeping 360-degree views across the entire city, from the surrounding mountains all the way out to the sea. And Athens is a spectacular city to see from above. Ancient ruins are scattered among modern apartment buildings, busy streets and commercial neighborhoods. The Acropolis rises above it all, and from Lycabettus Hill you really begin to understand just how sprawling Athens is. Go to Lycabettus Hill. It’s absolutely worth it. But be prepared for company. Especially around sunset, the top gets packed with people searching for the perfect view—and the perfect Instagram shot. You won’t have some quiet, romantic hilltop all to yourself. We certainly didn’t. But with Athens stretching out in every direction below us, I didn’t really care. Dinner in Kolonaki We descended Lycabettus Hill into the upscale Kolonaki neighborhood, where we found a local Greek spot for a fantastic dinner. After a full day of rooftop views, gardens, food tours and hilltop sunsets, we were ready to call it a night. Besides, we had a big day ahead of us. Tomorrow was the Acropolis. Day Three: Finally, the Acropolis On our third morning, we woke up ready for the highlight of our time in Athens. We were finally going up to the Acropolis. We headed into Plaka to meet our tour group and then began the climb along with what felt like every other person who had ever traveled to Greece. I don’t know how many people ascend the Acropolis on a summer day, but it felt like trillions. The crowds were intense, but our guide did a fantastic job of making the experience feel like more than simply following a herd of tourists uphill. As we climbed, she brought the history to life, pointed out details we surely would have missed on our own, and stopped along the way to let us take in the increasingly incredible views over Athens. We passed the Theatre of Dionysus, the ancient theater built into the southern slope of the Acropolis, and the Odeon of Herodes Atticus, another ancient theater that—somehow, incredibly—still hosts performances today. We continued past the Temple of Athena Nike and finally made our way to the top. And there it was. The Parthenon. After seeing it from street corners, restaurant terraces and our breakfast table for the past two days, we were finally standing in front of it. The Parthenon has stood for nearly 2,500 years, dedicated to goddess Athena and looking out over the city that bears her name. You can read about its history and study photographs of it before you arrive, but just like that first unexpected glimpse of the Acropolis on our arrival night, none of that quite prepares you for actually being there. Of course, the Parthenon isn’t the only treasure at the top. There is so much ancient history packed onto the Acropolis that it can be difficult to know where to look. And everywhere beyond it is Athens. From the top, you’re treated to another sweeping view of the sprawling city, only now you’re looking down from the place that has been watching over it for thousands of years. Everyone tells you that you have to visit the Acropolis when you’re in Athens. Everyone is right. The crowds, the climb and the summer heat are all worth it. The Acropolis Museum After making our way back down, we headed to the Acropolis Museum. First of all, air conditioning. After climbing around the Acropolis in the Greek summer heat, simply stepping inside felt glorious. But the museum was much more than an escape from the temperature. After spending the morning walking among the ruins, seeing the artifacts and learning more about what we had just experienced felt like the perfect capstone to our crash course in ancient Greek history. I was glad we visited the museum after the Acropolis rather than before. We had just seen the places these objects and stories belonged to, which made everything feel a little more tangible. The Best Gyro of Our Lives By the time we left the museum, ancient history had given way to another pressing concern. Lunch. We wandered back through the charming streets of Plaka toward our hotel and stopped for what my daughter and I have since crowned the best gyro of our lives. Not the best gyro in Athens. The best gyro of our lives. Add another round of crispy fries and some gelato, and we were very happy travelers. Dinner With an Old Friend That evening, we had dinner at our hotel’s rooftop restaurant. By now, the view was familiar. There was the Acropolis again, this time illuminated against the night sky while we ate. We had seen it unexpectedly from the street on our first night. We had stared at it over morning coffee. We had looked down on it from Lycabettus Hill. And that morning, we had finally climbed to the top and stood among its ancient ruins. Now there it was again, glowing above Athens while we ate dinner. Three days in, and no, I still wasn’t tired of looking at it. Not even close. Day Four: A Sunday in Athens Our final full day in Athens was a Sunday, which meant we were in for a special treat. Every Sunday morning at 11:00, the Evzones—members of an elite unit of the Greek military—perform a ceremonial changing of the guard at the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier in front of the Hellenic Parliament. Dressed in their distinctive traditional uniforms, the guards parade in and perform an elaborate ceremony as crowds gather around Syntagma Square to watch. I had read that if we wanted a decent view, we should arrive by 10:30. We followed instructions. I was glad we did. The square filled quickly, and the ceremony was unlike anything else we had seen in Athens. After days immersed in ancient history, this felt like a glimpse of a different side of Greece—tradition and ceremony still very much alive in the middle of the modern capital. Pastries, Plaka & Some Very Well-Fed Cats After the changing of the guard, we headed back toward Plaka for a little souvenir shopping. Along the way, we stopped at 72H Bakery for a light lunch of sandwiches and pastries. Another win for social media. The pistachio croissant was luscious, and my girls declared their ham and cheese baguettes equally delicious. We ate our goodies perched on a concrete wall alongside a few of Athens’ many adorable cats. The cats, apparently, were doing just fine without us. They were so well-fed they didn’t even bother begging for our scraps. We spent the next couple of hours ducking in and out of art, jewelry and souvenir shops, taking our time and enjoying the atmosphere of Plaka without much of an agenda. Another gelato eventually found its way into our hands and we headed back to the hotel for an afternoon rest and to start packing for our ferry to Paros the next morning. One Last Walk By that evening, we were tired. Really tired. The room service menu looked perfectly sufficient for an easy, quiet dinner, and no one was particularly interested in another ambitious night out. But I hadn’t quite had my fill of Athens yet. I needed one last taste of the chaotic capital before saying goodbye. So we headed out for one final evening walk. We managed to sneak in a couple more Athens landmarks, first passing Hadrian’s Arch, nearly 2,000 years old, and then the much more modern Panathenaic Stadium, rebuilt for the first modern Olympic Games in 1896. Ancient Athens. Modern Athens. All in one evening walk. On our way back to the hotel, we cut through the National Garden one last time. We found a bench and sat. We watched people pass and entertained ourselves by trying to guess who was a tourist and who was a local as the day slowly came to a close. After four days of running around Athens, eating our way through neighborhoods, climbing hills, touring ruins and trying to see as much as we possibly could, it felt good to just sit there and watch the city go by. And I really didn’t want to leave. Athens Has My Heart I was sad when we left Athens the next morning. There were still so many museums to visit, ruins to explore, neighborhoods to wander and souvlakis to be eaten. Four nights hadn’t felt like too much. They hadn’t felt like enough. I thought back to all that advice I read before the trip. One night in Athens. Maybe two. See the Acropolis and then get to the islands. I understood the argument. We were headed to the Greek islands ourselves, and I was excited for the beaches, the sparkling Aegean and a slower pace in Paros. But I still couldn’t understand how anyone could spend just a day or two in this fantastic, energetic, chaotic city and leave feeling satisfied. Maybe Athens isn’t for everyone. Maybe some people see the graffiti, the traffic and the rough edges and immediately start dreaming of an island. I saw those things, too. But I also saw ancient ruins appearing between modern buildings. I saw the Acropolis glowing above the city at night. I ate incredible food, wandered through busy markets and quiet gardens, met people who made us feel welcome from the moment we arrived, and drank my morning coffee with one of the most extraordinary views in the world. Athens made me feel alive. We boarded our ferry and headed for the Greek islands. But I left my heart in Athens.