We've won a cruise of the Greek islands and luckily we were able to switch it from June to October. We thought that we'd combine the week-long cruise of the islands with a week in Athens. Our plan is to rent an apartment, explore the area, visit museums, shop, and take a day trip to Delphi or Corinth. However, there are many posts on the net suggesting that 2 - 3 days is long enough in Athens and advising folks to not stay there very long at all. Any thoughts on this?
Oh yes, we're both reasonably independent travllers and quite happy in cities (if that makes any difference) .
Jerry
The traveler sees what he sees. The tourist sees what he has come to see. ~G.K. Chesterton
Jerry, I've wanted to go to Greece for a long long time. Whatever you decide I will be waiting for a lot of detailed food reports and photos! I'm terribly jealous but happy for you and Paul! Lucky ducks! Barb Cabot
Lucky! Lucky! Lucky! Congratulations to you and Paul...I will be no help regarding the length of stay in Athens... but what a problem to have! I want one of those types of challenges.
Congratulations. Athens is a good base. One good day-trip is the island of Hydra. Try to time your return ferry at sunset time. I personally like to stay overnight at Delphi. This way one avoids the day crowds and sees a deserted Delphi at sunset and again at sunrise. An incomparable experience. Before you know it, a week is up !
We are in the middle of a snowstorm herethat started yesterday afternoon. We have both been busy reading up on Greece. The pictures of the islands have been great right now!
The more I read about Athens the more I wonder 'why wouldn't you spend two weeks there?' I don't think that we'll have any trouble filling our time there.
AinP - thanks for the day trip ideas. I note that there are lots of buses that run to Delphi. Is it a 'walkable' area i.e. can we visit it without a car?
Jerry
The traveler sees what he sees. The tourist sees what he has come to see. ~G.K. Chesterton
Jerry, I know absolutely nothing about Greece so I can't help you there. But our daughter is talking about wanting to go to Greece for the trip we've told her she can plan the summer after she graduates from high school, so I'm paying attention to this thread.
But I've missed something somewhere. How did you win this wonderful trip? How fabulous! (Forgive me if I'm being too curious!)
But our daughter is talking about wanting to go to Greece for the trip we've told her she can plan the summer after she graduates from high school, so I'm paying attention to this thread.
Well...it depends on how you like cities. Athens is a sprawling, often chaotic mixture of East and West that's giddy and raucous and intoxicating. If you just look to see "the sights" (the Acropolis, the Archaeological Museum) then it's quickly possible to feel a little disillusioned and disappointed. The touristy side is not one I'm fond of.
But spend a few hours climbing Lykavitos Hill. Spend a night drinking coffee in the Plaka district under the Acropolis, watching the ebb and flow of conversation and the Athenians living their lives. Find the off-the-beaten-track restautants, the ones that aren't right out in the open. Go to a Rembitika concert, a good one, and be swept away by the archaic earthy feeling of passion in the air.
This is the Athens that's in my blood now, after spending the best part of 2 weeks there.
I can recommend Sofka Zinovieff's " Eurydice Street" for a taste of what living Athens is like.
Jerry, you can fill a week in Athens. If you do that I go along with the idea of a day trip to Delphi as it is so integral to ancient history and you will have good visual memories when you read of it in the future. Corinth is also well-worth going to if you have time for two day trips. But, why not take two weeks and then have the time to get a car and explore some of the richness there? I always feel that people put too much emphasis on the islands, forgetting the incredible ancient history on display on the mainland. (Well, yes, the islands are quite wonderful.)
You could drive down the Peleponnese--Olympia, Mycenae,Corinth, etc. A great town to stay in for a night or two if you day-trip from there is Naphlion (great seafood.) Or go to the fascinating Meteora area, etc.
In Athens the National Museum is excellent --rich with artifacts and history. We were there before I had a website and so have no documentation but I will check my photo album to see if I have more ideas to share.
Here's a link to some great photography re. Athens. Athens
Thanks foor the info Mikeachim - chaotic is good with me! I think we'll quite enjoy Athens.
Jane - we won't have a car in Greece so we'll have to limit our day trips to areas that are close. Thanks for the links to that site - the photography is brilliant.
Jerry
The traveler sees what he sees. The tourist sees what he has come to see. ~G.K. Chesterton
Can give you my thoughts from trip there a few years ago. I remember from the guide books that folks often dont give Athens enough time, just fly in for a night and board a cruise. A week probably is too much in the same hotel there, but not too long in the Athens area. I took a fast ferry (2 hrs) to a nearby island called Hydra. It is a popular weekend spot for Athens locals and is really quaint. It is a small island with no cars. There is one main village and one or two more that can only be reached by walking or donkey. The locals will meet the boat when you arrive and rent you a room in their house or inn. I did not book in advance. The boat makes several stops, so if you dont find a place you can always come back in the afternoon on the return boat or stop off at a different island. Anyway, it was a pretty neat place to unwind and finish a book. I spent two very inexpensive nights there and thought it was great. Go during the week, when it is not packed from the Athens crowd. Delphi should be a must for the historical importance. You can take the bus there in the afternoon,(2-3 hrs) stay overnight and return the next day. You can just take a public bus, rent a room when you get there and dont bother with a guided package tour. Anyway, a few days in Athens combined with a couple of side trips would make a great week. It did for me. The archeological museum in Athens is amazing and worth a few hours. If you like antiquing there is a market area below the Parthenon that you can easily spend a whole afternoon in. I bought a clock from a WW2 russian submarine there! I also went in October. It was not great for beach weather but perfect for touring. Have a great trip.
I spent a week in Athens in December (maybe 1991?). I flew over to Crete for a few days, too. In off-season, we found it enjoyable as we could walk right up to the monuments and were about the only people in the museums. Delphi is great! We took a bus out there and would have liked to spend a night, but made it a day trip.
Congrats! We spent months in Greece last year and just loved it!
The center where all the tourist things are in Athens is not bad, but I would not want to spend a whole week there as it is a particularly dirty, chaotic city.
Go to Delphi and Peleponnese, Olympia, Mycenae, Corinth, Naphlion as Jane mentioned. I believe you can get there by bus to all. Rental cars tend to be pretty cheap in Greece too and will grant you more freedom.
Delphi and Olympia are really "must sees" I think. Mycenae too if you are into Homer or history.
I just posted a link to our new Santorini video below, but thought I would put it here for you too click when you are Greek Island dreaming!
Matt's site is great. Fodors also has some fabulous Greek experts that you might want to talk with.
It's over 20 years since we spent a few days in Athens & I can still remember wishing we had more time to just sit & soak up the atmosphere. You'll definitely be able to use it as a base for a week!
Enjoy!
Posts: 561 | Location: Adelaide, South Australia | Registered: 08 May 2005
I agree with those that said a whole week is too much in Athens ...
maybe spend 4 days max in Athens and then go explore the islands.
If you do some research before you go, you can easily fit everything that you'd like to check out in Athens in 4 days, maybe even less ... depends on your interests.
easycar.com has had a photo contest over the internet for the past couple of years. Last year Barb won and received a week-long car rental. This year it was me and I won a cruise of the Greek Islands. The cruise itself was a cheap one so I was able to upgrade it a bit into one that we wanted. We are going to Athens and the Greek islands for two weeks in October.
We have decided to stay in Athens for a bit more than a week - there is so much to see and do that I can't imagine just visiting for a day or tw as some have suggested.
Jerry
The traveler sees what he sees. The tourist sees what he has come to see. ~G.K. Chesterton
Hi, We just returned from a 3 weeks trip to Athens and mainly the islands. We also visited Athens for 4 nights. That was not too much. However, my husband didn't want to stay more there and not even to come back to Athens in particular. The resons: chaos, heavy traffic, no urbanization, so many streets were dark even during the day because narrow and high buildings. It feels run down.
I lived in Africa when young, and for me it wasn't that exotic.
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However, there are many posts on the net suggesting that 2 - 3 days is long enough in Athens and advising folks to not stay there very long at all.
I read the same type of opinions on Rome and Paris, however, this didn't prevent us from enjoying both places for longer stays. I can however better understand both sort of opinions on a city like Athens. People who are used to travel to Europe only and expect very nice European city like Paris, Rome or Barcelona for example could have a shock in Athens. This is because it is a mix between European and somewhat oriental architechtures and even sometimes felt like a North African city. If you enjoyed Napoli for example you won't be shocked by Athens.
The other category of people who will advise against Athens are people who like quiter places and don't enjoy city stays nor visiting ruins.
If you like ancient history, yes you will find it interesting. Also, if you keep an open mind, it should help too.
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I always feel that people put too much emphasis on the islands, forgetting the incredible ancient history on display on the mainland.
Well, it is not because all are forgetting the ancient history. Yes there is plenty of history and things to see, but I felt the sites were spread (outside of Athens)and distances are relatively big between sites. The other reason is because a lot was destroyed and is not in same state as in Italy or restored as much as in Spain for example. Also traveling during the summer is quite hot in Greece, so I can also understand people wanting to escape heat, smog of the city, especially when traveling with children and wanting to have some vacation too. Out of season it is another story.
If you want to visit other sites outside of Athens it is better to take a land tour, so you won't rush through the sites and combine with a stay in Athens.
We took the Argolis day tour and I felt a bit of rush though it was very interesting from historical perspective. It was also very hot.
Hi, For Argolis we used keytours, they did pick us up from our hotel. They also offer multiple day tours in Greece from Athens.
But for Athens I printed out a suggested detailed itinerary from TA member, to approach the acropolis from Akropoli metro station, then to Ancient Agora etc... and I printed texts for monuments from different websites and read them to my husband and son. Rick Steves has a detailed self guided tour published on its site if it something that interests you.
Self Walking Also I used this web page with 5 suggested itineraries.
Athens Guide Surprisingly our son was very interested by my readings (he is only 5) and I even bough for him a Greek Mythology book in French.
This walking tour company has very good tours, however I wanted to reverse the order and start from Acropolis. http://www.athenswalkingtours.gr/ In the summer it is too hot to arrive there at noon and crowds are really unbearable.
From Naxos we used Naxos Star cruises as M/V Alexander was not available for Delos and Mykonos tour. This is not a guided tour unfortunately. They basicaly only provide transportation. There was a group with us who had a guide, but that was part of their entire Greece tour and they stayed in Mykonos at the end. So Delos guided tour is may be possible somehow.
Thanks again Anastasia - we'll be ther ein october so I imagine botht he heat and the crowds will be a wee bit more tolerable. He says with fingers crossed . . . .
Jerry
The traveler sees what he sees. The tourist sees what he has come to see. ~G.K. Chesterton
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