The ferry from Santorini to Athens was interesting. Our seats
weren’t together, even though we bought them together, and our big packs had to
be left on the lower levels with the cars. Like literally we were instructed to
just leave them lying on the ground in a pile. I read some terrible reviews
online stating that stolen luggage was common. We were anxious the entire way
to Athens praying our bags would still be there. And they were! Yay for small
travel mercies!
Our Airbnb in Athens set up a taxi to pick us up at the port.
Something worth investing in when traveling is arranging rides/taxis/shuttles
ahead of time. It might cost a little more (a lot of times it doesn’t), but it
saves so much time and stress.
We met my brother, Connor, in Athens, and his flight arrived that
night from Kyrgyzstan. We hadn’t seen him since our wedding and his travels
lined up so that he was heading west as we headed east to Greece! It was great
to see him and spend a couple of days together!
Unlike Santorini, we did EVERYTHING in Athens. I purchased the
Rick Steve’s Athens Pocket Guide and I used it every day we were there, hitting
all the main sites it outlined. Our Airbnb was affordable, updated, and a 5
minute walk from the Acropolis, which put us in prime location to tour the
city!
Day 1:
The Acropolis
·
We hit the big one
bright and early. We purchased tickets online, there is only one site to
purchase these tickets from. But even if you purchase online, you would still
have to wait in the same line as everyone else to pick up your tickets.
·
If you buy the 30 euro
ticket (which allows you into other sites) at a different location, you can
skip the line at the Acropolis and just swipe in with your ticket.
·
We purchased the 20 euro
ticket that was just a ticket for the Acropolis and got there right when they
opened. There was no line and we walked right into the site!
·
The Rick Steve’s pocket
guide has a self-guided tour through the Acropolis, which is what I used to
educate Cam & Con on all things Parthenon
·
I DIED, like literally
died when we walked up through the entrance onto the top of the Acropolis. All
my years of dreaming of Greece and visiting the Parthenon and I was finally
there, walking through the crumbled marble and visualizing how it would’ve
looked in its hay day.
·
It took us about an hour
and a half total to tour the Acropolis, by the time we left the place was
swarming and the entrance up to the top was packed with tourists.
Mars Hill
- This spot is right next to the
Acropolis and was a quick easy spot to hit once we came down off the top
of the Acropolis.
- It was so cool to visit this
spot, see the huge Acropolis looming over you, and know that this is where
Paul told the Greeks the true identity of their “unnamed god”. And he did
it in the shadow of the Acropolis!! If this doesn’t get you fired up…
- The Acropolis is basically a
huge shrine of temples dedicated to the goddess Athena, the namesake of
the city. There are other gods that get their respects as well, like
Dionysus, the god of food and wine.
- Paul
told the theologians that God is the true god and that He rules over all,
and he did it with the Acropolis as a backdrop. Talk about BOLD.
The New Acropolis Museum
- This site is not included in
the 30 euro ticket and we had to purchase separate entrance into the
museum.
- I am a fan of this museum.
Greece built it as a nudge to get the Parthenon Marbles (aka the Elgin
Marbles) back from the British Museum and I am here for it! The
controversy over the majority of the British Museum’s collection is a
complicated one, it’s called controversial for a reason! I am not even
going to skim the surface in this post, so that soap box is ending here ☺
- I’ve seen the REAL marbles at
the British Museum many a time, but after touring the Acropolis and seeing
how few marbles the New Acropolis Museum has, it is very sad that so many
call London home.
- The architecture of this museum
is perfection. While building, they found the ruins of a neighborhood on
the site. You can view these ruins outside and through the floor of the
museum during your visit.
- The top floor of the museum has
panoramic windows and looks right onto the Acropolis, with Parthenon in
full view. The layout of the top floor is an exact size replica of the
Parthenon, complete with interior space, and columns, so you get a great
feel for how large the Parthenon was in its true glory.
- We took the pocket guide
self-guided tour through the museum as well, which highlights main pieces
throughout the collection.
- The
New Acropolis Museum has great AC so it was nice to tour it AFTER being in
the morning heat.
Hadrian’s Arch, Temple of Zeus, and the Olympic
Stadium
- We grabbed a quick bite for
lunch and were off to see some more sites.
- Hadrian’s Arch is not a far
walk from the Acropolis. It is situated right next to the Temple of Zeus,
as Hadrian, the Roman Emperor had a fascination with the Greeks (who
wouldn’t?!) and attempted to rebuild this area of the city to create his
own “New” Athens.
- The Temple of Zeus is included
on the 30 euro ticket, so if this excites you, buy the more expensive
ticket and you can get in! We just walked around it and that was plenty
for us.
- Not
far from the Arch and Temple is the Olympic Stadium, where the first
modern Olympics was held. This site is also included on the 30 euro ticket
and we again opted out of wanting to go in and tour it. You can see pretty
much everything from outside.
The rest of the day was spent napping at the
Airbnb and then we went out to find dinner.
Day 2
The Ancient Agora
- We slept in (I do have a
heart), and then headed for the Ancient Agora.
- Once again, this is included in
the pocket guide, and we took the self-guided tour through the site, the
majority of the pictures of me in Athens, I have Rick Steve’s in tow!
- This site is not part of the 30
euro ticket, and we paid a separate entry fee.
- The Agora was the center of the
city. It was the main central market place, political center, and hangout
spot.
- It
is easy to imagine day to day happenings of Ancient Athens here,
especially because there is one market place reconstructed, and the Temple
of Hephaestus (a very well preserved temple) overlooks the grounds.
National Archaeological Museum
- Surprise, surprise, this site
has a self-guided tour in the pocket guide! Similar to the New Acropolis
Museum, it highlights some of the best pieces of the collection.
- Again, we had to buy separate
entrance for this museum and it is not included if you buy the 30 euro
ticket.
- It is somewhat of a walk from
the Agora, so we actually took the metro to the museum, which was a few
blocks from the metro stop.
- This is the largest museum in
Greece, and after visiting the New Acropolis Museum, this one seems outdated
and unkempt, even though it has an amazing collection of Greek art and
artefacts. This made me think of another side of the controversial topic
with the British Museum: if the pieces are given back to their
respective countries, they could be housed in bad conditions and be ruined
and lost forever.
- We
ended up walking back from the museum to the Plaka area instead of riding
the metro. It was a nice walk, not too far and doable after two full days
on our feet.
The Plaka
- The Plaka is a term you have probably
heard a lot if you have looked into visiting Athens. It is the name of the
neighborhood directly below the Acropolis.
- The majority of places we ate
were in the Plaka area and we did quite a bit of walking throughout the
narrow streets.
- The pocket guide has a city
walking tour that we did not end up walking (can you believe it?!),
although we hit most of the points on the tour just by walking to each
site we visited! I wish we would have done the walking tour, but we slept
in instead, which was very much needed!
- All
that to say, the Plaka is super cute, hard to miss it when you visit
Athens. The streets are narrow and wind all around and are most similar to
that of Ancient Athens streets.
Athens Tips
- We were only in Athens for 2
full days, which was PLENTY of time to see what we saw and not feel
rushed. I also don’t feel like we missed anything big or didn’t have time
to see something I really wanted to.
- I wish we had stayed longer
just for the day trips. You can day trip from Athens to so many different
places, like Delphi, Mycenae, Meteora, etc.
- The city of Athens is huge and
sprawling, but the city center and touristy area is all very small and
close together.
- Everyone spoke English in
Athens as well, we had no problems communicating while we were there.
- We ate at places recommended in
the Rick Steve’s Pocket Guide, as well as Trip Advisor, or anything we
passed on the street that had a Trip Advisor sign.
- We
heard in Santorini that the Athens heat was terrible. We found it quite
nice. There were trees and shade and the sun was not as harsh as it was on
the islands. Maybe they were there on hotter days than us, but we thought
Santorini was significantly more hot and uncomfortable.
Athens was top of my bucket list and I still
can’t believe we actually went! It was such a fun trip and a bonus that we got
to hang with Connor too! I can’t wait for our next big adventure, we just need
to decide when and where!