Athens

Looming in quiet splendour over modern Athens, the Acropolis (or ‘high city’) is omnipresent; often glimpsed between apartment blocks or at the end of central streets, it can be dimly discerned through a blanket of yellow-tinged summer smog or clearly highlighted against the night sky, illuminated by hundreds of spotlights. The awe the Acropolis inspires comes from more than sheer beauty: the Acropolis temples represent the greatest achievement of classical Greece, combining mathematical proportion with a glorious aesthetic.

Phone:

+30 210 321 0219

Opening hours:

Apr-Dec 8am-sunset daily; Jan-Mar 8.30am-2.30pm daily (museum opens 11am Mon)

Address:

Dionysiou Areopagitiou

Amalia, Greece’s first queen, had over 15,000 domestic and exotic plants brought into the lush National Gardens from Genoa. The garden was opened to the public in 1923, and is now a welcome deep-green – sometimes jungly – oasis in the parched city centre. Winding paths lead past statues, fountains and trellised promenades with such mock-natural abandon that it’s actually possible to get lost. There is also a botanical museum, children’s library, duck ponds, a depressed collection of caged wildlife, a playground, a piece of Roman mosaic and a shaded café.

Phone:

+30 210 721 5019

Opening hours:

7am-sunset daily

Address:

Leof Vas Amalias 1

When the City of Athens bought this abandoned foundry and converted it into a huge, multi-purpose arts and performance space, it led to the transformation of the dingy surrounding neighbourhood, Gazi, into Athens’ edgiest nightlife district, and kick-started a much-needed urban renewal trend. Suddenly, Athenians cottoned on to the hipness of galleries and fusion restaurants and they opened in old lofts and factories all over town.

Phone:

+30 210 346 7322

Opening hours:

Technopolis 10am-10pm Mon-Fri

Address:

Pireos 100, Gazi

This lake is beautifully set inside a huge jutting rock on the inland side of the coast road. Its blue-green mineral-infused waters come partly from the nearby sea and partly from a deep, but still unknown, freshwater source. The waters stay at an approximate 24°C (75°F) year round, making this a popular spot for winter bathing. They are said to be curative and behind the café there is a small spa facility, where visitors can have hydrotherapy massages in the lake waters.

Phone:

+30 210 896 2239

Opening hours:

Summer 7am-8pm daily, winter 8am-5pm daily

Address:

Leof Posidonos, Vouliagmeni

This museum has one of the most important collections in the world. You will find Neolithic artefacts dating from 6800 to 3300 BC, the time of the first documented settlements on the Acropolis. The Early Cycladic room contains the remarkably modern-looking naïve statues of women. The central gallery is home to some of the museum’s most celebrated finds, the Mycenaean antiquities. Galleries 14-28 have some of the most wonderful achievements of sculpture in classical Greece.

Phone:

+30 210 821 7717

Opening hours:

1pm-7.30pm Mon; 8am-7.30pm Tue-Sun; 8.30am-3pm national holidays

Address:

Patision 44

This annexe to the Benaki Museum of Islamic Art acts as an arts space for other cultural events from film screenings and theatre performances to poetry evenings, photography and design shows and concerts. The architecture itself is a purpose-built red marble masterpiece.

Phone:

+30 210 345 3111

Opening hours:

10am-6pm Wed, Thur, Sun; 10am-10pm Fri, Sat; closed Mon, Tue

Address:

Pireos 138 & Andronikou

Excellent value, and stylish to boot, the recently privatised Attica Vouliagmeni Beach is perhaps the best compromise between the high-frills of Astir and the free-for-all at Attica Vouliagmeni. A well-organised beach, it is set on an enormous stretch of sand on Vouliagmeni Bay, perhaps Athens’ most beautiful coastline. A low-ish admission fee offers visitors an elegant chaise longue and umbrella, snack bars, two small children’s playgrounds, volleyball, tennis and basketball courts, and the usual amenities such as changing rooms, WCs and open showers.

Phone:

N/a

Opening hours:

Mid May-mid Sept 8am-9.30pm (last entry 8pm) daily

Address:

On Vouliagmeni Bay, entrance next to the Dimarhio (town hall) at Platia 24 Iouliou

This is a lively and endearing bar/club run with a passion which you’re sure to find infectious. The mixed crowd includes young, funky twentysomethings about town and older couples who come for the Thai finger-food menu in the restaurant. Weekly live jazz events in the upstairs bar are sure to keep musos happy. Downstairs, the crowds get down to 1970s soul, grizzled house and R&B.

Phone:

+30 210 324 6530

Opening hours:

9.30am-3.30pm Mon-Thur, Sun; closed 15 July-10 Sept

Address:

Platia Theatrou 10

Open 24 hours, the meat market is at its liveliest after 3am when clubbers stagger into the trio of all-night restaurants that specialise in tripe soup (patsas), allegedly a miracle cure for hangovers. Taverna Papandreou is the best of the three. Another late-night haunt is the Stoa Athanaton, a rembetiko club where dancing on tables is de rigueur.

Phone:

Taverna Papandreou +30 210 321 4970, Stoa Athanaton +30 210 321 4362

Opening hours:

7am-3pm Mon-Sat

Address:

Athinas Street, between Evripidou & Sophocleous

The understated interior belies the extraordinary Greek food cooked up by Chrysanthos Karamolegos. He turns humble taverna staples into a gourmet affair – think battered baby calamari with harissa sauce; tempura of sardines with fig vinaigrette and lemon paste; and lamb fillet marinated in honey, lemon and mint. The Greek salad with pitta croûtons and feta vinaigrette is anything but traditional. Karamolegos also makes a mean risotto, not to mention killer puddings.

Phone:

+30 210 620 3102

Opening hours:

8pm-12.30am Tue-Thur; 8.30pm-1.30am Fri, Sat; closed Sun

Address:

Harilaou Trikoupi 135 & Ekalis 39, Erythrea