Click here to read about the previous parts of our Greek vacation.
Saturday, October 9
When we arrived in Piraeus (port outside of Athens), we took the train into the city (1 euro each – much cheaper than a cab and totally easy). We had received a hotel recommendation from a friend and having vetted it on TripAdvisor we decided to go with the Central Hotel.
When we got off the train at Monastiraki Square, we got a little turned around (lost) and it was one of those things where by the time we found the hotel, I was really hot and sweaty and ready to pay just about any price – which is essentially what we did. The hotel had a room for 145 euros a night. Definitely out of my preferred price range but having just wandered the hot city streets carrying my luggage for an hour or so and since this place was recommended and had an amazing location (once we found it – we realized it really was central to everything) we signed up for two nights.
It hurt to pay that much but we had saved a lot on the plane tickets and we had been way under budget in Paros, so whatever, I just bit the bullet and handed over my card.
This is what you get for 145 euros in Athens
After freshening up, we set off to explore. The Acropolis is the most dominant feature of the Athens skyline and you can see it from everywhere, so we constantly used it as a landmark when trying to locate where we were in relation to things on the map.
In the evening, we wandered around the the slopes of the Acropolis and then strolled through the National Gardens before grabbing dinner (20 euros) in the Plaka. It had been a good orientation day and we had figured out where everything was and what we wanted to do the next day.
Sunday, October 10
On Sunday morning, we walked to Mount Lycabettus, the highest hill in Athens. We grabbed some coffee for Bird on the way there (2.5 euros) and after climbing halfway up, we took a cable car to the very top. The cable car was listed in our guidebook as 4 euros each for roundtrip tickets, but our guidebook was from 2006 and the price has gone up to 7.50 each. Kind of a ripoff. If I had been in better shape and hadn’t worn myself out on the first half of the hill, we easily could have hiked up the rest of the way. But the tram was convenient and that’s often what we pay a premium for.
The views from the top of the hill were amazing. And not only of the Acropolis. This is the best place to get a view of the sprawl that is Athens.
I’ve never seen anything like it. The city just goes and goes and goes on forever in every direction.
Afterward, we walked down the hill (not even worth it to use our roundtrip ticket because we didn’t want to wait for the cable car and obviously downhill is easier than uphill). Having walked down the path, we regretted the purchase because the tram didn’t actually save us that much in time or energy. The path wasn’t as long or as steep as we thought it would be, so another travel lesson learned for 15 euros.
We walked so much on this day. From the hill we headed to the Olympic Stadium for a quick photo-op. From there we wandered back through the National Gardens and over to the Temple of the Olympian Zeus. We paid 2 euros a piece for access to these ruins and it wasn’t really worth it. You get a little pamphlet that explains everything you’re looking at, but you can see almost everything through the fence that runs around the area. I guess you pay for the information explaining it all and for the chance to get a little closer for a good photo-op.
After a cheap lunch we headed to the Acropolis. The guidebook said that access to the Acropolis was going to be about 15 euros each (one of the more expensive attractions on our trip) but upon arrival at the gate we were pleasantly surprised to find out that it was some sort of cultural heritage weekend or something and the entrance fee was waived all weekend. Free? Woohoo!
Reading up about the restoration of the Parthenon
Of course, this meant that it was pretty packed, but still nothing like it would be in the summer at the height of tourist season. We found it totally manageable. Not only manageable. It was pretty awesome. Exploring the Temple of Athena Nike and the Parthenon was pretty cool and the views of the city were great. We spent time just lingering, reading the signs and watching the people. Every once in a while an official would blow a whistle and point at someone which meant they were walking in an area they weren’t supposed to be. So we spent a while watching tourists get whistled at and hoped that it wouldn’t be us next!
The whistleblowers
We grabbed a gyro lunch (of course) for 5 euros (including a Coke – this was our best food deal of the whole trip and these gyros were awesome). Next stop: New Acropolis Museum. Admission fee was 5 euros each. It was a really cool museum, but I’m wavering on recommending it. At some point on a Greek vacation, it gets a little old looking at a bunch of ancient rocks/statues.
Glass floors inside and outside the museum
showcase excavations of ancient stuff
discovered during construction of the museum
To compromise, I will recommend that you go to the Museum because it is really cool, but don’t spend too much time there because I think it does get a little redundant. But that’s just my opinion…maybe you’ll love it!
From there we headed to the flea market at Monastiraki. We strolled by the booths and looked at all the junk the vendors were selling. I was really hoping to find some treasure as a souvenir of our trip, but nothing really caught my eye.
We visited the Ancient Agora and then climbed up Mars Hill to stand where Paul stood as he preached to the Athenians way back when. History’s pretty cool when you get to thinking about it.
As the afternoon gave way to evening, we grabbed one last dinner in Greece (20 euros), bought some postcards and magnets (3 euros) and retired to the hotel to pack for our flight home in the morning.
The Acropolis at night from our hotel rooftop
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