After a northern German winter that, once more, felt way too long, way too drab, and way too rainy, my family and I wanted to escape and soak up some sun for our spring vacation. Going south is how you find the sun and balmy weather in spring, so we decided to do a short trip to Athens, Greece, for a few days. With 18℃ and a generous amount of sun we immersed ourselves in ancient Greek history, visited old sites and architectural masterpieces and got lost in the history of Athens.
Athens is probably most famous for the Acropolis and the Parthenon, a temple dedicated to the goddess Athena, patron of the city of Athens. The Parthenon was first built in 447 BC and was destroyed and looted several times over the course of history. As you arrive in Athens, the Acropolis is the most prominent sight, watching over the city in its very center. We went to the Acropolis on the morning of our first day. Going up the hill is easy enough and you’re rewarded with a great view over the city, a site vibrant of ancient history, and jaw-dropping architecture.
The Acropolis Museum is within walking distance of the Acropolis and is absolutely worth a visit. Seeing ruins, temples, and monuments with my own eyes was exciting, and putting everything into historical context made me appreciate it so much more.
After exploring the Acropolis itself we went down its slopes and stopped by Areopagus, the “Hill of Ares”, close by. You get a great view of the Acropolis from here and can overlook the Ancient Agora, an ancient market and public gathering place where Socrates, Plato, and other notable philosophers met to talk smart shit.
From here took a lunch break in a cozy tavern in a small alley at the foot of the Acropolis. After all the walking and strolling it was nice to recharge over a hearty meal in the sun. This was also the moment where I burned my bald noggin from sitting in the sun without sunscreen or a hat - you’d think that I’d learn my lesson at some point.
We spent the afternoon of day one strolling through the old parts of Athens, trying to get a lay of the land and to understand how the different neighborhoods work as well as scouting possible adventures for our next day.
Our next day started with a hearty breakfast, followed by a gorgeous stroll around the quaint national gardens. From here we went to see a few other monuments (there are broken temples, columns, arches and huge blocks of marble at pretty much every corner) before visiting the Acropolis Museum. In the afternoon, we visited the place we could overlook from Areopagus the day before: The Ancient Agora. Back in the day, this was the place to be: the center of commerce, politics, socializing, and philosophy. Exploring the ruins of the Ancient Agora and watching some of the archaeological findings in the enclosed museum was one of my personal highlights. Similar to Forum Romanum in Rome you can truly get lost in the site and imagine how it must’ve been to be there back in ancient times. The Temple of Hephaestus is located on a small hill on the edge of the Agora so we took a quick detour to explore this monument while we were here.
At this point, we got pretty tired and the chilly weather of day two crept up on us so we decided to take a longer break in the afternoon to come back for another one of my personal highlights in the evening: Hiking up Philopappou hill. Philopappou hill sits next to the Acropolis with lush vegetation and winding paths taking you up to a monument on the hill. From here you get a great look of the Acropolis (once more) and can overlook the entire city. I don’t have any good photos to share from the view as we had cloudy and stormy weather at this point, so a picture of a freezing Ham will have to do here.
The final highlight of our trip was watching the sunset down at the harbor looking over Piraeus on day three. During the day we somewhat ran out of steam, having seen the most important sights during our first two days already. After a very hit-and-miss sightseeing tour during the day, walking Niarchos park in the evening, watching the sun go down at the harbor and having a hearty Crepe at the national library truly made up for the mixed bag we experienced earlier.
My Personal Highlights
Our trip to Athens was a great, short escape from the drab German winter and early spring. I’m easily fascinated by ancient culture and exploring historical sites. Greek mythology and tales of gods and mortals are a personal favorite of mine so it was easy to immerse myself in the gorgeous scenery of Athens.
My personal highlights of our three days in Athens were:
- Taking generous time to explore the Acropolis and its surroundings
- Learning about the history of the Acropolis in the Acropolis Museum
- Hiking up Philopappou hill and enjoying the view of the city and the Acropolis
- Strolling along the Ancient Agora, imagining what a vibrant place this must have been back then
- Enjoying piece and calm in the national gardens
- Watching the sunset at the harbor
What I’d Do Differently Next Time
The ancient sites of Athens are beautiful and fascinating. The larger part of this huge city is, unfortunately, less exciting. You’ll see lots of busy streets, noisy traffic, broken pathways and generally pretty bleak corners that are not worth visiting or exploring. The center of the city is where it’s at, so I recommend trying to find a place to stay that’s close by and doesn’t require you to get in and out of the city center as much.
Personally, I was rather underwhelmed by Mount Lycabettus, the largest hill of the city. It had been recommended to us by a few taxi drivers as a must-see location but I found Philopappou hill much nicer in every regard. I’d spare myself getting up to the crowded platform of Mount Lycabettus for a view that’s less spectacular than what you’d get on Philopappou.
The National Archaeological Museum is another one that wasn’t for me personally. Maybe I was too tired to appreciate all the sculptures and vases and exhibits, maybe I just appreciate archaeology more when its set into its original context instead of being put into a museum, I’m not sure.
And lastly, as much as I enjoy escaping my day to day, I think 3 full days was a little too much time to allocate for Athens alone. 2 days would’ve been perfect for exploring all the good stuff the city has to offer while skipping the stuff that might be worth skipping. If you consider going to Athens, you might want to consider spending 2 days in Athens itself and then move on to other parts of the beautiful country that is Greece - the harbor of Piraeus is close by and will take you pretty much wherever you might want to go.
I had a great time visiting Athens and spending quality time with my family. Seeing old culture come to life is amazing and Athens has a lot to offer when it comes to browsing old sites, immersing yourself in ancient culture, and finding quaint places to calm down and relax.