Tours in Athens

Athens is a modern city of four million. A limestone rock sits in the middle of it. On top the Acropolis carries the Parthenon, finished in 438 BC, the Erechtheion with its caryatids and the small temple of Athena Nike.

Below the north slope lie two agoras. The Greek one has the rebuilt Stoa of Attalos; the Roman one has the Tower of the Winds. The Acropolis Museum stands at the foot of the hill. A glass floor opens over the excavations, and the Parthenon frieze is arranged as it once stood.

Around all that the city divides into quarters, and each does one thing.

• Plaka and Anafiotika — the old town, narrow lanes climbing under the rock.
• Monastiraki — the flea market.
• Psyrri and Koukaki — where Athenians eat now.
• Syntagma — parliament, the changing of the guard, the formal centre.
• Lykavittos — the hill with the view.
• Piraeus — the port for the islands, twenty minutes away by metro.

The historic core is walked, and it is small. The Acropolis, both agoras, Hadrian's Arch and the Temple of Olympian Zeus sit within a kilometre. One combined ticket covers seven sites over several days.

A guide earns its fee here more than in most cities. The ruins are foundations; the explanation is the building. Food is the other reason to stay in the centre. Market walks go through Varvakios, mezedopoleia fill Psyrri, and the rooftop tables face the rock lit up at night.

Athens is also unusually good for days out. Cape Sounion and its temple of Poseidon are the sunset run. Delphi sits in the mountains, Mycenae and Epidaurus in the Argolid, and the Corinth canal lies on the way to both. From Piraeus a one-day cruise takes in Hydra, Poros and Aegina.

Practical

• Heat. July and August pass 38C, and the Acropolis closes in the early afternoon on the hottest days. The first hour after opening at eight is the slot that works.
• Season. Spring and autumn are the walking months.
• From the airport. The metro takes forty minutes and costs a fraction of the fixed-fare taxi.
• Metro. Three lines cover everything a visitor needs, and Line 2 stops at Acropoli.
• Shoes. The marble is polished slippery by millions of feet, so grip matters more than looks.
• Prices. A coffee is two to three euros, a souvlaki three, a proper dinner twenty to thirty. Tipping is rounding up or five per cent.
• Meal times. Lunch runs from two, dinner from nine.
• Closures. Sites shut on some public holidays, and the combined ticket does not cover the museum.