Things to do in Pireas

Piraeus is not a suburb of Athens, though the two run together. It is a port city with its own centre, and it moves close to twenty million passengers a year. That makes it the busiest passenger harbour in Europe.

The link is old. Themistocles moved the harbour here in the 490s BC, and the Long Walls tied the two cities together a generation later. The ancient ship sheds are still traceable under the modern quays.

Three harbours, three jobs

• Kantharos. The big one: two kilometres of ferry gates numbered E1 to E12, plus the cruise berths at the far end.
• Zea. A round marina on the other side of the peninsula, and the navy's main base in antiquity. Most of the trireme sheds were here.
• Mikrolimano. A small fishing harbour ringed with fish tavernas. This is the pleasant end of town.

Above Mikrolimano is Kastella, a hill of steps and painted houses. An open-air theatre sits near the top. The view runs from the gates across to Salamis.

The Archaeological Museum is inland and quiet. It holds the bronze Piraeus Apollo, found in a sewer trench in 1959 with three other large bronzes.

What gets booked here

Tours in Piraeus are thin on the ground. Almost everyone here is in transit, and the bookings show it.

• Transfers. Port to airport, port to hotel and back again, which are the awkward legs with luggage.
• The Saronic day cruise. Hydra, Poros and Aegina in one boat, out in the morning and back around seven, with lunch and dancing on the way home.

The rest of Piraeus is an evening out. Fish at Mikrolimano, the loop round Zea, the Sunday street market near the port. None of it is sold as a tour and none of it needs to be.

Practical

• Gates. Kantharos is two kilometres end to end. Check your gate before you arrive, because guessing wrong is a long walk with a suitcase.
• Shuttles. Free buses loop between the gates and are the only sane way to cross the port on foot.
• Departures. Most island ferries leave between seven and eight in the morning. Fast boats go later, halve the crossing and cost roughly double.
• Wind. The meltemi blows through July and August and cancels fast craft first. The big conventional ferries usually still sail.
• Margins. Never book a flight for the day an island ferry lands. A cancellation costs the ticket, not just the morning.
• Getting in. Metro Line 1 from Monastiraki takes about twenty minutes, Line 3 runs here from the airport without a change, and bus X96 covers the route all night.