Travel Report: Greece
Date of visit: September 2009
Go to Athens in February, they said. It will be warm, they said.
It was February 2020 and I was in Greece for the second time in my life. The sun was shining, the sky was blue and the thermometers showed 16 degrees Celsius. So actually perfect weather in February. Unfortunately that was the situation in Switzerland. In Athens it was 6-7 degrees cold, foggy and it rained for half an hour every now and then.
When Matt and I booked this trip, the first consideration was indeed that we would escape the depressing February weather in Central Europe for a weekend and find our salvation in Athens. Normally this plan works out. In the days before we arrived in Greece, the temperatures were slightly below 20 degrees and the sun was shining. However, winter came back to Athens on the only full day we had.
Anyway, I was glad to be back in Greece after my first visit in 2009. Back then, a trip to Rhodes, more precisely to Faliraki, was one of my first holidays as a young adult. It seems that Greece did not remember me well, because otherwise I would probably have received a warmer welcome.
A dreary Greek city… with fantastic sights
Admittedly, I did not have the highest expectations of Athens. Too often I have read negative things about the Greek capital. Expensive, ugly and boring seemed to be the most common words travelers associate with Athens. But as always in life, it is worthwhile to see it with your own eyes. And if you have low expectations, you will usually not be disappointed.
However, the first things we saw in Athens matched the comments I had heard and read about before. It was not only the weather that left a rather dreary impression of Athens. I have never seen a city whose houses were almost all defaced with cheap graffiti and other lettering.
Plus, the city looked like a huge construction site that had come to a standstill a long time ago. Many houses had scaffolding in front of them, but it didn’t seem as if anyone was actually building here.
Of course, I know that Greece has some problems with its economy, but I have been to capitals of poorer countries that didn’t look so run-down. Therefore, it didn’t take me long to confirm that Athens is indeed not very pretty. Nevertheless, an unattractive city does not necessarily have to be boring. Berlin, for example, is ugly in my opinion, but an exciting city.
Fortunately, Athens falls into the same category. The city might not be the prettiest, but it has a few cool things to offer. During the two days we spent in Athens we visited the most important sights, namely the Panathenaic Stadium, the Acropolis and the Agora. All of them were impressive and very well maintained, so that at some point I had the impression that the older the building, the better it is maintained.
The Panathenaic Stadium is the Olympic Stadium of the first Olympic Games of modern times in 1896, a very long stadium with huge grandstands. IInterestingly, there were quite few visitors, especially compared to the Acropolis. Besides us, there were maybe 20 other people there. And that in a stadium that has a capacity of an estimated 80,000 people.
The Acropolis with the Parthenon on top of it, Athens’ most famous landmark, was also nice. Maybe not even the Parthenon itself, which looks more impressive from a distance than when you stand directly in front of it.
But the view over Athens is enormous. In the greater area of the Greek capital live almost four million people and on the Acropolis you can see what kind of area the city and its suburbs cover.
What I liked the most, however, was the Theatre of Dionysus on the south slope of the Acropolis hill. Fortunately, the theater is closed, so that you can take good pictures of it without hundreds of people in the background.
By the way, the closer you come to the Acropolis from Athen’s center the more African touts will greet you with “don’t worry, be happy” or “hakuna matata” and want to sell something. It’s comparable to Paris near the main attractions. It’s harmless but it can be annoying. Pro tip: if they approach you, greet them with a “hakuna matata” before they can say something to you. The result will be a fist-bump instead of a sales talk.
What we also did was to visit the street with the National Library, the University of Athens and the Academy of Athens. Although all three were closed so that we could not see the inside, the ten-minute walk from the center was still worth it because of the amazing buildings.
The positive thing about a trip to Athens in February is that all the sights have a low season price and cost only half as in summer. Another good thing is that the sights are all in the city center, so you don’t have to rely on taxis or public transport for sightseeing.
Nevertheless, we did not manage to do everything we wanted to do. Due to the bad weather we did not visit the Temple of Zeus, which we passed on the way to the Panathenaic Stadium and at least got a glimpse of it. We also didn’t make it to the Mount Lycabettus.
Conclusion: although Athens is perhaps not the prettiest city, the sights are amazing!
Coffee and food paradise
Athens is also a paradise for coffee addicts. Coffee can be found at every corner of the city, because drinking coffee is a national sport here. The choice of coffee is huge. Beside the usual coffee like espresso, cappuccino or latte macchiato, you will also find Greek coffee or Freddo.
Greek coffee is practically the same as Turkish coffee. It was even called Turkish coffee in Greece until the Turks invaded Cyprus and the Greeks changed the name. There is also Freddo, an iced coffee consisting of mixed espresso. Those who love coffee will be happy in Athens, because this city celebrates coffee as a high culture.
Furthermore, Athens also has a very good food scene. The choice of restaurants is very large and offers a good mix of Greek and international cuisine. It’s not a secret that the Greek cuisine belongs to Europe’s best and you obviously find all the classic dishes in the capital.
Athens is also a city that has a great variety of fast food cuisines. From souvlaki to gyros you can find something to eat almost around the clock. The Greeks eat rather late anyway, so it’s not surprising to see many people still eating on Sundays at 1am.
Why one visit to Athens is enough
The sights, the coffee culture and the food scene were fantastic in Athens. Unfortunately, there are also things I didn’t like about the city (besides the desolate houses).
First, Athens is not a cheap city. Not that the city is as expensive as Copenhagen or Stockholm, but it is definitely more expensive than you would expect for a country that was almost bankrupt a short time ago.
In order to get an idea of this, here are some comparison prices: A main course in a good restaurant costs around 20 euros, a cocktail in the city center between 8 and 20 euros depending on the bar (the latter in the rooftop bars around Monastiraki Square).
And the worst: a taxi to or from the airport will set you back around 40 Euros! You can also use the subway, but even that costs more than 10 euros and you need approximately 80 minutes from your hotel to the airport or vice versa.
But not everything is expensive. The coffee prices were rather cheap and also for the hotel in the best location we paid about 70 Euro per night. In return, the airfares were 300 euros, as the flight route Zurich-Athens is one of the most expensive from Switzerland. This concerns only us Swiss, but all in all, the trip to Athens was not a bargain.
Another thing that was rather weak was the nightlife. We needed about 20 minutes to find a bar in the center (apart from the rooftop bars at Monastiraki Square. Some of the nightlife takes places a bit outside of the center, but what we saw in the center wasn’t ‘cannot be missed’-nightlife.
Although I had a good time in Athens, I don’t intend to return anytime soon. I have seen (most of) the sights and usually don’t return to cities for sightseeing. And coming back just for the food isn’t an option either. Don’t get me wrong, Athens is not a bad city. But it’s neither as good as other European capitals. Therefore, I think one visit to Athens is actually enough. At least for me.
Greece and I
11 years have passed between my two visits to Greece. Whether an equally long time will elapse between my second and third visit, is not clear yet.
I am by no means an expert on travel to Greece. The country is a European heavyweight in terms of travel, playing in the league of France, Spain or Italy, but I still know too little about it.
I have not traveled to the best parts of Greece, namely the many beautiful islands (my Faliraki holidays do not count). Of course I’m interested in spending some longer holidays in Greece somday, because the country is rich of beautiful landscapes, nice people and very tasty food.
However, I am not sure if I will travel again to Greece before reaching the 197th country. On the one hand, every single vacation day counts in order to achieve this goal relatively soon and many Greek destinations require one or two vacation days, as there are not many direct flights from Switzerland to Greece from Friday evening to Sunday evening (Santorini would be possible, though).
And on the other hand, I have to honestly admit that a longer holiday (1-2 weeks) in Greece is right now as uninteresting for me as a longer holiday in France, Spain or Italy. This has nothing to do with these countries, but rather with the fact that I want to see the “strenuous” destinations now and not when I’m 50. At this age I will happily prefer the Mediterranean destinations.
For now, I remember Greece mainly as a country with a capital that was fun to visit once and gave me a good weekend trip. This is actually what I needed, as I am continuing my journey to every country in the world with more difficult countries in the next weeks.
I see, Athene hasn’t changed much since i was there 10y ago.
Next to the graffittis you describe, it seemed to me that the whole city is kind of an advertisment wall. Even on the highways there were ads everywhere – who’s gonna buy all that shit anyways…
I won’ go back to that city anymore as well. However, I had a great time at the beaches im greece, totally worth it.