A new year, a new city trip. My plan to visit Athens was already made in October last year, we just had the worst summer and I desperately needed some sun and heat. Therefor April is the perfect time to visit the Greek capital; the weather is perfect (nice and warm) but not the smog this city apparently has during the summer.
My friend Wendy and I caught an early flight from Amsterdam and arrived 11 AM in Athens. From the airport we could take a direct train downtown. With all the Greek letters we weren’t sure we were waiting at the right platform, but with all the tourists around us, we figured this might be the spot. Arriving downtown we could easily walk to our hotel and store our luggage.
The city centre is not that big and all the major sights are within walking distance, so I used the walking tour in my guide book as a reference to start our day. We soon noticed that Athens is all about ancient ruins. We bought a 30 euro pass that gave us admission to all of these. Of course we had to visit the famous Acropolis and even though I heard people saying they were disappointed by it its sight, I still thought it was quite impressive.
Oh and don’t forget the food, actually maybe the best reason to come here 🙂 I loved eating the gyros, the souvlaki and of course dipping it in tzatziki. That and eating a whole bunch of ice cream makes me happy too!
On the third and last day we rented a car to see more of the countryside. First driving to the Corinth Canal where we luckily just saw a ship passing through. From there along the ruins of Mycenae and finally ending in the quaint town Nafplio.
Corinth Canal
View at Mycenae
One of the scooters in Nafplio
I definitely recommend the combination of visiting Athens for two days and a one day road trip for a fun and diverse weekend away.
Things that are good to know:
- We stayed in this hotel, although the bed was a bit small (140 cm wide) it was clean, well maintained in right in the centre.
- The train takes you from the airport to the centre for only 10 euros.
- Combine a trip to Athens with a one day road trip. We chose to see Corinth Canal, Mycenae and Nafplio, but you can also visit Delphi.