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My Favourite Planet > English > Europe > Greece > Attica > Athens
Attica Introduction to Athens, Greece  
 

Athens, Greece's capital and by far its largest city, is modern, noisy, polluted and chaotic. But it has its charms and attractions. During antiquity it grew to become the centre of a rich, powerful and influential city state (polis) famed for its philosophers, artists, architects and political leaders. Today, the fame of those glory days and the remains of buildings and treasures created by the ancient Athenians attract hundreds of thousands of visitors from all over the world every year.

The My Favourite Planet guide to Athens will be expanding to include more detailed information about this fascinating city. We begin with our photo galleries, featuring photos of some of its main attractions. Each gallery page contains background information to the places, people and objects in the photos.
 
 
See also The Cheshire Cat Blog
photo essays about Athens:

Athens street life         Athens Aristotle's Lyceum
 
 
Athens facts and figures
name: Athens (Modern Greek, Αθήνα, Athina;
Ancient Greek, Ἀθῆναι, Athenai)

country: Greece

periphery: Attica

prefecture: Athens

coordinates: 37° 58′ N, 23° 43′ E

total area: Athens municipality 38.964 square km
metropolitan area 411.7 square km

population: Athens municipality 745,514 (estimated)
metropolitan area 3,761,810 (estimated)

currency: Euro (€)

language: Greek

climate: Mediterranean

local time:

Eastern European Time (EET)

Daylight Saving Schedule:

Summer (from last Sunday in March)
GMT/UTC +3 hours

Winter (from last Sunday in October)
GMT/UTC +2 hours
 
Map of Attica, Greece at My Favourite Planet

Map showing the position of Athens and Attica

See also our interactive map of Greece.
national Greek flag at My Favourite Planet

Athens

galleries

The Athens Acropolis photo gallery at My Favourite Planet

The Acropolis
 
photos of Athens, Greece at My Favourite Planet
photos of Athens, Greece at My Favourite Planet
photos of Athens, Greece at My Favourite Planet
photos of Athens, Greece at My Favourite Planet
photos of Athens, Greece at My Favourite Planet
photos of Athens, Greece at My Favourite Planet
photos of Athens, Greece at My Favourite Planet
photos of Athens, Greece at My Favourite Planet
photos of Athens, Greece at My Favourite Planet
photos of Athens, Greece at My Favourite Planet
 

The Pnyx and the Temple of Hephaistion, Athens, Greece at My Favourite Planet

Above, the Pnyx, the ancient meeting place of the Athenian democratic assembly.
Below, the Hephaistion, the temple of Hephaistos, in the Athenian Agora.
 
 
 
Vyzantino Greek Restaurant, Plaka, Athens, Greece
 
NEWGEN Travel Agency, Athens, Greece
 
Hotel Orestias Kastorias Thessaloniki, Greece - The heart of hospitality beats at the heart of the city
 
Hotel Liotopi, Olympiada, Halkidiki, Macedonia, Greece
 
Hotel Germany, Olympiada, Halkidiki, Macedonia, Greece
 
Hotel Okeanis, Kavala, Macedonia, Greece
 

George Alvanos

rooms in
Kavala's historic Panagia District

Anthemiou 35,
Kavala, Greece

kavalarooms.gr

 

Olive Garden Restaurant

Kastellorizo,
Greece

+30 22460 49 109

kastellorizo.de

 

Papoutsis
Travel Agency

Kastellorizo,
Greece

+30 22460 49 286

greeklodgings.gr

 
 

The tourist information office near the Acropolis metro station, Athens at My Favourite Planet

The tourist information office on the pedestrianized Dionysiou Areopagitou Street
(Οδός Διονυσίου Αρεοπαγίτου), near the Acropolis metro station.

For many years the main tourist information office in Athens was on Syntagma Square, considered the city's centre, through which most tourists had to pass, particularly to use services such as banks, currency exchange, the main post office and public telephone office for international calls. Improvements in the city's infrastructure and public transport, as well as the widespread use of ATMs and mobile phones, mean that Syntagma is no longer the most important urban hub. The office was moved to Amalias Street, but then closed, leaving central Athens with no tourist information office for a number of years. It seems to make sense to place the new office near the Acropolis, by far Greece's most popular tourist attraction.

Greece's once excellent national network of tourist information offices has been decimated since the start of the country's economic crisis, and even recently built bureaus in cities like Thessaloniki have closed. In many towns and tourist resorts there is now no tourist info service at all. Many of the useful free maps are no longer available, but some regions still produce expensive glossy brochures telling you how wonderful everything is but with little practical information.
  Tourist Information Offices in Athens

Akropolis

18-20 Dionysiou Areopagitou Street, Athens

Tel: +30 210 33 10 529, +30 210 33 10 392,
+30 210 33 10 716, +30 210 33 10 347

Fax: +30 210 33 10 640

Opening hours:
Monday - Friday: 9:00 - 20:00
Saturday: 10:00 - 16:00

Athens International Airport "Eleftherios Venizelos"

Tel: +30 210 35 30 989

Fax: +30 210 35 32 307

Opening hours:
Monday - Friday: 9:00 - 17:00
Saturday: 10:00 - 16:00

Tourist information offices in Greece are operated
by the Greek National Tourist Organization (GNTO).

Website: www.visitgreece.gr (in Greek and English)

E-mail (general information): info@gnto.gr

Local governments in some regions and cities around
Greece also run their own tourist information offices.
 
Map of Athens at My Favourite Planet

A Map of Athens during the Roman Imperial period around 200 AD,
superimposed on a plan of the modern city of the early 1920s.

From Historical Atlas by William R. Shepherd. Henry Holt and Company, New York, 1923.
At the Perry-Castañeda Library Map Collection, University of Texas at Austin.
Photos, illustrations, maps and articles: © David John,
except where otherwise specified.

Addditional photos: © Konstanze Gundudis

All photos and articles are copyright protected.

Images and materials by other authors
have been attributed where applicable.

Please do not use these photos or articles without permission.

If you are interested in using any of the photos for your website,
project or publication, please get in contact.

Higher resolution versions are available on request.

My Favourite Planet makes great efforts to provide comprehensive and accurate information across this website. However, we can take no responsibility for inaccuracies or changes made by providers of services mentioned on these pages.
 
 
See also
The Cheshire Cat Blog
photo essays and articles
about Greece:

Athens (street life)

Athens (Aristotle's Lyceum)

Dion

Kastellorizo

Meteora

Pella

Polygyros

Thessaloniki
 
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Join the group, write a message or comment,
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  Athens photo galleries index >
 
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