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Athens Survival Guide

The Parthenon, Athens Psiri, Athens, Greece Monastiraki Square, Athens Plaka, Athens

Guide to Athens, Greece for 2013

Acropolis, Athens, GreeceThis is the index page for all my Athens Survival Guide. There are thousands of pages of information and it is easy to get lost, sort of like Athens itself which is part of the adventure of traveling. My Athens Guide will give you the tools to survive and thrive in Athens, Greece and enable you to have as much fun as I do and feel as comfortable as if you have been here before. You can read about hotels, restaurants, archaeological sites, nightlife, beaches and daytrips to nearby islands and beaches and towns on the mainland. My Athens Guide may not be as fancy as some of the other travel sites but I think you will find it to be the most fun to use and probably find it to be at least as helpful as the popular guide books, except this is free. Save it to your favorite travel places so you can find it again or click here to use it as your homepage while planning your trip to Greece. You can print out the pages you need and when you are done with them leave them for others to find. It also looks pretty good on ipod touch and iphones and other hand held devices. For those who are wondering, I started this site in 1995 and I update it continuously so if you are looking for good information about where to eat, sleep, swim, shop and educate yourself you have found it. I know you will enjoy it. Use the menu below that will lead you to the various sub-menus on this page. Worried about the current situation in Athens? Read About Athens. Questions about Athens or Greece? You can e-mail me

Basic Athens Info

Where to Play and  Stay

Travel Agents, Hotels etc

Getting Out of Athens:

Helpful Athens Info

Athens Photos & Articles

Other Greece Websites

Basic Athens Information

This section will get you started. It includes practical information like arriving at Venizelos Airport and getting into the city, to finding hotels in the best areas of Athens where you can walk to all the sites. It also includes recommended travel agents, using the metro and finding a good restaurant as well as the major reasons you are in Athens, which include the Acropolis, the museums and the most important archaeological sites as well as nightlife.

Getting to Athens:
Tips on flights for bargain hunters and info on ferries from Italy

When To Go:
The weather for Athens by the season and what to pack

Arrival in Athens:
What to expect when you get off the plane including changing money and getting to the city

Hotels in Athens:
Where to stay and how to stay there cheaply

  Travel Agents in Athens:
In my opinion these are the best

  Athens Restaurants:
A helpful Guide to good eating

The Athens Metro is Here!  

The Athens Coastal Tram

Museums of Athens:
Listing and Descriptions

The Acropolis
You can't miss this

Staying in Contact:
Internet Cafes and Phones

Breakfast in Athens:
If there is no room service there are options

Top 10 Things to
See in Athens

Crime and Scams
No need to fear. You just have to be smart

The Best Coffee in Athens

George the Famous Taxi Driver:
Athens most valuable asset

Late Night in Athens:
What to do when dinner is over

Schedules and Fares
for Trains, Buses and, Airport Shuttles

Buses:
Instructions and variety  

Matt's Tips
for Jetlag and Insomnia 

Athens Maps
Restaurants and Hotels

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Where to Play and Stay in Athens

This section will tell you where to stay, where not to stay and why, and how to make your way through the various neighborhoods and districts of downtown Athens. It also includes important archaeological sites and parks, shopping areas and more.

Athens Plaka Guide: 
A village below the Acropolis

Syntagma Square:
It's Back!

Makrianni and Koukaki
Home of the Acropolis Museum

Athinas Street
My kinda street

The Acropolis
You can't miss this

Monastiraki Flea Market:
Ever on Sundays

Kolonaki and Lykavitos:
Greece's answer to Park Ave

Thission
A pretty cool place to Be

Ermou Street
Athens Shopping District

Psiri
Cool Center of Athens

A Walking Trip in Pireaus

Ambelokipi
The Ultimate Guide

Omonia and Beyond
Help!

Exarchia
Scary to some, home to others

The Athens Market:
My favorite place

Shopping in Athens

The Gazi
Food, art and culture in the old Athens Gas Works

Kypseli
A Real Athenian Neighborhood

The 1st Cemetery
Maybe the most beautiful place in Athens

National Gardens: 
The Amazon rainforest in downtown Athens

Beaches of Athens

The Great Outdoors:
The Greenery is plentiful and expanding

Kerameikos
Ancient Cemetery
of Athens

Strollering Through Athens

A Walk Around Athens with Matt: Join me on a quick tour through Athens to some popular tourist areas and some places tourists never go. A great way to get to know the city.

Coastal Athens: Faliron, Glyfada, Voula, Vouliagmeni, Varkiza You don't have to stay downtown if you don't want to. From the Athenian Riviera you can stay at the beach and commute to the Acropolis by bus, taxi or coastal tram

Kifissia: The Cool Northern Suburbs: There is a reason the wealthy people of Athens have their summer houses in Kifissia. A milder climate and still within driving distance of downtown. Nice hotels and the metro goes all the way through Athens to Pireaus

Athens Hotel Search: Find hotels by neighborhood, category, price, or popularity with photos and reviews

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Services in Athens

This section includes recommended hotels and travel agents, taxi drivers and other businesses in Athens. The hotel section tells which areas to stay at and which to avoid.

Travel Agents in Athens:
Only the Best

Hotels in Athens:
Where to stay and how to stay there cheaply

Yachts, Sailboats
and Sailing Schools

Gold and Jewelery:
Where to buy

Melissinos:
The Poet-Sandalmaker of Athens  

George the Famous Taxi Driver 
Transfers, Tours and Hospitality

Billy's Bus Tours
Transfers and Sightseeing

Pandelis Melissinos:
Playwright, Artist, Designer, Sandalmaker, and one of the Coolest Guys in Athens

Walking Tours in Athens
Guided tours around the City

Jewish Walking Tours
Historic Sites and Museums

Limousine Service
Airport-Business and Tours

Art and Artists
in Athens and Around Greece

Villas in Greece
Apartments in Athens too

Assistance for Foreigners
Residence permits, employment, weddings, education, immigration and more

Athens Segway Tours
The Environmentally Friendly way to see Athens

Bringing A Group? Helpful work-page for Churches, schools, cultural organizations coming to Greece

Specialized Tours: Walking Tours, Food Tours, Bicycle Tours, One day Sailingtrips and more...
Travel Insurance: To buy or not to buy? With the economical and political situation does it make sense to buy travel insurance?

You can find hotels in Athens by location, price, whether or not it has a swimming pool, and see photos and reviews by using this link to booking.com. Excellent prices and many hotels you can book and then cancel with no cancellation fee. For those who want to book without using a travel agency this is the best way to do it.

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Getting Out of Athens

Most people come to Athens because they are going to the Greek Islands and this section will tell you about the islands near Athens and how to get to them and those further away. It also has sections on mainland day-trips and overnight trips, and various services who can get you out of Athens.

Rafina & Other Day-Trips:
Beaches too

Aegina, Poros and Hydra:
The nearby Islands

How to Go to Greek Island
Step by Step Directions

The Argolis
Mycenae, Epidavros and Nafplio

  Fantasy Travel of Greece
Mainland , islands, cruises and More!

Beaches of Athens
Where to Swim

Ferry Boats in Pireaus:
Helpful map and information

Lake Vouliagmeni
You Don't have to go far to find natural healing springs

The Curse of Eleusis
Did the theft of a statue 200 years ago curse the land of Eleusis?

George's Taxi Excursions:
Get out of town the fun way

Travel Agents:
My Recommendations

Car Rentals:
The Best agencies in Athens  

The Temple of Poseidon at Sounion

  Lavrion

  Going Home

Weekly Ferry Schedules

Wine Tours

A Walking Trip in Pireaus

Driving in Greece

Pireaus Hotels

Exploring Attika by Car

Coastal Athens: Faliron, Glyfada, Voula, Vouliagmeni, Varkiza: From the Athenian Riviera you can stay at the beach and commute to the Acropolis by bus, taxi or coastal tram and you can get to Pireaus to get the ferry just as easily

The New Attika Zoological Park: The 2nd largest bird collection in the world and lots of new and exotic animals that you might not expect to see in Greece

For those going to the Greek Islands I recommend you visit my Greek Island Guide which gives a brief introduction to each island and then links to pages and pages of information and photos for the islands.

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Other Helpful Athens Info

This section has a lot of important stuff, some articles written in a fun and whimsical fashion and other articles quite dry and boring but nonetheless useful. I have also included some of the articles that are featured in the sections above but are just as suited to this section. In fact the stuff I want you to read because I think it is important to you (or to me) I may have listed two or three times in this index.

Strollering Through Athens:
Traveling with Children or not...read this

Maps of Athens
Restaurants, Hotels and More

Bureacracy in Athens:
A True story

NEW! Weekend in Athens
Making the most of a very short visit

Books:
What to read for your visit to Greece

Art Galleries in Athens

Practical Athens Information
Hospitals, Currency, Long Distance Buses, statistics and stuff that you will have no interest in whatsoever

Gifts: 
What to bring home from Athens or what to bring as gifts to Athens.

The Language:
Speak Greek in Two Months!

Greek Food:
What to eat and how to say it and how it looks

Rain in Athens?:
Just in case...

Athens Nightlife:
Club listings

Patsa:
Life-enhancing soup of the working class

What Music to Buy
My Favorite Greek CDs

Demonstrations and Riots
One is rare the other easily avoidable

Amvrazi and Vrettos:
Two of my favorite journalists in Athens.

Newspapers: 
What to read and where to find them

  The Olympics
Yes they are over but you can still
look at my photos

Stray Dogs: An Athenian problem

The Athens Marathon
The original Marathon
 

  Souvlaki:
Greece's Gift to Fast Food

Socrates Drank The Conium:
Greece's Greatest Rock Group

   Something new and helpful is
Matt's Travel Tips.

Matt's Top 10 Things to do in Athens

What Things Cost in
Restaurants and Shops

Churches in Athens
AA Meetings too

Information for Wheelchair Users: from an Athens 2004 Paralympic Athlete

If you have an idea of what you want to do in Greece use my Create-an-itinerary Form Its fun.

Athens Food Tour: A Four hour tour visiting the central market and interesting food shops and restaurants in central Athens.

Questions? e-mail me at matt@greecetravel.com

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Photo Tours of Athens and Other Stuff

These are photos I have taken over the years and several articles that I could not decide where else to put them. Many of these pages are linked to from other pages above but some are not. There are also links to photo albums on some of my other websites. In fact you can see most of my best photos by going to www.greecetravel.com/photos

On The Acropolis: A Photo Journey

Lykavittos: The View from the Top

Matt's Best of Athens Page

Athens Photos:The Sixties
My Dad took these

Graffiti of Athens
This is amazing!

Inside the Parthenon 2009
A look behind the scenes

Panathinaiko Marble Stadium

Psiri 2013 Photo Album

24 Hours in Monastiraki

Athens Photos: Everyday Athens

Athens Photo Album
1998-2002

Matt Barrett for Mayor?
Read the Athens News Endorcement

Psiri Photo Tour

Flea Market Photo Journey

Ermou Street Photo Journey

 National Museum Photo Tour

Temple of Olympian Zeus

Greek Independence Day Photos

2013 Central Market Photos
Old Central Market Photo Journey

The Elgin Marbles
Not in Athens yet but they may be soon.

Laiki Farmers Markets

Athens: The Way It Used To Be
Historical Photos

Byzart
Ancient Greek Jewelry

Geniko Emborio Eklekton
Proionton Naxos

Street People of Athens

Naxos Lamb and Cheese
Market in Psiri

The Great Snowstorm
of 2002

Christmas in Greece:
If you are thinking of traveling to Greece for the Christmas Holidays

Sunday in Abysinia Square:
Athens Antique Paradise

In Search of Old Buildings
Who says Athens is a concrete jungle?

Life in Kypseli Photo Tour

Kypseli Architecture

Kypseli Laiki Agora 2009

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If you find my Athens Survival Guide useful and you would like to show your appreciation why not let people know about the site on the numerous travel boards on the internet or linking to it from your blog or website. Because I don't have the big advertising budgets of the major travel sites many people don't find me until after they have made all their plans and wish they had found my information sooner. Help spread the word about Matt Barrett's Greece Travel Guides. If you found my guides helpful and want to help me continue my work, please support the services I recommend. Without their help these pages and this website would not exist. You can also help by liking me on Facebook:

If you wish there was some simple way you could donate, well, there is and all donations small or large are appreciated and they don't go to me. They go to helping the needy in Greece. See www.greecetravel.com/donations

You can keep up with my day to day activities and thoughts in and out of Greece as well as current events and updates at www.greecetravel.com/matt-blog

Links Exchange Page
(Yes I will link to you if your page has value but if it is totally irrelevant please don't bother me)

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The Athens Survival Guide is Copyright 1995-2013 and updated continuously by Matt Barrett, most recently probably today!

Help Support Matt's Athensguide.com 
Do you enjoy using my site? Have you found it entertaining as well as useful? If so please show your appreciation by booking hotels through the travel agencies and the links found on my
 Athens Hotels page. The small comission I make on the bookings enable me to keep working and in most cases you won't find them any cheaper by searching elsewhere. You can also book at Booking.com's Athens Page and they give me a small percentage on each booking.

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