Take a plane....
Travel in Greece is easy and inexpensive, even if it can be a bit challenging.  If you haven't traveled on scheduled airlines in Greece you will be amazed to find the locals of all ages both mainland and island hopping in no more than casual everyday wear.  No suitcases - sometimes no jackets - sometimes in smart working clothes maybe going to a meeting via jet airliner!  Using the airlines it is possible to visit almost anywhere, and return, in a day.

From here on Crete we sometimes take an early morning (sometimes late morning) flight to Athens and head for our favourite place - the Acropolis area of Athens.  We usually get from the airport by Express bus - although sometimes we take a cab if we need the time - and head for Syntagma square.  And we always, but always, ride the Metro either to the Acropolis Station  only a couple of minutes walk from the Acropolis itself.  Or walk to the Acropolis via Plaka and take the Metro back to Syntagma.  Beside the Acropolis there is a lot of road work going on right now, because the city has permanently closed the once very busy main road running alongside to traffic and is well on the way to returning it to its original state - a pedestrian only road which was part of the Acropolis area.  

We don't usually climb up to the monument unless we are with visiting friends, but if you haven't been you should.  Not only for the monument itself but for the absolutely stunning views of the city lying below and stretching away into the distance all around.  You cannot of course see the whole of Athens at once because the Acropolis itself occupies that vantage point, but walking around the monument is like walking around the inside of a circle with the city all around below. Magic!

Monastiraki...
We take the footpath around the base outside the walls and head for Monastiraki - a part of ancient Athens which must have been created by a Greek Merlin!  Trapped between the main thoroughfares of Ermou and Adrianou Str; the Acropolis and the ancient monuments outside the walls, Monastiraki is another world, from another age.  Still here...  You can buy almost anything from telephone cards (Greek telephone cards have pictures islands and mainland Greece which make them very collectable) to genuine antiques; furniture, sextants (and many other parts) from ships which have sailed on; weapons both old and new; clothing; books; brass ornaments; WWII left-overs; cassettes; CDs; electrical goods and endless other brick-a-brac.  You can often also buy illegal goods, which is NOT a good idea.
Monastiraki flea market, Athens.
Monastiraki Flea Market, Athens
Plaka...
Plaka is where we head, usually around 2pm looking for lunch, enjoying mingling with the tourists and stopping off along the way to examine the wares in the shops along the narrow streets.  Greek pottery of all shapes and sizes; jewelry; watches; clocks; key rings; paintings; woven goods; tea shirts; hats; and even, on the edge of Plaka, carpets!  I once became the 'Patron' of a small shop which sells only sponges when the sole assistant had to leave in search of change...  It is colourful, very pleasant, maybe a bit hot.  But you can always buy an ice-cream, a coffee or work your way to the taverna end in search of a full meal.  Sometimes we stop en route, detouring to Mitropoleos Square and the Metropolis Cafe (patisserie & Zacharoplasteio) where we seem to be remembered mostly because arriving late one December evening almost direct from the 'plane, I insisted on sitting outside with a beer in what was considered sub-arctic conditions.  Having only a short time before having flown in from a real sub-arctic UK the temperature in Athens was positively heart warming!
Byzantino...
The real target for us though is most likely to be Byzantino Taverna on Kidathineon Str.  Although often crowded, especially during the tourist season, the food here is magnificent.  I am wasted on this place - I always have the lamb; a beer; maybe a little of my wife's Liotaki Retsina, and watch the world go by - or stop at the Periptero across the way.  Large parties of touring Greek school-children are often mustered in the square behind the Periptero while their teachers hold animated conversations while comparing registers with absences!  An hour or two at Byzantino is incomparable.
Diogenies...
Sometimes, especially on a Sunday afternoon or on an evening, we buy lunch or evening meal at the Diogenies Taverna at the Acropolis end of Plaka.  Diogenies has a rather classy restaurant style dining room on one side of the road and a cafe/bar outdoor dining area on the other in  street.  In summer take the outdoor option, candle-lit tables, good food and their own house wine in the small tree-lined square is an experience.  In winter use the posh side across the road - the food is good and live Greek bouzouki/guitar music is worth keeping warm for.
If you can only spare today....
Then you have a couple of hours to get back to the airport, we either walk back to Syntagma or, if we walked to the Acropolis from there this morning, take the Metro from the Acropolis Station to Syntagma and either get the Airport Express bus or take a cab back to Eleftherios Venizelos in time for our check-in and flight back to Crete, which is where the real Eleftherios Venizelos came from.  And there are not many other return destinations that you could look forward to after a day in Athens.
Variations on the air travel theme...
When we can spare a night too, we usually book into Acropolis View Hotel, on Roberto Gallie five minutes walk from the Acropolis - all rooms have a view of the Acropolis; the prices have always been good and the staff are very friendly and helpful.  We then have a night on the town!  Out to our very favourite night spot - about fifteen or twenty minutes walk at the Acropolis end of Plaka, To Pallio Taverna.  My wife Pam will hate me for revealing this, but it is the least I can do for such a welcoming taverna with great food and a regular Greek music group who really make the wall murals of a welcoming taverna complete with pictures of tipsy smiling Greeks of old come alive.  But do be warned - this taverna is almost always full to the brim with Athenians out on the town, with almost no space between the tables, celebrating for all manner of reasons.  Even, it seems, just because they want to!  It can be hot; noisy and tight packed.  Full of life.  If it's life you want here it is.  The service is good.  If you want a quiet meal go back to Diogenies or one of the other tavernas nearby.  We always walk back to the hotel.  If you do this be aware - there is often a strong police presence in this area at night - as in any major city centre area at night, so if you stay with the bright lights there is no reason not to feel safe.  And when you get back to the hotel the floodlit Acropolis greets you from your room window or from the roof garden.  Cocoa or night-cap, don't stay inside and miss it.  Especially if it is moonlit!
Fly there, cruise back...
Or the other way round - or cruise both ways.  Ferries from North Western Crete (Souda Bay) leave for Athens (Piraeus Seaport) every night usually at 8.30pm, arriving at Pireaus at around 6am.  Ferries back at the same times from the respective ports.  Which means that it is possible to have a day in Athens and an overnight cruise, sleeping on the ferries, and not lose any holiday day time.  The only Ferry company sailing this route from Chania is ANEK Lines.  The two regular ferries, Lissos and Lato, ply the route between them, passing each other in opposite directions every night.  If you wanted to sail both then go one night and come back the next.  At summer peak times, especially August, there may be two sailings each way every day.  At these times of the year I would only attempt this method of getting a day in Athens if I were prepared to get stuck.  Strikes are not uncommon.  Milling crowds of strike-bound travelers places to avoid - especially in the heat of summer. In theory you could take your hire car but this would increase the cost by about one third and you would need to clear this with the hire company.  Nor is it worth missing the Metro or walking in Athens in exchange for a day in Athens traffic.

 

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