Athens

Athens is not a pretty city at first sight. You come in from the airport past concrete apartment blocks, graffiti and traffic, and then the road bends and the Parthenon is sitting on its rock above everything, the colour of old bone in the afternoon sun. That contrast is the whole city. Two and a half thousand years ago this was where democracy, drama and much of Western philosophy took shape, and the ruins are still right there, between the kiosks and the apartment balconies.

The trick is not to treat Athens as a transit stop on the way to the islands. Give it two or three days. See the Acropolis early, walk the old town in the evening, eat late the way Athenians do, and spend a sunset on one of the hills. Start with our Athens travel guide.

Athens International Airport is about 30 km east of the centre, and metro line 3 runs from the terminal straight to Syntagma and Monastiraki. Express buses cover the night. Piraeus, the main ferry port, is on the metro too. Our getting there guide covers the airport, the ports and the long-distance buses.

For a short first trip, stay in the triangle between Syntagma, Plaka and Monastiraki, or in Koukaki just south of the Acropolis. Psyrri suits night owls, Kolonaki suits people who like boutiques, and Pangrati suits those who want to live like locals. We compare them in our where to stay guide.

The Acropolis and its museum come first. After that, walk the lanes of Plaka, Anafiotika and Monastiraki, where ruins turn up at street corners. Our things to do list covers the rest of the city, and the day trips guide goes out to Sounion, Delphi and the islands.

Athens eats on the street and late at night. Try souvlaki wrapped in pita with tomato, onion and tzatziki, and koulouri, a ring of bread crusted with sesame, from a street cart in the morning. Loukoumades are small fried dough balls in honey syrup. In a taverna, order a spread of meze to share, with ouzo or a jug of house wine.

Classical Athens peaked in the 5th century BC under Pericles, when the Parthenon went up. Then came centuries as a provincial town under Rome, Byzantium and the Ottomans. In 1834 it became the capital of the new Greek state, which is why so much of the centre is neoclassical. Listen for rebetiko, the bouzouki music of the port and the old refugee neighbourhoods, in the small music tavernas.