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Home / Type of trip / City / A family trip to Athens

A family trip to Athens

December 12, 2014 by Gretta Schifano 21 Comments

Caryatids, Athens. Copyright Gretta Schifano

Caryatids, Athens. Copyright Gretta Schifano

There seem to be quite a few negative stories in the media about Athens these days: political uncertainty, economic woes and public discontent. But don’t let this coverage discourage you from going to the Greek capital: it’s still a great place to visit.

I spent four days in Athens with my husband and children (16 and 11 years old) during the October half-term holiday. We stayed in a spacious HouseTrip apartment (review here) about 10 minutes’ walk from Aghios Ioannis metro station.

Acropolis

The first place we headed for in Athens was the Acropolis, a flat-topped rock which rises more than 150 metres above the city centre. At the top of the Acropolis are various ancient Greek buildings including the Parthenon. Entrance to the Acropolis costs 12 euros which I thought was quite expensive until I looked closely at our tickets and realised that they included entry to six of the other ancient monuments in the city. We used the tickets over the next few days to visit some of the other ancient sites such as the Temple of Zeus.

The kids grumbled about walking up the Acropolis but it really wasn’t that far and we cajoled them to the top. We were rewarded by seeing some beautiful buildings which date from 450 BC.

Parthenon, Athens. Copyright Gretta Schifano

Parthenon, Athens. Copyright Gretta Schifano

 Acropolis Museum

Below the Acropolis is the separate Acropolis Museum. This is a beautiful modern building which houses objects and artefacts from excavations of the Acropolis. From the top floor of the museum and from its restaurant there are some fabulous views of the Parthenon. The restaurant serves delicious  traditional Greek food and is a good place to wait with children while adults take it in turns to look around the museum, which is what we did.

Evzones

This is one of my favourite memories of Athens. The changing of the guard in front of the Greek parliament building on Syntagma Square is compelling to watch. The guards are called Evzones and are an elite unit of the Greek army. I think that their uniform is splendid although not very soldierly. They wear red shoes with pom-poms on the toes and they walk in choreographed and synchronised slow motion. I could have watched them for hours – here’s a video of them in action:

Lycebettus Hill

Lycebettus Hill is the highest point in the city. At the top of the hill are a 19th century chapel and a couple of restaurants. We took the funicular railway to the top but you can also walk up if you’re feeling fit, or take a taxi some of the way and walk the rest. At the top of the hill there are great views across the city to the sea. We enjoyed lunch there on the last day of our trip.

Benaki Museum

Our daughter and I loved the Benaki Museum, my husband liked it but our son wasn’t so keen. The museum is housed in a beautiful mansion in a swish part of the city near Syntagma Square. On display are thousands of fascinating objects of Greek culture from prehistory onwards. It reminded me of London’s British Museum but on a smaller scale. My daughter especially enjoyed looking at the historical costumes there. I just liked everything.

Benaki Museum, Athens. Copyright Gretta Schifano

Benaki Museum, Athens. Copyright Gretta Schifano

National Garden

Directly behind the Parliament building is the National Garden, a 38-acre city park. The weather wasn’t hot when we were in Athens but in the heat of the summer I think that this would be a good place to cool off under the shade of the trees. We walked through the park a few times and our son was thrilled to spot some turtles in a pond. There are also some duck ponds and a children’s playground in the park.

Plaka

Not far from the Acropolis, Plaka is an area of whitewashed houses and higgledy piggledy streets that looks more rural than city. Much of Plaka is pedestrianised and we enjoyed walking around the streets and exploring. Our daughter was impressed with the graffiti art which we saw there although our son felt that it was all a bit dodgy – we live in the countryside and he’s not used to seeing street art.

Athens street art. Copyright Gretta Schifano

Athens street art. Copyright Gretta Schifano

Flisvos Marina

You can take a tram from the city centre to to Flisvos Marina and look at the huge yachts moored there. We were taken to the marina by a local man who we were put in touch with through Athens Insiders, a group which organises tours led by Athenians rather than tour guides. There are shops and restaurants at the marina and it’s a pleasant place to walk around. Athens local Anna Atsalaki told me that you can also take a tram along the coast but we didn’t have time to do that. Anna shares tips and ideas for families visiting Greece at her website Kids Love Greece.

Getting around

The centre of Athens is compact and easy to get around. We walked a lot and also used the excellent, efficient Metro network. We used five-day tickets which cost 10 euros and are valid for the city’s buses, trams, and underground and overground trains except for the train to the airport for which you need a separate eight-euro ticket. We also used taxis quite often as they were ubiquitous and cheap – each taxi journey that we took seemed to cost about two euros which we rounded up to five euros because that seemed fair.

Food

We had some wonderful food in Athens. Our favourite place to eat was at a tiny restaurant near the Acropolis museum called Liondi. The food there was fantastic and the owner, Stavros, was so great with the kids that they wanted to eat there all the time. The food at the Acropolis museum restaurant was also good for breakfast and for lunch. You can eat there even if you’re not going to the museum. We also found that the bakeries in Athens were very good for buying fresh bread, pastries and pies.

A useful tip which I read in the Marco Polo travel guide to Athens is that locals don’t look at menus in restaurants and prefer to ask the staff for recommendations. We did this with Stavros at Liondi and he always came up with delicious dishes for us.

Verdict

I think that Athens is great for a family city break. The people that we met in Athens were kind and friendly (I’ve written about their kindness here), we saw some amazing things, ate some delicious food and felt very safe.

Disclosure: HouseTrip provided our accommodation in Athens.

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Related

Categories: City, Greece
Tags: Athens, city break, family city break

About Gretta Schifano

I'm a freelance journalist and blogger specialising in family travel with teenagers, trips when parents manage to travel without their kids, and 50+ travel. I also write about vegetarian travel, parenting teenagers, adoption, SEN, ADHD and anxiety. My work's been published by the Financial Times, Guardian, Independent, National Geographic Traveller, Lonely Planet and others. I've lived and worked in Italy and Spain and am now based in rural south-east England with my husband, adoptive and birth kids and our dog. I previously worked as a social action radio producer for the BBC.

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Comments

  1. Mari says

    December 18, 2014 at 4:07 pm

    I really, really hope to get to Athens one day, I have seen Agrigento in Sicily which was a taster, now I need to see the real Athens.
    Mari recently posted…Mini Christmas pudding trifles – leftovers!My Profile

    Reply
    • Gretta Schifano says

      December 18, 2014 at 6:03 pm

      You definitely do, it’s a great city.

      Reply
  2. Fritha says

    December 18, 2014 at 2:29 pm

    I’ve never been to Athens but would love to some day! x
    Fritha recently posted…Wish List – Early SalesMy Profile

    Reply
  3. Kara says

    December 18, 2014 at 9:23 am

    I have always wanted to go to athens – we have stopped over but only ever seen the airport!
    Kara recently posted…Car winter maintenance tips from the professionalsMy Profile

    Reply
  4. Zena's Suitcase says

    December 14, 2014 at 9:47 pm

    We’d love to visit Athens, I love all the history and that there’s so much to see and do. Sounds like a really memorable break
    Zena’s Suitcase recently posted…A Traditional Spanish Christmas With Villa PlusMy Profile

    Reply
  5. Louisa says

    December 14, 2014 at 8:08 pm

    I have never been to Greece before but my mom has been several times. I would love to visit and immerse myself fin it’s history.

    Reply
  6. Nell@PigeonPairandMe.com says

    December 14, 2014 at 8:07 pm

    My Greek friend lives in Athens, and I’ve really enjoyed my trips to see her there. I have fond memories of spotting a wild tortoise, making its way through the grounds of the Acropolis! The country has a lot of difficulties, but they do really look after their tourists.
    Nell@PigeonPairandMe.com recently posted…A Storybook family holidayMy Profile

    Reply
  7. Susanna says

    December 14, 2014 at 6:51 am

    I haven’t been to Athens in ages! Perhaps it’s time to go back with the kids. x
    Susanna recently posted…Tipping in California: Guide to how much and whenMy Profile

    Reply
  8. Sarah Ebner says

    December 13, 2014 at 5:00 pm

    What a lovely place to visit – just our kind of place, with the food, history, culture and just about everything. Added to our (very, very long) list….

    Reply
  9. Cass@frugalfamily says

    December 13, 2014 at 12:15 pm

    I’d love to visit Athens – it looks beautiful.

    Thanks for sharing x x
    Cass@frugalfamily recently posted…Don’t fall into the Christmas trap….My Profile

    Reply
  10. agatapokutycka says

    December 12, 2014 at 10:56 pm

    This is one of the places on my To Visit list – I always wanted to go to Athens and I hope one they I will ended up there.
    agatapokutycka recently posted…A gift guide for that person who appears to have it allMy Profile

    Reply
    • Gretta Schifano says

      December 12, 2014 at 11:13 pm

      I hope that you get the chance to go there one day!

      Reply
  11. Jen aka The Mad House says

    December 12, 2014 at 3:46 pm

    It sounds like somewhere me and the boys would love. I have never been, but I have not heard bad things about it
    Jen aka The Mad House recently posted…How to make case case Christmas treesMy Profile

    Reply
    • Gretta Schifano says

      December 12, 2014 at 11:13 pm

      It’s a very interesting place to visit and the people are lovely.

      Reply
  12. Sharmeen says

    December 12, 2014 at 2:51 pm

    Sounds like a wonderful cultured place to take the kids. I might wait until mine are a little older though! Greek food is yummy 🙂
    Sharmeen recently posted…The Lion, The Witch and The Wardrobe — Rose Theatre, Kingston-Upon-ThamesMy Profile

    Reply
    • Gretta Schifano says

      December 12, 2014 at 2:57 pm

      Yes, yours may be a bit too little!

      Reply
  13. Sonya Cisco says

    December 12, 2014 at 2:13 pm

    It is somewhere I would love to visit, I am a culture vulture rather than a beach dweller and love anywhere with plenty of history!
    Sonya Cisco recently posted…Access to Higher EducationMy Profile

    Reply
    • Gretta Schifano says

      December 12, 2014 at 2:59 pm

      I like the beach too but trips to places like Athens are great.

      Reply
  14. Globalmouse says

    December 12, 2014 at 1:31 pm

    It’s been a few years since I visited Greece and I’ve yet to take my children and I cannot wait. It’s a beautiful country and your post makes me even more determined to go!
    Globalmouse recently posted…Dick Whittington – Pantomime – Bristol Hippodrome 2014My Profile

    Reply
    • Gretta Schifano says

      December 12, 2014 at 3:00 pm

      Greece is a lovely place to go with children, we found it very welcoming.

      Reply
  15. The Diary Of A Jewellery Lover says

    December 12, 2014 at 11:18 am

    You don’t really hear much about Athens. An interesting read, thanks Greta. I would certainly consider going there now. I love holidays that combine history with sightseeing.
    The Diary Of A Jewellery Lover recently posted…Art Deco Glamour from Ungar and Ungar JewelleryMy Profile

    Reply

Trackbacks

  1. Acropolis Sunset: Best time for Visiting the Acropolis says:
    April 7, 2019 at 3:11 pm

    […] The second time I visited The Acropolis for a travel bloggers’ conference. I chased a shaft of light in the cloud above the stone column artistry, felt the spirit of Athena on the wind, and absorbed the helter skelter view of a whitewashed city at midday. Actually that’s a lie. I sweated my way up the slopes in the heat of the sun, tried to get a decent glimpse of the Parthenon, and then retired to a cafe where the lovely Stavros and his family plied me with white wine and Greek salad. I spent the rest of the afternoon in the cool, statue studded New Acropolis Museum. You can read about Stavros and the New Acropolis Museum in Gretta Schifano”s post on family Athens here. […]

    Reply

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This is a personal blog written and edited by me, Gretta Schifano. Sometimes I’m given products or sent on trips to review, but I always make this clear and give my honest opinion. See my About page for full details.

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