The legendary Grande Bretagne Hotel in Syntagma Square and the Hilton on Vasillisis Sofia Boulevard have been entirely remodeled in honor of visitors in the Olympic year and beyond. The Metro of Athens city has significantly diminished Athens’s endemic gridlock and nefos (smog). Still, traffic in central Athens can be fierce. Visitors may be forgiven for sometimes wondering, if Athens, with all its fabled glories, is the ideal holiday destination. Don’t despair: Quite soon, you’ll almost certainly develop your own love-hate relationship with Athens, snarling at the traffic and gasping in wonder at the Acropolis, fuming at the taxi driver who tries to overcharge you - and marveling at the stranger who realizes that you’re lost and walks several blocks out of his way to take you where you’re going. Even though you’ve probably come here to see the "glory that was Greece", perhaps best symbolized by the Parthenon and the superb statues and vases in the National Archaeological Museum, allow some time to make haste slowly in Athens.
Your best moments may come sitting at a small cafe, sipping a tiny cup of the sweet sludge that the Greeks call coffee, or getting hopelessly lost in the Plaka - only to find yourself in the shady courtyard of an old church, or suddenly face to face with an ancient monument you never knew existed. With only a little advance planning, you can find a good hotel here, eat well in convivial restaurants, enjoy local customs such as the refreshing afternoon siesta and the leisurely evening volta (promenade or stroll) - and leave Athens planning to return, as the Greeks say, tou chronou (next year). And if you do get caught in an Athenian gridlock, just remember what it was like when the Parthenon was built: Teams of mules dragged carts laden with 12-ton blocks of marble from Mount Pendeli along today’s Queen Sophia Avenue to the Acropolis. If an axle broke, traffic stopped for several days until the damage was repaired. If this website, you’ll get some good ideas on how to approach the city. As far as when to go, from mid-March through May it’s almost always pleasant and mild in Athens, although Greeks rightly say that the March wind has "teeth".
Between June and August, the temperature usually rises steadily, making August a good month to emulate Athenian practice and try to avoid the city. If you do come here in August, you’ll find that Athens, like Paris, belongs to the tourists: some 60% of all Athenians take their summer holiday between the first and fifteenth of August. September is usually balmy, with occasional light rain, although it’s not unknown for August heat to spill over well into September. October usually offers beautiful summer/autumn weather, with rain and some high winds likely, and might be intermittently chilly. Most rain falls between November and February, when Athens can be colder and windier than you might expect. Average daytime temperatures range from 11°C (52°F) in January to 33°C (92°F) in August. Stretches when it’s well over 38°C (100°F) are not uncommon in August, when anyone with health problems such as asthma should be wary of Athens’s nefos. The city can be very hot and exhausting - be sure to give yourself time off for a coffee or a cold drink in a cafe. After all, you’re on vacation! |
