In this section I want to try to put together some information in very brief form which could be helpful for every tourist or visitor of the city. It should be an info-point in a certain way. More detailed information is partly in my Athens links and partly in the mentioned books and guides. And to begin with: travellers from EU countries need only an ID card for the entry. However, I recommend you to take also a passport and to keep it separated from the ID card (best in the safe of the hotel)! In this connection I also highly recommend you to use a bag with velcro fastenings for your city walks! A zipper is for sure an easy thing for pickpockets!
And here is a list of the offered subjects:
"At the Metro-Station "Amyna"
From November 2002 on there is a new phone numbering system in Greece. Let me give you some examples how does it work:
For numbers of places outside of Athens, e.g. on Rhodes (previous dialing code 0241) the number 12345, we have now: At last a change of the mobile phone numbers: Remember that emergency call numbers do not change:
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Phone numbers change
from Athens to Athens:
21 0 1234567
from Greece to Athens:
21 0 1234567
from abroad to Athens:
+30 21 0 1234567
from Rhodos to Rhodes:
2241 0 12345
from Greece to Rhodes:
2241 0 12345
from abroad to Rhodes:
+30 2241 0 12345
Old number: 09xy 1234567 now changes to 69xy 1234567 or more generally (applying from abroad too) to +30 69xy 1234567 That´s all!
100 (police),
166 (medical emergency),
199 (fire brigade),
108 (horbour police),
112 (emergency for EU-citizens, who do not know the new calling system).
Of course! All ways in Greece lead to Athens! But how is it if somebody arrives from a foreign country?! It is possible to use an overland route i.e. by railway or car, as well as the sea way or the airways. A combination of them is also usual.
Railway: Unfortunately, for railway-journeys to Greece the german railways do not offer any information in their webpage. Only direct inquiry at the railway station ticket window can help.
For railway-journeys within Greece one is dependent on the net of the Greek Railways but I have not got many positive reports about them. Anyhow, they offer a searching field special offers in their site.
Within Athens the Attica Metro (Underground) offers good possibilities to reach many areas of the city, if the last ones are near the stops.
Car: And now you are right in the chaos of Athens and ask yourself how to move from here to there. In addition the traffic in Athens is horrible, not only because it is so heavy, but also because drivers and pedestrians do not worry about traffic rules at all! For this reason I recommend to sensitive souled people to use the public means of transportation. Tough people can use a hired car:-)
Within Attica the use of the bus routes is the best choice. If you however like a certain independence during your stay, you should rather use a hired car. Of course driving in the city centre is not just a pleasure and searching for parking place can take a long time!
As for the bus connections to the different regions of Greece there is also plenty of possibilities. Let me give you here an overview about different connections and their destinations, duration and timetables.
Ship: Travellers from foreign countries can reach some of the Greek harbours with many international ferries.
For time-saving connection to the islands in the Saronic gulf or in the Aegaean See, you can use the fast ferries. However, more pleasant, relaxing (and cheaper) is a trip with the numerous domestic ferries. Pay attention that except of Piraeus main port, there is also the harbours of Zea (on the Piraeus peninsula) and of Rafina (east coast of Attica) where many shipping lines call in.
Plane: There are direct air connection from the most big cities in every country to Athens and I recommend you to look after special offers as you can save a lot of money! Just search for "cheap flights" or "cheap tickets" in your favorite search engine. But don´t be content with the first few prices you get there. There is for sure cheaper ones and you should ask also at a travel agency showing them the prices you got in the internet!
Let me point out the offers of the most known Greek airlines, the Olympic Airlines, the Aegean Air, and the Cyprus Airways.
After arriving at the new airport of Athens "Eleftherios Venizelos", you will find good connections to Athens. Of course you can also order a hired car directly at the airport and deliver it there as well.
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"The hotel "Adrian" in der Adrianou Street in Plaka"
And now the question "where to stay in Athens?" There is no need to worry about, as there are lots of possibilities for everybody´s means and almost at every corner of Athens. Especially if you want to stay not just for 2-3 days, you will find out that you can find rooms without advance reservation. Nevertheless I recommend you to make such a reservation if you are not familiar with Athens and don´t know where to search for.
Just search in the internet for "hotels athens greece" and you will find lots of offers! Let me mention some "well-tried" webpages.
We start with the Hostels in Greece which are cheap and also neat. We continue with a further list of hotels with address, phone and category. Yet another list with detailed hotel descriptions and prices. And if you still didn´t find any place to stay, then have a look in the hotel search engine of travel.gr
Tip: If you search for an accommodation in Athens and you can not find out where is the correspnding address, then you can have a certain orientation by the phone number (without the country and city area code +30-210). Numbers beginning with "3" (e.g., 32 10 065) are in the city centre area. Numbers beginning with "5" or "9" are also in direct vicinity to the city centre, but I advise you not to stay in hotels in the area "5". This region is not just a noble one!
And for the purpose of better orientation let me offer you also a good readable and extensive map of Athens. You can move to adjacent sections by clicking on the edge zones. The start segment is the city centre with the syntagma square.
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"The tavern "Psarras" (fisherman) in Plaka"
After you have recovered a little bit in the hotel, you now feel that your body asks for the first meal. Also no problem, you will find in Athens a place for every purse and every taste direction, no matter if original greek, french, indian or even McDonalds (by the way: there is also a "greek Mac":-)) There is a even a german brewery where you can enjoy a really good beer! And the "Pizza Hut" as well as the "Souvlaki"-snack stands offer good possibilities for fast food spirits.
Nevertheless you can have an overview of some recommended Athens Restaurants with good descriptions of their specialties, even though without addresses. Very well known is also the "Psirri" area near Monastiraki square with many Restaurants, Cafés and Bars. In every case I recommend you to buy the english newspaper "Athens News", where you can also find many useful informations, addresses and recommendations.
If you are interested in preparing some greek dishes you can have a look for some greek recipes with descriptions and photographs. Also the Greek Cuisine site offers lots of recipes.
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"Cafés in the noble quarter Kolonaki"
After the satisfaction of the physical needs, you should do something for the soul now :-) If you do not find anything fitting to your preferences amongst all the broad cultural offers in Athens, then you are an exceptional person! There are hundreds of theaters and cinemas, lots of galleries, and of course discos, bars etc. I would like to mention that several cinemas offer movies in their original language! For an overview just buy the newspaper "Athens News". Even in their online site you can get some good hints. Many recommendations are also in the site of Athens Life. A good collection of corresponding addresses is the site of Hello Athens and in the overview of Greek Night.
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"Open-air concert in the Herodes-Atticus Theater"
To find some interesting event it is of course not the best method to walk along the streets of Athens! Let me mention some good overviews about events in Athens as well as in other parts of Greece.
We begin with the Events Search-Engine of the Greek Ministry for Culture. A further search engine What´s on When completes the overview. The english edition of the daily newspaper Kathimerini (the Daily) offers in its column "Arts & Leisure" (left side) detailed List with descriptions of theater, cinema, music and other events in Athens.
It is also important to know about public and local festivals and holidays. A nice collection with short descriptions and classified by month is in the Festivals, Celebrations & Holidays in Greece. To close this part let me give you also a Calendar where you can find out the corresponding dates for several countries and years.
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"The Ophthalmic Clinic on the Panepistimiou Street"
It is possible that you got an upset stomach or similar after some nice evening with many "ouzo" and "retsina" drinks! The first stop in such case is a pharmacy and in hopeless cases the next doctor or even hospital. Don´t forget in this connection of the completely uneven footpaths of Athens! In case that you will need a doctor, buy an issue of the mentioned Athens News and you will find some recoomendations there. I think that almost every doctor will be able to talk with you in english. For emergency needs use:
Hint: Ask your health insurance before you leave your country if they have an agreement with Greece and if they would accept private bills from greek doctors! If yes, you are lucky! If they tell you that they have an agreement with IKA (greek institution for public health assurance) then take some more money with you and DON´T GO TO IKA!!!.
Maybe you will search for this or that address in Athens, an internet café, a bookstore, the tourist´s police etc. So let me give you now some useful addresses and numbers.
For any questions before your departure offers the Hellenic Tourism Organization a list with all their offices abroad. Also for the time before departure and during your stay in Greece a list of the Greek Embassies & Consulates can be very useful as well in your country as also to find out about authorities of your country in Greece.
And on being in Athens print this page and put it in your handbag, to be able to use it for emergency cases:
First Aid: Tel. 166
Police emergency call: Tel. 100
Tourist's police: Tel. 171
Tourist´s Police
Leoforos Singrou 7, Tel. 210 92 39 224
Lost Property Office : Tel. 210 64 21 616
Fire Brigade : Tel. 199
Harbour Police : Tel. 108
Emergency Doctors Athens : Tel. 178
K.A.T.
(Hospital for Accidents),
Nikis 2, Kifissia, Tel. 210 80 14 410
Road Assistance (ELPA) : Tel. 104
Automobilists Information : Tel. 174
Traffic Police
for Attica district
Agiou Konstantinou str. 38
Tel. 210 52 30 111
Greek National Tourist Organization
Amerikis 2, Athen
Tel.: 210 32 71 300 till 302
Athens Information Office
Amerikis Str. 4, Athen
Tel.: 210 33 10 561 25.
With this search engine you can search in my site or in the whole web:
