Day 11: Exploring Athens
City tour and a tour of Acropolis
GREECE 2025
9/27/20253 min read
Sightseeing day
First, we needed to figure out how to get to Athens from Piraeus, where we had the apartment. We were close to the train station, so we took the train for three stops, then the metro for another five stops, and arrived right in front of the Acropolis hill. A daily pass for all public transportation costs €4.10. The combination of train and metro is the fastest way to commute in the city because it is not affected by traffic.
The Acropolis
To visit the Acropolis, you need to buy a ticket, and if you want more, you can book a guided tour. I downloaded an app with a guided tour, which helped us navigate. Admission to the Acropolis is free on some national holidays and certain other days, including the last weekend in September, which was when we visited. We still needed a ticket and were assigned an entrance time, but we didn't pay anything. Because of the free entrance, the number of visitors was enormous. We had to wait about 45 minutes to be allowed to enter.
The Acropolis hill is amazing. The buildings are astonishing, and restoration work is constantly ongoing to preserve this cultural heritage.
The amphitheater beneath the Acropolis hill (see picture below) has been restored and now hosts contemporary artists. Plácido Domingo, José Carreras, and many others have performed here.
Hop-on, hop-off city tour
We booked a city bus tour and saw some of the most well-known points of interest in Athens. The city center is quite clean and well maintained.
We got off the bus two stops before the end of the tour and explored that area on foot. The most picturesque part of the city was Plaka, where we walked the streets, had dinner, and then continued to the metro station to head home. It was already dark when we arrived.
Each building on the Acropolis hill has its own history and significance. It is almost surreal to consider how many people have visited this place from ancient times to today, and all the events that have occurred here and influenced history.
