Athens: top attractions & road trip guide
Athens is the capital of Greece and one of the world's oldest continuously inhabited cities, its skyline defined by the Acropolis and its 5th-century BC temples. The city blends ancient ruins, Byzantine churches, and 19th-century neoclassical buildings with a dense modern metropolis of nearly four million people.
Most road trips through Greece begin or end in Athens, since it sits at the country's main gateway with the largest airport and port connections. From the city, routes run west across the Peloponnese via the Corinth Canal and Rio-Antirrio bridge, or north toward Delphi and central Greece, mostly on tolled motorways.
Top attractions
Acropolis
A fortified hilltop citadel crowned by the Parthenon, built in the 5th century BC as a temple to Athena.
Parthenon
The largest surviving Doric temple in Greece, regarded as the finest example of ancient Greek architecture.
Ancient Agora
The civic and commercial heart of ancient Athens, where democracy, philosophy, and public life took shape.
Plaka
A historic neighborhood of narrow lanes beneath the Acropolis, known as the old town of Athens.
National Archaeological Museum
The largest archaeological museum in Greece, holding an extensive collection spanning prehistory to late antiquity.
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