Things to do in Greece Athens
In answer to all those who have e-mailed me to ask what they should not miss while in Athens I have put together my own Top-10 list of the most important sites and things to do and see in the city. They may not be everybody's Top-10 and I may have cheated a little and squeezed a few more than 10 places in, but that is the nature of Athens. There are few cities in the world with more to see.
1) The Parthenon
Even if you don't care about archaeology or the fact that if it were not for the ancient Greeks you might be living in a far less civilized way, you can't come to Athens and not visit the Acropolis and see the Parthenon. Yes I know that there are actually Athenians who have never climbed the steps to see one of the wonders of the ancient world, the reason millions of people come to their city, the spectacular building that symbolizes some of the highest achievements of mankind. But that's no excuse. If you do nothing else on your visit to Athens, this is the one thing you should do. Since you can buy a ticket that allows you to see the other major archaeological sites that day I can free up some of my top ten space since the Theater of Herod Atticus, Theater of Dionysious and the and even are all included among others, in the price of admission. Oh yeah and don't forget the new Acropolis Museum. See The Acropolis
2) The National Archaeological Museum
Yes it is a 45 minute walk from Syntagma but this is one of the great museums of the world, right up there with ummmmm, well those other great ones. You won't find a better collection of ancient Greek sculpture, jewellery, pottery, and the Antikythira Device, a 2000 year old computer found in the shipwreck off the island of Antikithira will have you wondering just how advanced those ancient Greeks actually were. Athens has a lot of museums and depending on your interest you may find another that is more interesting, like if you love coins, the Nuimismatic Museum or if you like religious Icons the Byzantine Museum or if you like weapons the War Museum or if you want to see a continuous history from ancient to modern Greece go to the Benaki Museum which I actually like better. But in terms of importance you can't beat the National Archaeological Museum. If you like cars there is the Hellenic Motor Museum, one of my favorites and right around the corner from here.
