Athens may not be the first place you think of when planning a city break in Europe or even a holiday in Greece. Mention it to anyone and they most probably urge you to avoid the place, Recently, an acquaintance went on a Mediterrean cruise and returned extolling the virtues of Rome, Croatia and Sorrento etc but reported back that when the boat stopped off at Athens, everyone was back by midday !! Typical !

Whilst of course people can easily form opinions especially when travelling from Piraeus to Athens, (the particular journey is no more picteresque than travelling on the A13 towards London). There is so much more to this city than a quick trip around the Parthenon.

As mentioned for many years Athens was used as a gateway to somewhere else or was seen as somewhere only for the historical sites, whilst the smog ensured you got out swiftly. However, things are now and this is certainly need not be the case anymore. Since the 2004 Olympics Athens has had a massive clean up. Beautiful old mansions have been restored, hundreds of trees planted, and perhaps our favourite and most impressive of all, the historical sites have all been linked up by a beautiful pedestrainised promenade. It has a new clean and efficient metro system and a new airport. It is in fact a surprisingly up to date and modern city..

An ancient city, not quite Europe but neither of the ‘east’ it is uniquely in the middle, embracing its heritage and blending it to achieve the uniquensss, it lacks the glamour of Paris or the beauty of Rome but more than makes up for this in revelry.

Yes Athens is not an instant knockout, it is not ‘beautiful or biscuit tin pretty", it takes time to discover, Athens really cannot be ‘done in a day’. If you try this you will be disappointed.

For us the real point, the raison d’etre of Athens is not how it looks but how it feels. It has warmth, it has atmosphere and an easy sense of self It is uniquely Greek. By this we mean it has a real genuine café culture, going back centuries, its as if Greeks were born with a coffee in one hand and a cigarette in the other.

Its convivial, laid back, hospitable. Greeks enjoy life and especially pleasure to the full and it shows. As you people watch from a crowded café in the middle of a weekday afternoon you may wonder if anyone goes to work in this city. In fact people are everywhere at everyhour, there never seems to be a dead hour of the day.

Greek people are incredibly social, they love crowds, the more the merrier. In fact there is no such word in the Greek language for ‘isolation’. No other city I have visited can boast such an array of traditional coffee houses, cafes, zaharoplastilo (patisseries ) tavernas, restaurants, bars, nightclubs and bouzouki joints, all of which are busy throughout week, Not for them the ‘I can’t go out on a school night’ excuse.! This would be unheard of. What is also different here is that its not just the city centre where this socializing goes on. As you venture further out into the suburbs of Athens, every neighbourhood square will be packed with the locals, young and old and of course the neighbourhood dogs, all camped out well into the night like there is no tomorrow.

For us this is the essence of Athens and Greece in general and why we love it so much But there is more, the beautiful coastal drive and romantic little coves, the late night bakeries, the music, the food, mountains, the refreshing relief of the sea. Whether eating lobster spaghetti in Microlimano (Small Harbour) for lunch , going out for cake and frappe at 9pm or a cold beer and a souvlaki on a sweltering day, tempted? Then read on and get planning your trip we promise you will love it……..