Anything open Easter Sunday in Athens?
 

We are arriving in Athens,late Saturday night and the next day will be Easter Sunday. <BR>Does any one know if we will be able to sight see on Easter? How about restaurants? I have a feeling most everything will be closed. Any info would be appreciated. <BR> <BR>

Remeber that majority of Greeks celebrate Orthodox Easter which is different time from Christian Easter. I don't think you will have any problem

xxx poster is right, except for one little thing... Orthodox are Christians too. Only they have different calendar.

Thanks yyy. I mean it.

This year (2001) Roman Easter and Orthodox Easter happen to fall on the same day. You will certainly be able to walk around Athens on Easter Sunday, and no doubt there will be a few places open, but not many. Plaka is probably your best bet for open places since that is where the majority of tourists end up, and there is always someone there who is interested in business. Depending on when you arrive, you might want to participate in the Easter Eve church services, which are quite beautiful and moving. There are Orthodox churches all over Athens and quite easy to find.

Renee, <BR> <BR>I was in Athens several years ago (1993) for their Easter Sunday by accident and found most places closed. There were some nice open parks we could walk around, but there was very little else open, and we found it hard to find any places open for food. Even McDonalds was closed! <BR> <BR>Since you know in advance that this could be a problem, I would think you could plan around it by trying to find some restaurants open that day. In 93 I was an ignorant college backpacker who had already lived through the frustation of finding everything closed in Rome for Easter, only to make my way to Athens a few weeks later and facing the same problem. Good luck!

Thanks everyone for your helpful advice. I'm going to check around and call a few places to find out if any sights (Acropolis, etc.) will be open on Easter. If not, we'll just enjoy the festivities...

Beware! <BR>Easter Sunday is the most important day of the year in Greece! Don't expect anything to be open except the occasional little "periptero" (kiosk)... No way there'll be any sites open for sightseeing (99.9%sure)! <BR> <BR>Regards <BR>Martina <BR>www.paros-online.com <BR>

<BR>We're also planning to be there on Easter this year. Won't the hotel restaurants at least be open? Also, aren't there any free sites where you can just walk around?