We made it and what a great trip it was too, thanks to the folks on Fodors. I have lurked here for months now and read every message about Athens and Mykonos that I could find - your advice and recommendations were fantastic.

I first have to thank Sheila for mentioning Novotel Athens and KathyNZ for giving details of the Arethusa Hotel. We got a great deal for both and thoroughly enjoyed our stay in each. Our trip needed to be as low budget as possible and your accommodation recommendations sure paid off for us.

He who thinks he is being obeyed wished to rekindle his memories of Athens (ex navy, and stationed Piraeus almost 30 years ago) and I so wanted to see the island where my heroine Shirley Valentine heard that orchestra play (hey...I live in hope!!)

We flew Delta to Athens and arrived on time. The new airport is impressive and easy to get around in. Baggage recovery was quick; we walked straight out of the arrivals area and followed the Bus Services notices to the area just outside the main door. Luckily, the E95 coach to Syntagma was 5 minutes from departing and gave us enough time to purchase our tickets at a little booth each at a cost of 2.90 euro. Amazingly cheap and the ticket also gave us use of the metro and bus services within the city for a full 24 hours from time of purchase.

The journey time into the city was only 40 minutes and the coach stopped four times on route to let passengers off. When we arrived at Syntagma we intended to take a cab to the Novotel but could not find a taxi rank. One elderly gentleman who saw our feeble attempts at flagging a cab bravely stepped onto the road and yelled our destination to a number of them as they tried to drive around him. Just watching him do this for us scared me to death as I was convinced he was about to be killed trying to help a couple of ageing newbie tourists to his city. Luckily, one of the drivers surrendered and agreed to take us to the hotel. The fare was only eight euro and the trip took less than 10 minutes.

The Novotel is in the Larissa area of the city and is about a 5-minute stroll from the metro station of the same name. The location was quiet and the locals friendly. Not many restaurants but there were a good number of small shops and a couple of supermarkets. We loved the hotel. Nice large room with powerful air-conditioning (thank God!), plus very friendly and efficient staff. They had a great rooftop pool and restaurant and we loved ending our day sitting up there enjoying the floodlit city and the view of the Acropolis.

Some things about Athens that surprised us. We saw some renovations taking place for next years Olympics but not the volume folks have been mentioning on here. Maybe we were lucky in our choices of places to visit! Many of the buildings had already been cleaned up and looked magnificent.

Oh, if m_kingdom is reading this then the Grande Bretagne in Syntagma looks fantastic after it?s refurbishment. If inside is as good as the outside then you are going to love it!

The new metro is magnificent and in particular the Acropoli and Syntagma Stations. A single trip cost .70 euro and an all day ticket was 2.90 euro

Where are the Athens cats? I had gone there expecting to see loads of them but saw very few.

Luckily, we had no smog at all when we were there although plenty of diesel fumes in some areas. That didn?t bother us too much as we get plenty of those at home.

On our first full day, we took the metro from Larissa to Syntagma and spent some time watching the Evzones at the Tomb of the Unknown Solder right in front of the House of Parliament. From there we walked up and along El Venizelou past some embassies and I headed into the Benaki museum while HWTHIBO crossed the street and visited the War Museum.

I loved the Benaki and could have spent much more time there if we hadn?t already arranged to meet outside the US embassy. From there, we walked up through Kolonaki to the funicular at Likavitos (4 euro). The views from the hill were fabulous and we had lunch in the small restaurant there (25 euro). I think we could have stayed longer had it not been for the heat. My god it was hot.

Heading back to Syntagma we walked down the avenue at the rear of the House of Parliament and saw that there are Evzones there too. So, if you cannot bear the crowds at the front sneak round to the back and see the (smaller) show. From there we strolled into the National Gardens, checked out the tiny zoo and then relaxed in the shade of the trees to eat the best peaches (bought from a street stall) I?ve ever tasted in my life.

Took the metro back to Larissa and on the way from the station to the hotel we found a small untidy looking restaurant that looked interesting (and cheap!!!). Later we visited it and had a superb dinner at a total cost for two of only 28 euro. I have never tasted lamb so good.

Day two we took the metro straight to Monastiraki and spent almost the whole day around the Plaka. We visited the Roman Agora and Greek Agora, the Tower of the Winds, Acropolis, Temple of Zeus. We also walked down to Kerameikos but could only look over its walls as the site was closed.

In the evening we ate in the Plaka and decided to take up the suggestion made here by Thanos_gr and take in a movie at the outdoor cinema. It was truly weird to be in this rooftop cinema and have the Acropolis as a backdrop. We did enjoy it though.

Day three was spent entirely in Piraeus. Metro from Larissa to Omonia then change onto the Piraeus line. Cost was .70 euro for the ticket. At first, I hated this place especially when we came out of the metro and walked along the front where the ferries were waiting to depart. It was noisy, dirty and smelly. HWTHIBO guided us back a street or two onto long avenues with stylish shops and pretty areas to rest and eat. Now I was beginning to enjoy Piraeus.

I was left on my own as he went to check out some places he knew when he was stationed there (no, I don?t even want to think about it!) and I relaxed in a beautiful little square sipping frappe and enjoying the atmosphere. Later we took the metro back to the hotel and again ate in the little restaurant we had visited at the beginning of our trip.

On our last day in Athens before heading off to Shirleys island we took the metro out to Kiffisia. What a lovely place this was and I recommend folks check it out if they ever visit Athens. It was quiet in contrast to the city centre but the air was fresh and the pace much slower.

I have probably written way too much but I am still on a high from our vacation. Sorry folks.

Part 2 (Mykonos and back to Athens) to follow but I will try and condense it a lot more. That is a promise.

Lastly, we loved the capital and were so pleasantly surprised. I had gone there expecting not to enjoy the city but left feeling good that we were returning there at the end of our trip.

Milley

I forgot to mention that I came home with loads of guides and timetables for the city transport systems including local flights to the islands. If anyone needs that information please let me know.

I am happy that you enjoyed the city and try the movie theatre.

T.

Great report... great trip! I hope this becomes the definitive answer to all those who think Athens only deserves 15 minutes.

Did you have any other Shirley Valentine moments?

I loved your report - wish it had been longer! No condensing on your installment please.

Grasshopper - 15 days would have been better! We really enjoyed the city and were so pleasantly surprised that we did bearing in mind other folks perspective on Athens. Perhaps we were just lucky that everything went without a problem.

When we came back to Athens we had a few more days during which we spent outside the city to some of the important archaeological sites. That will be in the second instalment!

Also, our accommodations were great and that helped so much. I have Kathy and Sheila to thank for those.

Other Shirley moments? He he he, those will be along in part 2 when I get the visiting kids out of here and sit down to finish the report.

HappyCheesehead, I'll do my best not to condense too much. I worry sometimes that I blather on a bit too much.

Milley

No cats in the National Gardens?

April, it is the one thing that has left us puzzled.

We saw two cats in the gardens. After reading on the web to expect to see very many there (and in the city as a whole) it was strange. I'm a cat lover and was looking forward to seeing them all.

I really hope that nothing sinister has happened. Anyone know? Thanos?

milley

Milley,
Please get that Mykonos report going.
We were in Greece last month and visited Athens, Santorini and Paros and
in Athens, we covered some same things you did. I enjoyed it also so I like reading your report to reminisce. We didn't go to Mykonos, but there's always next year so lets hear (see?) about it.
thanks,
Mark

Milley, I enjoyed your report. My daughter and I liked Athens, too; and weren't those coffee frappes good?

I'm so happy to hear you enjoyed Athens. My husband and I are leaving in 2 weeks for Athens, Santorini and Rome. Your input is so greatly appreciated. I too have been furiously reading recommendations trying to decide where to stay. We are only planning for 2 nights in Athens, so do you think we should stay in the Plaka? Where were the hotels you enjoyed so much???
Thanks again for all the details!

Hey mjhzz or whatever,
Don't stay in Plaka. its touristy and sloppy. Kind of grimy, too. Reminds me of parts of fulton street brooklyn. Stay in a nice place like intercontinental or Hotel bretagne.

You can stay NEAR the Plaka. Hotel Elektra Palace is lovely.

Mark_va: Part 2 (Mykonos) follows right after this message

carolyn: I loved the frappes. Having never tried them before I wasn't so sure I would enjoy cold nescafe but, my god, they were so refreshing. Now I need to experiment here at home and hopefully I can get a close to what I tasted, or maybe not!

mjhz: the Arethusa was right on Syntagma Square. Very central. I'll be writing more about it in part 3. The Novotel was great and is only three metro stops from the town centre and we got a superb rate through dilos.com (another recommendation here)

In both cases we needed to live well within our tight budget so we really could not consider any more expensive hotels.

Part 2 Mykonos and back to Athens

After a substantial breakfast at the Novotel, (included in our rate and a great excuse to over-indulge!) we carried our baggage the 5-minute walk to the metro at Larissa and took the service the couple of stops to Syntagma. There we huckled our stuff onto the busy airport bus (E95 and 2.90 euro each) and took the hour-long trip back to the airport.

This time the service was slower as the roads were very busy so leave time folks for any delays if you ever use the service in peak hours. Also, do not forget to put your tickets into the validation machine right inside the coach as there were warning notices about fines of 25 euro (I think) being levied against those found not to have bothered. As we did not have any bucks to spare, the man in my life got the evil eye from me to make sure he did not forget.

When the coach stopped at the airport, we wound our way past statues on display and found ourselves in the air-conditioned departures level. This was nice! It was kind of quiet luckily, and our flight was already on the board although we had at least 2 hours to spare before take off. We easily found the correct Olympic check-in desk. The young woman was perfectly polite and had good manners. She did not smile once though even after he tried a joke. That has the same effect on me so I did not think much about it.

We had some coffee (3 euro each) to while away the time and then got through to the departure gate after our hand luggage was well checked out by the security people. I tell you this too, it was one of the most thorough checks I have ever had. At the gate, the Olympic woman was again full of manners and again very polite but not a smile to be seen. Ah well, I easily prefer manners and politeness to a sugary smile so please do not think they are being rude.

A small blue bus took us from the gate to the plane. It was an ATR72. It was small. It was the smallest plane I have ever been on. Oh God.

I am a nervous flyer but I have to say the flight went without a problem and as it flew kind of low for the entire 30-minute trip the views were fantastic. The captain pointed out the main islands we flew over or past such as Evia, Andros, Syros and Tinos. They looked soooo beautiful.

Baggage retrieval was fast at Mykonos airport and we waited about 15 minutes to get a taxi at the rank (cost was 7 euro).

We were staying at the Carbonaki Hotel right in Mykonos Town so the taxi driver had to drop us off right at the harbour front and pointed out the little street we had to walk along to find the hotel. It was not wide enough for any cars so his helpfulness was appreciated. It took us all of two minutes to reach the hotel where we settled into a nice air-conditioned room. The Carbonaki, run by a very nice family, also has a pool. The elderly owner sits for hours and hours on a little stool on the sidewalk at the hotel main door and was so kind in giving us many items of information about the town and island.

I fell in love with this island immediately. The sun was strong but the winds were blowing a great cooling breeze. In my life, I cannot remember a place where the light was so bright and dazzling. That, mixed with the beautiful colours of the ever present hanging flowers, blue and red balconies, tiny narrow streets and whitewashed cube-shaped houses made it just so perfect.

We found that the town remained quiet in daytime (which suited us both) and got busier from around 5pm when folks returned from the beaches.