Would you visit Athens this summer?
 

I am on the fence about a possible trip to Athens this summer. My husband and I have visited often, and he would be returning for business reasons. But... we would also bring my son and two of his friends, both of whom have never been out of the U.S., so I feel doubly responsible for the arrangements. Would you go? I'd really appreciate some wisdom/advice from recent travelers, although I realize that no one can predict what lies ahead. Thanks so much for your help! BTW, the current plan takes us home through Italy! Of course I already plan on getting travel insurance!

Yes, we will go, have most of June, but no details yet. I already have tickets in and out of Brussels for a ridiculously low price I bought in Sept. DH wants to visit his grandfather's village in Calabria and we would go back to Rome and onto Greece. I saw your earlier post about Corfu where we want to go as well, but I'm not sure you can get there from Italy in early June. Still sort of watching what is happening.

What are you concerned about? We were there this Sept and didnt notice anything was going on. There may be strikes, so be prepared for that kind of disruption/closures and avoid Syntagma Square if there is a protest and you should be fine unless something drastically changes, which we cannot forsee. We will be heading to the Greek Islands in Aug next year with a night over in Athens and are not concerned.

Would I visit Athens this summer? Why ever not?

Would I visit a country whose police assault peaceful demonstators? (http://www.fodors.com/community/fodo...protestors.cfm).

Most certainly not.

A friend of ours in Athens suggested that she wasn't leaving her house during the week due to disruptions and the garbage strike, so it gave me pause about the upcoming trip. Thanks for your advice.

oliverandharry: Regarding Corfu: My understanding is that flights between Corfu and Rome resume at the end of June, so we're going straight from Athens to Rome.

Me and some other Millions of Athenians live peaceful in Athens... go to our office every day, we enjoy our city, especially in the summer, and no one can take that away from us.
Demonstrations are always taking place on Syntagma Square, so we try to avoid that particular part of Athens in the worst case...

Athens has a lot to offer and it would be a pity not to see the Acropolis and the New Acropolis Museum or the National Archeological Museum or just walk in the Plaka....
But again Athens is much more than that, it offers very nice suburbs and places to see, where the average tourists unfortunately don't go.

As for the police, Greek police isn't more aggressive from any other police.. ( i've seen enough police brutality from German police, when i was studying in Germany- would i avoid returning to Germany because of that? certainly not)

Clausar,

Thanks for your post. Great to hear from someone who's living there. Our friends' report gave us second thoughts. We love Greece and look forward to experiencing it with two kids who've never had the pleasure of seeing it before. Thanks again!

Well said Clausar!
I have numerous friends in Athens & visit as often as possible, nine times so far this year, with one more definite trip planned, another if I can afford it! Never once have I considered not going, nor have I had any problems when I did go.
One of my friends lives centrally (opposite the Hilton) & has never been confined to his home yet!

This has been an informative discussion thanks to all who participated.
I can only add that we walked into a demonstration at Syntagma Square. There were police everywhere loudspeakers blaring and the whole area was taped off by the police. Outside the taped line life went on as usual people were sitting drinking coffee we sat on a park bench 100 meters away and enjoyed the cool of the National Garden. It was not scary or dangerous just Greeks exercising their right to say their bit.

"Would I visit a country whose police assault peaceful demonstators? Most certainly not."

It's a win-win for all.