Athens, the capital of Greece, is always on the itinerary when taking a holiday on the islands.

As it is very difficult to plan the timetables of planes to coincide with those of boats, it is advisable to plan on spending a night in Athens when going as well as when returning.

At first glance, Athens, built at the bottom of a basin, gives the impression of a noisy, over-populated and polluted metropolis, damaged by chaotic town planning and rather bad taste in architecture.

Athens houses a third of the country's population and is home to half of the country's industrial employment.

In spite of its drawbacks, however, Athens is an important link between the West and the East. It is a fascinating city which holds many secrets and would be well worth a longer visit.

BThe cradle of western civilization, it is dominated by the Lycabette hills and those of the Acropolis where the Partheno, symbol of Greek history, stands.

In order to make your visit easier, we have selected hotels at Plaka, the oldest district of Athens, at the foot of the Acropolis.

Avoid the main streets where there are too many souvenir shops, taverns catering for the tourist trade, cafes and nightclubs, and go straight towards its other winding streets. You will be charmed by its maze of alleyways, some stepped and some paved with marble, bordered by Byzantine churches, beautiful neoclassical residences and low houses with their small flowered gardens. You will also see there, as well as in the district of Psiri for example, a succession of traditional workshops grouped together into corporations and forming neighbourhoods in their own right - scrap merchants, leather craftsmen, shoemakers, jewellers. Here and there you will find underground taverns and authentic "cafeneons" along the pavements.

Don't miss the opportunity of visiting the numerous museums of Athens, with their collections tracing the history of Greece. Among the most interesting are the Acropolis Museum, the Archaeological Museum, the Museum of Cycladic Art, the Byzantine Museum and the Benaki Museum.