The city that isn`t finished, has never been finished and probably never will.
Confused? I was hoping you`d be! Let me break it down to you by taking you around Athens and a recent stay (September 2021) of mine.
Let us begin with a few facts… The metropolis region is home to more than 3 Million people and Europes oldest city with relics reaching back to 3000 years before christ. Its historically important role in education, politcs and sports will become a great role of todays tourism later on.
* Disclaimer: Photos have mostly slightly been modified to remove disturbing trash or objects *
Diving into my experience.
As any metropolis, Athens offers a great amount of sights. Whilst the most obvious are historical buildings, just like the Acropolis, there`s a lot more to discover. From great views over the Mediterranean Sea, great parks, nice beaches, great shopping malls to sport acitivities all over the city (like hiking a mountain to get a good view).
Sidenote: All state lead historical sights, like the Acropolis, are free for all Europeans younger than 25. (Woop woop)
Unless you`re into walking a taxi is probably your best bet for transport, as Bus and Metros don`t really take you to all places necessary. Besides that, the Bus felt very unreliable. (We ended up walking to the Tram or Metro instead) Funfact. Athens has exactly 3 Metro Lines and 3 Metros for a region of 3+ million residents. Not sufficient.
Tourism is a great factor in Athens. Thanks to Covid and the time of travel being after the main touristic season places haven`t ever been overcrowded and allowed for great views of the huge town that is Athens..
Unfortunaly, whilst most views where nice, they were always cluttered with damaged or poorly maintaned buildings, trash or very weirdly placed objects, like poles or antennas just in front of the most perfect view of the Acropolis… Extremely touristy spaces are mostly cleaned up, but side-streets or hikes from Point A to B often expose a different character.
Greece is the most beautiful country in the world. But it has the worst people.
Native Tourist Lead near the acropolis
Another negative is the „greek“ way to use space around the city. A subway track leading through an ancient greek bath is one example. The pure waste of building land; The amount of abandoned buildings in the best of places; The randomness of building decisions all around the city. The differences between several areas around the city. Certainly being (at least partially) created by the financial crisis years back, whilst it seemed advocated by locals. Several residents were telling us, that they would just abondon an old building and build a new one somewhere else instead of renovating or activly taking care.
But negatives away Athens is an amazing city. Amazing sights, history lessons all over the city, beautiful rooftop bars, nice markets make Athens a pretty unique city to my experience.
Would I tell you to go? – Definitely.
Would i go again? – Probably not within in the next 10 years.
