Things to do in Athens

Athens wraps a modern, lively capital around the rock of the Acropolis. The Parthenon still crowns the hill, and the glass-floored Acropolis Museum at its foot shows the sculptures that once decorated it. Below, the lanes of Plaka and Monastiraki are full of tavernas, markets and small Byzantine churches.

The city is also a launch pad. Ferries and day cruises leave Piraeus for the Saronic islands of Aegina, Hydra, Poros and Agistri, and the cliff-top monasteries of Meteora are a long but rewarding day away on the mainland.