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Athens Walking Tours
Athens, Greece, one of the
founders of this great world, and one of the best cities to visit in
the world. When you go to this beautiful and exciting city, there
will be way too many places to visit, although you will want to see
them all, perhaps the best thing to do is to spend the first day
walking around the city, with a knowledgeable guide, telling you
where everything is that you are interested in seeing, and listening
to their remarkable dialogue of history. That is perhaps one of the
main reasons for coming here, plus the wonderful foods and drinks,
the architecture and the history, the people, the sights and sounds;
all of Athens is alive and waiting just for you to visit. In the
particular walking company that was found on the net, this one had
professional tour guides that had over 20 years experience showing
you and telling you about their home town and the fantastic sights
that await you. There are a number of tours available, and since the
city is huge and quite unfathomable to those visiting for the first
time, it would be better for you to decide before coming to Athens.
Tour Number 1 is the Acropolis tour; which is a combination city
tour through the Syntagma area and the Plaka, or the old town of
Athens, and the detailed visit to the Acropolis. Touted as the must
see tour for all visitors, it begins in the Syntagma metro station,
where you will learn about all the marvelous exhibits that sit here,
taken from the construction that was done for the metro. Then you
travel to the House of the Greek Parliament, the Monument to the
Unknown soldier and view the changing of the guards. As you walk
through Syntagma Square, which has become the very heart of the
city, you pass the National Gardens and the Sotira of Likodimo
Byzantine church, which is Russian. Going on through Plaka, the old
city center, you go by the Jewish Museum, the Zeus Temple, Hadrian's
Arch and the Lysicrates Monument; here you will get a short
commentary and history of all you have seen. Next stop is the
Acropolis, the spectacular ruins that once housed the essence of
Athens, and all that she stood for. You will get a detailed account
of the history of the Acropolis and its monuments; like the
Parthenon, Nike Temple, Propylaia and Erechthion and other monuments
that surround the ruins like the Dionysus sanctuary, Ancient Agora,
Pnyzx Hill, Philopappos Hill, Mars Hill and Odeon of Heroded
Atticus. The number 2 tour is the best of Athens which includes the
Syntagma Station artifacts, House of Parliament, Monument to the
unknown soldier and the Evzones, or the presidential guards. You
pass the National Gardens on your way to the Presidential Residence
and the marbled Panathenaic stadium that had the world's first
Olympic games in 1896. Next you visit the Zappeion Hall, with the
Temple of Zeus and Hadrian's Arch, remains of the Roman conquest and
occupation, then Plaka, called the neighborhood of the gods, which
sit at the foot of the Acropolis and then to Lysicrates monument.
The tour ends at Mitropoleos Square, where two of the city's Greek
Orthodox cathedrals sit. Number 3 tour is the National
Archaeological Museum, which you will definitely want to visit, but
do you want to do it with a tour group or on your own? This tour
hits the metro station, the House of Parliament, the unknown soldier
tomb, the Evzones, the mansion of Heinrich Schliemann, where the
numismatic museum is, another great spot to visit, the Academy of
Sciences, the university and the library, the National Archaeolgical
Museum and it ends here. Number 4 tour is of ancient Agora, Plaka
and the Monastiraki monuments, this starts at the metro station,
then to Mitropoleos Square to see the Cathedral of Athens, the
Monastiraki area by the flea markets and where the Roman and Ottoman
monuments like the Roman markets, Tower of the Winds, Fethiye
Mosque, Medrese, Hadrian's Library and Tzistarakis Mosque sit; and
on to Ancient Greek Agora, with the Attalos Stoa holds the museum,
then to Avyssinias Square and finally Athinas Road where the wide
open marketplace will absolutely cause you to pause. Number 5 goes
to the Benaki Museum with magnificent artifacts of Greek history and
art, then to Herodes Atticul Road where the Presidential Residence,
Maximos Mansion sit and on towards the Panathenaic Stadium and
finish at the Zeus Temple and Hadrian's Arch. Or you could decide
what you want and personalize the tour which is fine by the company
since that is option or tour number 6. Once you have decided what to
see and where you want to go, the rest is just walking and enjoying.
There are plenty of places to eat, usually the ones hidden off the
main thoroughfare are just as good as the fancier places, but don't
have to charge so much as the others. Enjoy yourself and relax, it
is a city worth taking your time in even if you don't get to see and
visit all you wanted to since there is always tomorrow.
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