Has anyone ever been to Athens Greece?

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Dellarovere

Athens is just a big city, not necessarily beautiful allover, but with beautiful suburbs in a very close distance to the center. There's also the historic center of Athens, round the Acropolis hill, with picturesque neighbourhoods, and many important monuments.
Most of the people a friendly, at least greek people ( we also have lots of immigrants, who can sometime be less open ), and greeks, as mditerraneans, are very easy to approach and relate to.
As for local customs, I wish there were, but Athens, like any other capital city, has been for the past 50 years the melting pot of people who came from various places of the country, and sometimes keep their customs only at their private homelands, mostly at easter or summer reunions. Christmas though is celebrated as in any part of Europe.
As for culture, Athens is really a cultural paradise: Many museums with exhibits of all historical periods, art galleries, festivals, theatres, cinemas for cinefils, there are some many different choices to fulfill any kind of cultural interest.
On the other hand, lunch or dinner with driends is always a cultural event for us, as it gives us the chance to echange and criticize opinions and experiences, talk about politics, etc, and all this in a vivid way. You won't find easily people just sitting all alone in a bar, with a glass in their hands...

jchlex122

I have been to athens many times.and i am 100% greek.and i can answer ur question.People are very friendly.If u find someone who can speek english.just ask them any questions and all ur questions will be solved.People in Athens don't have meny customs.When u r in Athens or in ay part of greece.You should have water with u because u can't live with that much heat.I hope this info is helpful.Have a fun and safe trip!!

Leonarda

People all over Greece are friendly, and always available to help.The only thing, is that Athens is a chaotic city, so you should be careful in some places during the evening, around the centre..But there are amazing places in the centre, you can go also to Pireus near the sea.Wherever you go the greek hospiotality will amaze you.To the above user, i inform you about the bottled water, that Greece never had problem about it, Athens also,6 million people of Athens would have died if the water was so bad...I travel a lot abroad, and i can tell you that the water in many european countries is so bad,that it is impossible not to have sterilized water, otherwise you ll have stomach desease...

Kevin E

Greek people are very warm and friendly. Greek food is amazing! Eat lots of calamari.

Athens, however, is not as beautiful as the Greek Islands. I recommend you visit some Greek Islands if you have time.

Greece is one of the world's most beautiful countries.

AM1706

Well, I've been living in Athens for almost half of my life... Not to say a little more than that...

Well,
people are friendly,
there is quite good nightlife,
good food,
Athens is becoming multicultural lately,
one part of Athens is next to sea and it is really beautiful there,
there is traffic though in Athens that sometimes is quite horrible,
buses are not that punctual, they are trying to improve though,
the metro and the tram are quite punctual, but the tram is a little slow, the metro is quite new clean and fast,
nightlife areas are located in central Athens in areas like Kolonaki, Psirri, Gazi,
during Easter there are special customs,
shopping areas are Glyfada (it has also very nice cafes after your shopping therapy), Kolonaki, Ermou street (starting from Syntagma Square), Attica mall (close to Syntagma Square), where you can find all kinds of brands,
nice areas for a coffee are Plaka, Mikrolimano (Piraeus), Thisseio, Kolonaki, Glyfada,

Life in Athens is a little expensive, going out for dinner and a drink etc. A coffee will be at 3-5€ depending on the cafe, but you always have as much water as you may need, and sometimes cookies or sweets.
A dinner or lunch in some decent restaurant will be at approximately 20-30€
Metro tickets are at 0,80€ bus tickets at 0,50€, taxis starting fare is at 2,5€ a distance of 10km with fair traffic will cost you approximately 7-8€
A drink at a bar will be 7-10€, at clubs the entrance is 10-15€ depending on the club including a drink.

I hope this was a fair guide to Athens... Edit your question if you need any additional details.. :):)

_Hera_

I've have never been in Athens but I have gone to Greece many times.I couldn't go to Athens but be sure that Greek people are very friendly and polite.Hope,you'll have a good holiday there.

(I'm not 100% Greek but I grown up with Greek people)

Christine R

Good afternoon fron the beautiful Greece...

I;m half Greek, born and grown up here...

First of all. most people in Greece can speek really good English, specially the younger people!
Have you ever heard the philoksenia of Zeus??? It is known from the ancient times, usually people are really friendly and they want to help you, but as always in every place, there are some who doesn't want to talk you or in the stores, may eant to talk you more money...You have to be careful...
I;m a travel agency, any but anything you need I can help you...Just e mail me, or have a contact, ok?
Kisses....

p.s try out this

www.athens.gr

alexlascari

Athens has a history of more than 3.000 years and this is culture. The immortal glory of its monumets, the exquisit museums, performances of tragedy at Herodion, just under the sacred hill of Akropolis, classic music concerts, the National Gallery, and so many other activities to attend.
People in Athens are very friendly, despite their tress from work, and ready to accept and wellcome all visitors.
As for tap water, it is clean and safe, that "Mental" should not speak about things we is not aware of, if he thinks we belong to the third world, let him just realise that Greeks are travelling all over the world, and he admits to have visited only Mexico, afraid to travel to another continent.

johnny cee

Hi Varmint. I've lived in Greece on and off, both as a civilian
and when I was stationed in Berlin.
Be prepared for some(just a little bit) culture shock. But nowadays English is becoming more and more prevalent throughout Europe. Even most of the Billboards in Athens
are in English, more often than not.
Restrooms are harder to find here than in the US. So use them
whenever you can. This will help. For just spending a casual
day go with a couple of friends to Kipselis and spend time walking up and down the street called Fokianos Negri. It'll
be fun. There will be a lot more young folk at night. They
have a lot of shops and outdoor cafes or "tavernas" Just order something to drink or eat and sit there. Its a whole different life, but worth living. You can take a taxi(cheap) or a bus or the subway(very cheap), depending on where you're coming from.
You won't find too many military personnel or even tourists
in this area, but Greeks are generally quite friendly.
Just one more thing. Watch out whenever you go out into the city. The Greeks do not like to control the wild dog population. Rather than cull them, they catch them, neuter
them and release them. The animals don't bother you, but
it is important to watch your step where ever you are walking.
I reiterate!!! Always watch your step when you're out walking about town.

Also, if you like to eat salad, then Greece is definitely the best place on Earth for you.
Just like Hispanics in the US eat a small amount of rice and beans everyday,
Greeks eat "Greek Salad" and a little bread (Horiatiki Salata me psomi) virtually everyday. I've eaten it in homes and at restaurants and have never had any problems with diarrhea.
The only time I had that problem was when I drank too much of the local fruit juice. Just be moderate and you'll be fine.

I Cr 13;8a

georgeena

Hi Varmint. Well, people in greece are generally friendly and helpfull and athens is an exceptionally safe city (u can see even teenagers returning from bars and clubs in the morning hours alone using the subway, i do that sometimes too and i m a female myself), something unique for a 5-6 million people city, although it' s pretty intense and chaotic as well. It 's not a clean cut city for sure, but it is a very interesting one.Wether or not u will have a good time there is a matter of how easily u can adjust, for it certainly is another culture and another mentality. U won't have trouble with weird customs etc, the food and the water are clean everywhere, however the greeks have a mediterranenan temperament that u r propably not familiar with, that is warm, extroversive and yes, sometimes a little loud. Most people under 40 speak english well so u shouldn't have great trouble there. Greeks have a know how when it comes to enjoying life, like italian and french people do, something i haven't seen in germany, england or the states at all, and maybe u can gain something in this section.
When u re in greece i recommend u take shorter or longer trips outside of athens, there is really plenty to see. There are a hundred great destinations for weekend trips around athens, both in summer and the winter time, beautifull mountains all over the country and ofcourse several island complexes. But u re going to discover all of this once u re there. Just be open. I wish u a great time!!

PS. In case u re not a smoker, u should know that greeks smoke a lot. Thats one thing u r gonna have to get used to. Dont' complain too much about it in a company or in a restaurant (dont even think about complaining in a bar or cafeteria), u might be considered difficult, but ofcourse u can always ask someone to hold his cigarette the other side or ask the taxi driver etc NOT to smoke while he is at your service.
PS.2. Experiencing Easter with greek company in the countryside should be really different (and better) from what u are used to.

chrisvoulg1

The culture nowdays is much the same as in the Western Europe and the people are frieldier than let's say the Parisians.

Mental

Never been out of the states except a very short visit to Mexico.
I would probably try to drink bottled water if you were to be on the safe side.

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