(upbeat electronic music) - [Dave] We spent three days exploring the capital of Greece. From its ancient ruins to
its exciting rooftop bars. These are the best things to do in Athens that are not to be missed. - Welcome to Athens.
- Welcome to Athens. - [Debra] Before we get started, make sure to subscribe to our channel because we put up new
travel videos each week and make sure you click on that bell. So that you get notified because you don't wanna miss a thing. (playful staccato music) - Heading up to the
Acropolis to beat the rush. Fingers crossed. - So walking up to the Acropolis, you go through a very nice,
quiet neighborhood of Plaka. I say quiet, if you go in the am, because nothing is really open yet. We're going for the 8:00 AM opening to meet all of the tourist buses. So hopefully that works. - [Dave] Let's go! - On your way up, there are some cafes. Great photo opportunities, and it's a pleasant stroll
through the neighborhood. So give yourself some time on your way up. The sun gets... The sun goes up very
early in the summertime. So we have lots of time to explore on our way to the Acropolis. (bright upbeat music) - Well, we're waiting for a moment now 'cause the army's coming. Each morning, soldiers raise
a Greek flag at the Acropolis. So we had a chance to see them marching down from their duties. By arriving for the opening, we were the first up to see the Acropolis. Crowd's fill in quickly, so we walked right to the other end for a rare view of the
Parthenon, free of people. We bought the Acropolis and six archeological sites
combo ticket in advance, so we didn't need to
wait in line for tickets. Once the doors opened, we scanned our pass and
strolled right on in. - Welcome to the Acropolis. Contrary to popular belief, the Parthenon is not the Acropolis. It's just the main
temple of the Acropolis, and there are many other
amazing wonders on top to see like the Temple of Athena Nike, the old Temple of Athena,
and the Erechtheion. Well, getting here early did pay off. We ended up being the first ones up and we ran ahead of everyone to take photos of the many
ruins, without the crowds. It was no time whatsoever
before we looked back and had throngs of people. I'm talking, you literally
have about one minute before all the crowds fill in. Luckily, we saw it all in a
short time and it's maybe, what, 8:20, 8:30 maybe? (bright cheerful music) And this is what it looks like at 9:00 AM. - Yeah, man. It's not even even midday yet and it's absolutely packed with people. Come early. ♪ Got to fill in the cracks ♪ ♪ That were spreading ♪ - [Debra] On your way down,
there are plenty of sites to see including panoramic views of Athens and the Theaters of Dionysus and Odeon of Herodes Atticus. ♪ You broke the code ♪ - [Dave] The Odeon is one of the world's most
awe-inspiring open air theaters, dating back to 161 AD. It was restored in the 1950s and is used, to this day, for performances for famous artists and in
the Epidaurus Festival. ♪ Sounds impossible my boy ♪ - When you're in Athens in the summertime, you can check out the Epidaurus Festival. It's a festival of just music around all of the venues around the city. Most notably, right here at the Odeon, and there's someone rehearsing 'cause there's a show tonight. Hear them? Sounds like a good band in there. - [Dave] Make sure to set
aside at least two hours to see everything at the Acropolis. It truly is the star of Athens. (gentle suspenseful music) - The walk between the Acropolis and Ancient Agora is really pleasant. It's a nice walking street, and plenty of cafes and
restaurants along the way. (gentle suspenseful music) - [Dave] The Ancient Agora is located on the Northwest slope of the Acropolis. It was a meeting place
for the people of Athens, where the likes of Sophocles
and Socrates would meet. The temple of Hephaestus
is the centerpiece of the sprawling complex
that is surrounded by shady trees and walking trails, offering a peaceful escape from the city. (gentle suspenseful music) Make sure you go into the museum. The Stoa of Athilos was
beautifully restored in the 1950s, with its rows of columns creating a superb escape
from the sun and the heat. (gentle suspenseful music) - There is another Agora in Athens. The Roman Agora which is located just
off Monastiraki square. You can visit it and had
Hadrian's Library together. The main sites include
the Tower of the Winds which is considered the world's
first meteorological station and the Gate of Athena. (gentle suspenseful music) Well, Hadrian's Library is included in my six archeological
pass with GetYourGuide, and it's great because
you just flash your card and walk on in. It's on my phone and we get to see more of these incredible ancient ruins, right here in the center of the city. (bright energetic music) - [Dave] Once you've seen some of Athens' ancient archeological sites, it's time to take a look from above. Lycabettus Hill is the
highest point in Athens and a great place to go for sunset. - So even just going to the funicular, to go up the hill, is a bit of a workout. Isn't it? (laughs)
- Bit of a StairMaster, I'll say. (chuckles) - So you can hike up but
you can catch the funicular, and that's what we're going to do. (bright energetic music) We're on the funicular
going up to Lycabettus Hill, and it's all underground. I didn't realize that. Tickets cost seven Euro and there are plenty
of things to see and do once you get to the top. (spirited upbeat music) we have a great view of
the Acropolis, right there. (spirited upbeat music) - [Dave] You can spend an
hour or so up here easily as there is a cocktail bar, a couple of restaurants and patios, the Church of Saint George, and panoramic views of the city. - Wow, I knew it was a nice view but this really took my breath away. - Yeah, it is pretty amazing seeing how sprawling this city really is. But Lycabettus Hill isn't the only place to see Athens from above, there are rooftop bars everywhere. (bright lively music) - The best way to take a
break from sight seeing is to stop for a rooftop drink. I'm having an (speaks foreign language), with views of everything around me. One of the most popular
things to do in Athens is to find a rooftop bar
to look over the Acropolis, and we found a great one right here. - One of our favorite rooftop
patios was at Athens Gate. It has views of the Acropolis and overlooks the Temple of Zeus. We're rooftop bar hopping. Come join us. - The most popular bars
overlook Monastiraki square, where you can choose from one of the many
cocktail bars or restaurants. We had cocktails as we
watched the sun go down, from A is for Athens, overlooking the square and the Acropolis. You gotta take it all in. (gentle upbeat music) Monastiraki square is the
main meeting place in Athens and it is always filled with tourists. - Just off of Monastiraki
square are a bunch of ruins. If you walk a little
farther out of the square, you'll find the Hadrian's Library. It costs six Euro to enter, and I don't really think you need to do it unless you have a pass. A little farther on is the Ancient Agora, that is included in your museum pass. So I suggest going in
there when you have a pass. Both of them are just cool to
see from the outside as well, and they're just a short
distance from the square. - [Dave] Many of the
archeological sites are nearby, with shopping streets
branching out from it. - One of the main walking
and shopping streets in Athens is Ermu Street. It connects Syntagma Square
to Monastiraki square. (laughs) I forgot the name. - And there is an old Byzantine
church right in the middle. Pretty cool. (playful upbeat music) - No cameras are allowed in the church but it is free to go inside. (playful upbeat music) We have come up to Syntagma
Square at the top of the hour and every hour of every
day, 24 hours a day, is a changing of the guards. - Also known as Constitution Square, Syntagma Square is a
lively square of Athens and the location of the
parliament buildings. It is here where guards
dressed in traditional uniforms stand guard over the tomb
of the unknown soldier. 24 hours a day. Now you can watch the
changing of the guards, every hour on the hour, with the larger ceremony taking place on Sundays at 10:00 AM. (gentle upbeat music) Syntagma square is located
in the heart of Athens and is a great place to make a base when exploring the Greek capital. When looking for a place to
stay in the center of Athens, I do suggest looking for a place between Syntagma Square
and Monastiraki square. It's the most central location and there's all types of accommodation, from super luxury, all
the way to budget hotels. And no matter where you stay, you know you're in a good location. - We stayed at the Astor Hotel, which was affordable, central,
and had amazing views. (gentle upbeat music) This is pretty wild. In the subway at Syntagma Square, there are some ancient
Greek ruins down here from an archeological dig. You don't have to pay
to go into the subway. So you can just come on down
and look at the artifacts that they have on display down here. It's actually a really,
really nice Metro stop. (upbeat music) - And in Syntagma Square station, they actually have this excavation of early Christian graves
here, all along the wall. Pretty cool. (gentle upbeat music) - The beauty about Athens is
it is a very walkable city. So you can basically
walk around everywhere in the city center. You don't necessarily have to jump on the hop on, hop off bus,
'cause you don't want to. The Metro system is very
efficient and very economical. So you can get all
around the city on that. So there's a lot of different
ways to travel around Athens. You don't have to just be stuck to one particular mode of transportation. - Well, this is it. This is the site of the
first modern Olympic games, but it actually dates
back to the 6th century BC when it was just a
little track for racing. So I think it is the birthplace
of the Olympics, period. One cool fact, it is the
only stadium in the world made completely out of marble. Very fitting for Athens. Everything here is made out of marble. Absolutely beautiful. (bright upbeat music) So this is a pretty cool
historical site here in Athens. Zappeion Hall was built to open the first modern Olympic games. That's pretty significant
because we all know that the original Olympics
were held in Athens, and then this commemorates
the beginning of a new era. Unfortunately, there's
a movie filming in here so we can't go in right now, but it has some great
interior architecture to see and it's a very historic
place here in Athens. So I highly recommend stopping by. When you're walking through
the National Gardens, it's right in the center of it all. - The National Gardens here in Athens are a great escape from the heat. When you need a little bit of shade or a little bit of
relaxation from sight seeing, come to the national
gardens and take a load off. - Let's face it, Athens can
be hot in the summertime. The National Gardens is a
beautiful shady green space covering 40 acres in the city. You can rock from the
stadium to Zappeion Hall, and relax on its benches. Take in the views of the
ponds, the green spaces, and the many statues and historical ruins. (gentle lilting music) Well, the Temple of Zeus
is under construction and I think it will be for a few years, so I wouldn't bother coming. However, we have it in our six pass. Our six museum pass that
we got with GetYourGuide. So hey, you can walk on in and see a few of the pillars close up. We're gonna head over to Hadrian's Gate and check out some more of Athens. (upbeat lilting music) - Walking under Hadrian's Arch. (tense dramatic music) One of the things you can
actually get close to, here in Athens. It's not roped off. Amazing. (dramatic lilting music) - And there it is, the Temple of Poseidon. This is so exciting. We're heading up to see it. It's early in the morning and hopefully there's no people around. Gorgeous scenery up here. - [Dave] The Temple of Poseidon is 1 hour and 20 minutes from Athens. Standing 60 meters above sea level, it is the perfect location for
a temple honoring Poseidon. The Greek God of the Sea. The Temple of Poseidon was
constructed in 444 to 440 BC and is 70 kilometers outside of the city. We visited, while spending a
few days out at Vincci EverEden to enjoy some beach life
out on the Athens Riviera. If you want to enjoy some
beach time in Athens, the Riviera stretches
from Piraeus to Sounio. - We found this little gem
just outside of Athens. It's a great little escape
that's on the beach. It's on the Athens Riviera and it's about 30 minutes
outside of the city. We got breakfast and dinner
included with our room, seaview, and this gorgeous beach. (cheerful lilting music) - We loved our stay at this hotel. Relaxing on the beach,
enjoying the summer, and hanging out by the pool. So if you are in Athens,
I do highly recommend you come to the Temple of Poseidon. It's about an hour
outside of Athens, itself. It's 10 euros to get in. You can grab a taxi or you can come with a bus tour or day tour. It's just as impressive
as the ruins in Athens without the crowds. And it really is the location and the view that makes it so special. - [Debra] Day trips can
be booked from Athens, or you can hire a car, but we recommend staying at a hotel to get a feel for the Mediterranean without having to leave the mainland. - If you don't have a chance
to get down to the island but still want to learn a little bit about the history of the island, you can come to the Cycladic
Museum, here, of Art in Athens. It has a great array of
art from different periods, all from that region of Greece. (gentle lilting music) - Included in your museum pass is the Kerameikos archeological site. It's an ancient cemetery
and it was the only cemetery in ancient Greece or
ancient Athens at the time. Now you can walk through
the archeological ruins and there's a museum here as well. (gentle lilting music) Once you finish up at the Acropolis, come on into the Acropolis Museum. There's air conditioning,
there's wifi, there's a cafe. And even if you don't
go to tour the museum, there are some ruins that they let you see that are on display as well. So cheers, enjoy. The Acropolis Museum is
an extraordinary museum located on the Southern
slope of the Acropolis. It houses the findings from excavations from the Acropolis, itself. A unique feature is the
transparent glass floor that lets visitors see the
actual excavation site, creating an authentic open air museum. (gentle upbeat music) - Through the historic district of Plaka is such a pleasant experience. It's much more quiet
than the other squares. We've got the nice marble
walking street here. Lots of shopping. And yeah, there's not any traffic. Before we go, we wanted to
share a little insider tip. We said earlier that Athens was hot and when you're walking
through the streets of Plaka, which is the main tourist area of Athens, you can find some air conditioning
in the Hard Rock Cafe. I know Greek food is amazing and we ate a lot of it while there, but we snuck into the
Hard Rock for happy hour to cool off before we went to go and explore more of the
ancient ruins around the city. (gentle upbeat music) - And that was Athens. - [Debra] Athens is one
of our favorite cities in the world to visit. The ancient ruins are
scattered throughout, creating a living museum
within the modern city. If you are planning a trip to Greece, make sure to spend three days in Athens to see all of the sites we
highlighted in this travel video. It can easily be done. And if you get yourself
the six museums pass, you'll be able to walk into all of the top
archeological sites with ease. And these are the best things
to do in Athens in three days. If you liked our video,
make sure to subscribe because we have a new one
coming out next Sunday and you're gonna wanna see it. So click on that bell for notifications.
