Athens & the Heart of Greece in 14 Days Tour

We took this tour in 2019 and got there the day before the tour started. We enjoyed the Rick Steves audio guided walks and wandering the Plaka which you will be very near. Recommend the Ancient Agora and the nearby neighborhood. We ate at Mani Mani restaurant twice, once on our own and then it was our last group meal as well.

We loved the tour!

Syntagma square to see the guards, and the Benaki museum which is near there was quite good. Also, take the funicular up Lycabettus Hill and get a great view of the city. The RS audio tour of the ancient Agora and the small museum there was very good, and when we went in at 0900 there were very few other people. There is a walk you can do that takes you up and around the Acropolis, I think it might be in the Greece guide book, that is nice and gets you away from the crowds. The Plaka is fun, and Monisteraki square had some interesting vendors.

We have stayed twice now at the Hera Hotel. On our first day after a long flight, we had dinner at the restaurant on the roof of the Hera Hotel and enjoyed it very much. Great views of the Acropolis.

We also went to a theatre show by Medea and Friends. It's in English and quite good. Walkable from the Hera Hotel
https://www.koilon.gr

We also did a food tour with Devour Tours
https://devourtours.com/destinations/greece/athens/?utm_source=GBP&utm_medium=listing&utm_campaign=google_reviews

One night we had dinner at the Balcony Restaurant (walkable from the Hera). And it was good.
https://balconyathens.com
Later, our RS tour group had our final dinner there.

As for getting from the airport to the hotel, we used Welcome Pickups (both times we visited Athens)

Thanks to all of you who've provided great suggestions so far. Very much appreciated. And if others have recommendations, we would welcome those as well.

In addition to what's already been suggested, my partner and I went to the botanical gardens. There are other sites surrounding it you can also visit, like the Panathenaic Stadium.

I'll second Mani Mani for restaurants. We also ate there twice when we did this tour (staying at Acropolis Select). Their sister restaurant Esthio, which is literally around the corner from Mani Mani, is also quite good.

Depending of the location of your hotel the best way to get to Athens is by the Metro, located just outside of the Arrivals , Bus it’s another option but it takes long , Taxi prices are fixed on 42 euro.
See more information here
https://www.athensguide.org/athens-airport.html

We took this tour in May 2024. In addition to what other have said, we really enjoyed walking around the national gardens. Exploring the Plaka neighborhood was really fun as well. We also stayed in Hotel Hera and agree their restaurant at the top was wonderful.

We really enjoyed this tour, it was amazing!

We did this tour arrival twice, in 2023 and 2024, thanks to Covid. First time we did the metro. Easy enough to accomplish but very crowded. This year we did a pickup at the airport with Welcome Pickup and it was great; professional friendly driver waited outside (we texted as we were through passport control) bottles of cold water waiting. This was a first for me as figuring it out and using public transportation is the way I always do it. But I’ve got to say this was very nice and worth it.