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Just returned from Greece (Athens)

Thank you to all the members that replied to my posts and helped make my trip amazing. I am hoping my post may help one or two forum members as they plan their trip.
Athens- We spent 3 days in Athens. We did the Acropolis Museum before the Acropolis and I would recommend it to anyone that is visiting the Acropolis. We did travel in the busy season and it was so hot. Ordering the cooling neck wraps from Amazon would be another tip for first-time travelers. The Acropolis and The Temple Zeus required a lot of water.

The Acropolis is worth the crowds. (Make that your mantra and you will be fine.)

We took cabs everywhere and I have to say the cab drivers were the worst part of our trip. Having the hotel call us a cab was the only way to secure an honest cab driver. The hotel informed us how they would try to rip us off and they were right. We had cab drivers refuse to turn on the meter, cab drivers that demanded we get out on the side of the road once we asked why the meter was set for after midnight and cab drivers that pretended they didn't know where they were going. We needed two cabs for our group and there were times one family was charged 5.00 and the next cab charged 12.00. The hotel staff was more than welcome to intervene but it did make it stressful.

Dinner- We ate at the Agora two nights and it was wonderful. My favorite dinner was a Stroffi. The food was great and the view of the Parthenon was beautiful. We did eat at the restaurant on Lycabettus Hill. I would not recommend it. I think the food at Stroffi was better. The view from the Hill is wonderful but the service was awful. 2 Staff members for 14 tables. Dinner was 4 hours. Coming down the hill at night is crazy. The cable car was not available so we walked. It was dark which made it more dangerous. We saw one person fall. Cabs will not go up the Hill to pick you up. We had to call our hotel to get us a cab. The hotel had to call twice in order to get a cab to get us. The Hill is also a hang out for people. People are in the bushes just hanging.
We also ate at http://www.psaras-taverna.gr/. This restaurant was in the Plaka and was also wonderful. The waiter was a gem and made the dining experience even better.

Thanks again to everyone that helped plan our trip.

Posted by
174 posts

One thing we did before sitting in Athens cabs, is to ask the driver how much it would cost, and whether it was based on the meter. That approach worked out reasonably well for us.

Posted by
227 posts

We were there recently (May) and had no trouble with cabs. We did use Welcome service to and from the airport which was wonderful. They were there waiting for you with a name sign when you arrive. We took cabs in the city and had no problem with any of them. Fares were reasonable and direct and no rude drivers. Sorry to hear you had so much trouble.
We ate at Mani Mani and it was delicious. Good service and great food. No view though.

Posted by
396 posts

Glad you had a great time! The acropolis has evening hours in June so we went around 6:30 PM. There were still a lot of people hanging about the entrance gates, a.k.a. the Propylaia, but once through the gates it was somewhat less than crowded or even busy. The heat of the day had broken and the setting sun's light was starting to bounce off the clouds in pink and red hues by the end of the visit. I'd like to say we planned it this way but the reality is that we were walking by after seeing something else and had the time before dinner. Although we didn't get the iconic Parthenon-against-the-very-blue-sky photo we thought it was a good time to visit.