Athens Walking Tour

On my first day in Athens I decided to check out the sites.

Before leaving, I read the New York Times "36 Hours in Athens" article, which left three hours for visiting "most important historical sites." The articled claimed that in the span of two-and-a-half miles you could visit the Acropolis, the Ancient Agora, the Theater of Dionysus, the Kerameikos Cemetery, the Temple of Olympian Zeus, and the Roman Forum.

Now, I'm not sure if the author of this article...

A. Visited only of few of these sites
B. Got to the entrance of each ruin, but didn't go in
C. Is a super fast walker

I purchased a 12 Euro ticket, which allowed entry into twelve historic sites. I think I only made it to eight of them. My tour took me over five hours. Yes, it's true that this included my walk from the hotel. But my hotel was less then 15 minutes from the Temple of Olympian Zeus on foot.

Perhaps, though the problem was that all day long I found myself entering the monuments through what seemed to be the back door. I had a map that listed all of the monuments, but nothing official was provided when I purchased my ticket. I think a map of the sites would have been a great help.

This back-door phenomenon was most amusing when I got to the Acropolis. I visited the Theater of Dionysus and Theater of Herod Atticus first. That meant that I came up to the Acropolis by snaking my way around the backside of the hill. When I got to the top I was shocked to find hundreds — literally — of tourist pouring into the site along with me. Apparently I was entering at exactly the same time as everyone from the Carnival Cruise Line's Mediterranean, Greece, and Turkey trip's day in Athens.

Aside from the crowds though, the day was very impressive. It's amazing when you consider that the temples that I was walking around are same places were ancient Greeks came to worship, celebrate, and take refuge.

By the end of the day my Grecian-style sandals were covered with a powdery white dust and my dogs were barking. But I was so thankful for the opportunity to see what I saw.