Athens travel guide: Greece's historic capital

Athens has a typical Mediterranean climate, with much of the annual rainfall occurring from mid-October to mid-April. Athens is also considered to be semi-arid, due to its fairly low annual precipitation. Athens is at its best for most tourists during spring and autumn, as the summer months are generally quite hot with temperature reaching 38 degrees Celsius.

Athens has a variety of places to stay, including luxury hotels, discount accommodation and hostels. As Athens is a major business centre in Europe, accommodation can often be quite expensive, however purchasing a holiday package can be an excellent and effective way of cutting down on cost. Also to remember to book flights and hotels in Athens early!

While some of the most popular attractions include such historic and culture rich places as the Parthenon and the Acropolis, Athens has a lot more to offer its guests, some of these sights include:

Syntagma Square This Square is the site of the former Royal Palace and current home to the Greek parliament. Syntagma square, which is the largest in Athens is the tourist centre of the city and is home to many luxury hotels.

Museums Athens is home to a number of fantastic museums including the National Archaeological Museum of Athens, the Benaki Museum and Museum of Cycladic Art.

One of the most notable events on the Athenian calendar is the Hellenic Festival, which is characterised by cultural events at the Odeon of Herod Atticus and the Theatre of Epidaurus.

While New York is often known as the city that never sleeps Athens is fast growing a reputation to rival its trans-Atlantic counterpart. Athens is home to an ever-growing nightlife, trendy bars and clubs, fantastic cafs and restaurants serving both traditional and Modern Greek cuisine and an active live music scene.

Due to Athens immense cultural history and current status of entertainment, there are many, many travel tours for the smart traveller to take advantage of. Some of these include: Archaeological Packages, Sport tours, Adventure Holidays, and Culture tours.

The best way to get to Athens is to fly, although it can be quite expensive. Most flights to Athens from Australia stop over at Bahrain with the flight time being around 22 hours. There are plenty of flight so Athens, although only the major Australian airlines fly there (such as Qantas), to get the cheapest prices possible it is essential to book early and keep an eye out for holiday package deals that come up every so often.