DESTINATIONS ATHENS GREECE & CYPRUS RIGHT: Erechtheion
FAR RIGHT: Taste of
Athens tour BELOW:
Panathenaic Stadium
SAMPLE PRODUCT
Osprey Holidays offers a three- night break departing Gatwick on
November 16, staying B&B at the four-star Athens Gate Hotel, from £339 per person. ospreyholidays. com
Super Break has a three- night holiday to Athens starting at £240 based on a December 7 departure, staying B&B at the four-star Athens Avenue Hotel, with flights from Stansted.
superbreak.com/ agents
with some original marbles and some reconstructions placed exactly as they would be on the groundbreaking classical temple. This allows you to properly follow the stories being told and see how the artists managed to have some gods seated and some standing to accommodate them all within the triangular pediments. More importantly, the stories of the people of Athens coming to celebrate are also told – it was revolutionary at the time to depict normal citizens on a temple. From there, it’s a sweaty and
exposed walk up the Acropolis hill. And it’s no exaggeration to call this the most important site in the history of the Western world. The Parthenon is the crowning glory here, with every bit of it shaped and curved to perfectly please the eye. But it’s arguably not the most important part of the Acropolis. On the way up, the trail passes the
Theatre of Dionysus, where drama was invented. The Odeon, a big Roman-era
Athens can be a city that people go to for one day before getting a ferry out to the islands – but it is worth more than that
theatre that is still used for concerts today, is close by, and the Erechtheion, built over several levels to fit the bedrock, was the most sacred site. It’s possible to descend down the other side of the Acropolis, a path that leads to the Ancient Agora. If the Acropolis was the original religious and ceremonial heart of Athens, the Agora was the social, political, administrative and commercial heart. The collection of temples, churches and ruined administrative buildings fits together
like a jigsaw puzzle, and walking through it, you can start to get an idea of what ancient Athens was like.
w SELL: OLD AND NEW Athens is one of those places where it is invaluable to have a good guide who can explain what everything is, what it was used for and the stories stemming from it. Context Travel does this with small groups and expert docents, and its three-hour, €85 Acropolis tour does an outstanding job of bringing the temples and theatres to life, before heading to the Acropolis Museum to hone in on the most enlightening exhibits. Notably, it’s the sort of tour where it’s not just sticking to a script – questions are answered knowledgeably and discussions ensue. This model is taken to another level on the riveting Socrates, Plato and the Pursuit of Happiness tour, which is currently only available as a private tour (€325 per group). This is led
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travelweekly.co.uk 11 October 2018
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