DESTINATIONS ATHENS GREECE & CYPRUS


by a qualified classicist and explores the area thought to have been home to Plato’s Academy. What starts as an exploration of ruins and a look at why Plato chose to set up his school there finishes as a philosophy seminar. Plato’s theories and dialogues are presented and discussed in a way that’s accessible and understandable to all, but also gets the mind racing. Another company providing unusual,


commissionable tours is Urban Adventures, and the most interesting offerings concentrate on opening up the best bits of modern Athens. The Bohemian Tales of the City tour (£62) ambles through the backstreets, bars and courtyards of the street art- filled Psirri neighbourhood, showing off the best murals and the bases of arts cooperatives. It moves on to Gazi, where a former gasworks has been turned into a hip nightlife, concert and events space, then parks up on a restaurant terrace for light bites and generous lashings of ouzo. The Taste of Athens tour (£61)


focuses on food, starting in the markets of gritty Omonia before testing out Greek coffee, gorging on feta and spinach spanakopitas, and wolfing down doughy desserts with Greek yoghurt ice cream.


w STAY: ROOFTOP REVOLUTION Athens got a big influx of hotels before the Olympics in 2004, and it now has plenty of competition, meaning many are using modern design and cool rooftop bars to distinguish themselves. The Fresh Hotel is a notable


example – there’s a chillout vibe at the rooftop pool by day, until it becomes a fashionable bar-restaurant at night.


FIND OUT MORE


l context travel.com


l electrahotels.gr l freshhotel.gr l grande


bretagne.gr


l panathenaic stadium.gr


l theacropolis museum.gr l urban


adventures.com


ABOVE: Grande


Bretagne’s rooftop pool bar


It’s located in Omonia, but only a short walk away from more enjoyable Psirri. It’s one of those hotels that’s a


pleasure to nose around, with cool design touches, whether that’s massive colourful spots on the walls or 3D models of city skylines displayed in glass cubes in the lobby. Furniture seems quirkily custom-made rather than mass-produced, and handy curated guides to Athens are provided. Doubles cost from £90. If the pool is the priority, then


Electra Palace is hard to beat. It has one indoor pool and one outdoor pool on the rooftop, with the latter having pitch-perfect views of the Acropolis. Rooms are a touch dated, but are perfectly solid without being inspiring. Doubles cost from £137. In the more conventional tourist neighbourhood Plaka, and a short stroll from the entrance to the Acropolis, the Hera Hotel has an air of understated


class. The wood panelling and stained- glass ceiling of the lobby are the most obvious examples of this, but it continues upstairs with elegant furnishing and impressive green marble bathrooms. The Hera also offers quirky wooden-framed bikes for hire for anyone who wishes to brave Athens on two wheels. Doubles cost from £71. Athens’ top address, however, has long been the Grande Bretagne. On Syntagma Square, home of the Greek parliament, this grand 19th-century hotel is the one that visiting foreign dignitaries will usually stay at and locals will take their parents to for afternoon tea on big birthdays. Highlights include chandelier-style light fittings, marble-topped bedside tables, the rooftop restaurant with prime Acropolis views, and the cigar lounge that serves up cocktails specially aged in barrels. Expect to pay from £275.


74 travelweekly.co.uk 11 October 2018


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