Travel made in July 2014
As promised, after my first article about my travel in Athens, I speak about one of the most important attractions: the Acropolis.
Practical information to start: – The site is open from 8:30 a.m. to 8:00 p.m. at different times of the year. It is strongly recommended to start the visit at the opening to avoid two things: the overwhelming heat of the afternoon and tour buses that clog views. – 2nd advice, if possible get a ticket before you get on the site because otherwise you will tail 2 times: 1 time to buy the ticket and 1 time to access the site. There is a combined ticket sold 12€ which allows to visit 6 different sites: the Acropolis, the Theatre of Dionysus, the Agora, the Roman Agora, the cemetery of Ceramics and Olympian. Tickets can be purchased at each of these sites and as other sites are much less popular, you will hardly tail to buy your entrance. – Provide shoes anti-slip soles. The Acropolis is surrounded by a fairly large green area, you can take the time to walk through the paved path and maybe you’ll come face to face with the local wildlife like us!
To access the Acropolis, you must climb. But before reaching the gates of the site, you can have a beautiful view of Athens, but especially on a view overlooking the Theatre of Dionysos. The combined ticket allows you to do the tour but I will admit that we did not.
After enjoying the first view, you must still climb a few steps before approaching the Propylaea: these huge stairs lined with monumental columns. At 9:30 am, there was already crowd and staff manage the site you scroll in line to climb the stairs.
Arriving at the Acropolis located 156m above the sea, I am caught by the size of the Parthenon but my eyes were quickly drawn to this small temple which is one of Athena Nike. This is where Egee would had thrown himself after learning the death of his son Theseus.
Another temple: the Erechtheion which was then the most important monument of the Acropolis.
And of course there is the Parthenon, the largest monumentof the Acropolis in size. During our visit, the Parthenon was being restored, hence the huge scaffolding.
Beyond the monuments to admire, there is this 360 ° view over Athens. Moreover, you can see various sites to visit up there as the Olympian Zeus and the Agora.
In my opinion you’ll need 1-hour tour to visit the Acropolis by taking time to admire the buildings and the view, without undue delay, either because it gets really hot up there!
Outside the site, there is a rock on which you can climb to see the Acropolis. It is located to the left of the entrance and just take a flight of stairs to climb. This rock is freely available, it is also a good spot to visit at night when the spots illuminate the Parthenon.
Go to the next episode, I’ll talk about the Agora.
