We had originally visited Athens in 1994 and I always wanted to return so it was one of the drivers for selecting this cruise itinerary (https://my-jc.blog/2025/08/24/week-603-athens/). But the cruise stop was only 6 effective hours so we decided to swing back through Athens on the way back from Istanbul to DC for another full day. Logistically we had to layover somewhere anyway and with a direct flight to DC from Athens, this was pretty easy.
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Acropolis
Athens is pretty compact, so in our 6 hours during the shore excursion we had a solid visit to the Acropolis and wandered down the hill to the Roman and Greek Agoras (archaeology sites) and through the central Athens neighborhoods of Platka and Monastiraki at a pretty fast pace before returning to the ship. The shore excursion was good timing wise as it got us to the Acropolis early and avoiding the heat and bigger crowds (although it was still crowded) and Sharon and I were able to recreate a photo from 1994.
Quick Walk through Monastiraki
Lycabettus Hill to Acropolis Museum
On our return from Turkey, we started at Lycabettus Hill (the taller mountain overlooking the Acropolis) and wandered back over to then central area, walking by the 1896 Olympic Stadium and through the National Garden back to the Acropolis Museum. We spent quite a bit of time at the Acropolis Museum which is relatively new (it wasn’t there in 1994) and was excellent – ideally we would have gone to the museum before going to the actual Acropolis.
Holy Church of Saint George of Lycabettus
Monastiraki
We spent the rest of the day in Monastiraki and Platka, realizing that during the shore excursions we just grazed Platka and we originally thought signing up for a bar crawl, but most featured “free admission and the best club music” so we decided to just hit 4-5 restaurants for apps and the local beer and started in Monastiraski.
Platka
Platka is a great area and one of the downsides of the ship is that generally you miss the evening vibe of places so I was glad that we got to return for a night in Athens. Overall a great trip and adding more time in Athens was worth it.
