Greece Information About Athens

General Information:

The central tourist information office is a window in Syntagma Square right outside the Foreign Exchange Branch of the National Bank of Greece. The office is open from 9 am to 6 pm Monday to Friday, and every Saturday from 9 am to 2 pm.

They will provide a map of Athens, leaflets on most areas of Greece which are printed in various languages. This office also has ferry, bus and train timetables which are updated every week. The office is run by the Greek Tourist Board and they will also help with any problem. You can ring them direct on 322 2545.

If you have a question about travel or any problem there is a 24 hour service run by the Tourist Police offering information in English, German and French. Simply dial 171.

Festivals:

The booking office for the Athens Festival at Herod Atticus Theatre, the theatre on Likavitos Hill and the classical Greek plays in the famous theatre in Epidavros is in the Stoa (Arcade) Spyromiliou at Stadiou No 4 (close to Syntagma Square). It's open Mon to Sat 8.30 am to 2 pm and 5 pm to 7 pm, Sun 10 am to 1 pm.

The tourist information office in Syntagma Square can also provide a list of all the museums with prices and opening times etc. Don't forget no entrance fee is charged on Sundays. Cinemas and exhibitions etc. can be found in the Athens News, a daily newspaper .available at most cigarette kiosks. Open air cinemas are inexpensive and good fun.

Mosquitoes & Schneepers:

Forewarned is forearmed against these little monsters. Mozzies you probably know well. Schneepers are smaller and leave a big hot bite that weeps if you scratch it, so do try not to. Mosquitoes are very selective and will ignore a body in one bed and all home in on the poor person in the next.

Locals say if you are bitten it's because you have sweet blood. Be that as it may the best defense is a little electric machine that comes either with a box of tablets or with a chamber containing liquid. Leave the machine on continuously and just pop in a new tablet, or check the liquid, before you go out at night. This should prove effective even with the windows 9pen.

The most common liquid mosquito repellent is AUTAN in a yellow plastic bottle or in stick form. Splash a few drops around your ankles before you go out at night. This will stop 'you being annoyed in tavernas or if you are sitting outside. All the above are available in any local grocery shop or chemist. If you are keen on a non-chemical repellent citronella is effective.

If you do get bitten try not to scratch the bites (impossible, I hear you say). When you're in a taverna ask for vinegar and put some on a paper napkin. If you dab it on the bite it will ease the itching.

Organized Tours:

Organized tours are of a high standard in Greece and efficiently run. They include tours of Athens itself, trips to classical site in the Peloponese and the mountains of Meteora as well as the beautiful islands that lie in the Saronic Gulf. These trips range from one-day outings to three, and four-day trips and include various classical sites.

An advantage of taking an organized tour is that qualified Greek guides are usually charming and well informed and go a long way towards making the trips memorable. Days spent exploring on your own mixed with organized trips can make for a great holiday.