Getting There

From / To the airport

You can get from the airport to the city center in three ways:

More information on accessing the Athens International Airport.

Note that the official name of the Athens International Airport is "Eleftherios Venizelos", after a Greek politician of the early 20th century. You will often see it abbreviated as "El. Venizelos". Now you know this is not in Spanish.

How to get to the workshop

The organisers will provide a bus service from the three named hotels to the venue, and back, each day, and also a bus from the hotels to the restaurant for the group dinner.


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Bus Pickup Points and Timetable

Day One - Wednesday 5 November

  1. Best Western Ilisia Hotel - 08:30
  2. The Golden Age Hotel - 08:35
  3. Stratos Vassilikos Hotel - 08:45
  4. NTUA (Venue)

Bus will then leave the venue at 18:00 and go back to the above hotels in reverse order.

Day Two - Thursday 6 November

  1. Best Western Ilisia Hotel - 08:00
  2. The Golden Age Hotel - 08:10
  3. Stratos Vassilikos Hotel - 08:20
  4. NTUA (Venue)

Bus will then leave the venue at 18:30 and go back to the above hotels in reverse order.

Alternatively, a taxi will get you to NTUA's premises (best in Zografou Gate) from the Golden Age Hotel in about 30 minutes.

Getting around in Athens

Athens is a challenging city to get around, even for its hardened locals. There are a number of options, however:

Underground

The best way to get around is the underground (the metro). A map of the metro network in PDF format is also available. The map is geographically accurate, which means that it gives you a sense of the real distances in Athens, but it lacks the elegance and the functionality of Harry Beck's maps.

Tram

Tram lines (map) connect the Athens city center with its southern suburbs. Trams are not of use for transport to and from the workshop, but they are a convenient means for a pleasant visit to the seaside.

Bus, Trolleybus

Buses and trolleybuses (routes) go about anywhere in the Athens metropolitan area. They are cheap, but they suffer from traffic jams, and they seldom follow the published schedule.

Taxis

Taxis are cheap by European and American standards, if you get a ride with an honest driver. Athenian taxi drivers are notorious for their rip-offs, charging foreigners and even unwary Athenians more than double the actual price, either by 'forgetting' to use the meter, or by using a hacked device. The best way to avoid this is to ask a local approximately how much a given ride should cost, so that you pay what you expect to pay, then agree the price with the driver before you get in the cab. If you want to complain, ask the driver to take you to the police.

Renting a car

All major rental agencies have offices in Athens, and there are many local companies as well. However, driving is not recommended within Athens, it is better to use rented vehicles for excursions only.

Accommodation

Please check the Venue and accommodation page for options in Athens.

Things to do

For a starting place here are the official Top Ten things to do in Athens.

There are plenty of things to do and see in Athens; sightseeing alone will fill several days, the night life is vibrant, there are hundreds of cinemas and theaters, and there seems to be a restaurant and coffee shop around every corner. Some starting points:

  • The Acropolis.
  • The walk around Acropolis and the old city. It is possible to walk around Acropolis and the old city (Plaka), using a network of pedestrian ways. This can be a very nice experience, even serene if you do it in the dusk. It will take a few hours for the full walk.
  • The National Archaeological Museum. The biggest collection of Greek Antiquities anywhere in the world. It is also worth visiting to get a close glimpse of the Antikythera mechanism.
  • The Museum of Cycladic Art. Art from the Cyclades, the islands in the middle of the Aegean Sea, dating a long time before the classical period. A modern, well designed museum, right in the city centre. Cycladic art is abstract, like modern art in many ways.
  • The Benaki Museum. An eclectic collection of Greek art, near the Museum of Cycladic Art. Its roof restaurant is one of the nicest settings to have dinner in Athens.
  • The Byzantine Museum. The Byzantine Empire is the latest fashion in American and British history departments. The Byzantine Museum has a good collection, it is near the Museum of Cycladic Art and the Benaki Museum, and is housed on a fine example of byzantine architecture (contemporary).
  • Museum of Popular Musical Instruments. This is in the old part of the city, and will give you an idea of traditional music styles and history.

If you do have some days to spare, you may want to visit a bit of Greece outside Athens (although Athenians will affirm that all Greece is Athens). Easy trips include:

  • Sounion. The tip of the Attica peninsula, on the south-east of Athens. A temple to Poseidon, and a favorite destination for sunsets. Try to find Byron's graffiti among the ruins.
  • Meteora. A set of monasteries on top of huge blocks of rock. They featured in the James Bond film "For Your Eyes Only".
  • Delfi. The place of the famous oracle, on the foot of mount Parnassus.
  • Mikines, Epidavros, Nafplio. Mikines was the fortress of Agamemnon, the chief of the Greeks in the war against Troy. Epidavros is a marvelously preserved ancient theatre with unique acoustic in a fantastic setting. Donald Knuth lectured here. Nafplion is a city with a nice old town and dramatic fortresses, the capital of Greece from 1829 to 1834, and a place to sample wine from the Nemea region.
  • Aegina, Hydra, Poros, Spetses. These islands are on the south of Athens, easily reachable by hydrofoil. Aegina was the first capital of the modern Greek state, in 1828 - 1829. Nafplion became capital next, and Greece lost the opportunity to have Manhattan in the Mediterranean. Hydra is a small island where cars are forbidden, a hotspot of the hippy movement in the 1960s. Poros is further south. Spetses is the most remote of all from Athens, but it offers the best beaches. It is also the setting of John Fowle's novel "The Magus".

For eating, drinking, and getting merry, ask the organisers. In general you should know that:

  • Traditional Greek food is supposed to be very healthy, based exclusively on virgin olive oil. The best olive oil arguably comes from the south of the Peloponnese.
  • Greek wine is generally good value. You will not find Robert Parker quality here, but for around 20 - 30 Euros you can get a pretty decent wine in a restaurant, and a very good wine in specialist shops. Greek wine producers are small by international standards, so there is not much export. The best wine growing regions are Nemea, in the Peloponnese, and Drama, in the north of Greece. If you are into wine, you could try the Greek varieties, like Agiorgitiko (Nemea, red), Xinomavro (Drama, red), Robola (Kefalonia, white), and others.
  • As soon as the temperature reaches 20 degrees Celsius, Greeks instinctively reach for a "Frappé Coffee". Although you may find it in other parts of the world, the real Frappé is here. Drinking Frappé is a ceremony in Greece. The froth must be thick, and Greeks can easily spend two hours sipping from a single glass. Making the right Frappé is an art. The best Frappé in the world is served at the Lentzos coffee shop in the Pagrati district. Decent Frappé is also served at the Loubardiaris café near Akropolis.

More information

  • Both The Rough Guide and The Lonely Planet series are dependable for Athens and Greece in general.
  • Foreign press is available at central kiosks.
  • The Wikipedia is a good starting point for lots of background information on Athens.
  • You can also check the Athens Survival Guide and the Athens Info Guide.
  • The Athens Voice free newspaper (available throughout the city every Thursday) has a few pages and listings in English.
  • The Odyssey magazine covers Greeks for expats.