Tour+Attractions

Athens Greece Tourist Attractions

Athens is a popular destination for travelers because of the city's infrastructure. The Greek Government help fund the major infrastructure projects such as the state-of-the-art Eleftherios Venizelos International Airport, the expansion of the Athens Metro system, and the new Attica Odos Motorway. It is also filled with many museums. Athens is rich in Olympic heritage; it hosted the 2004 Olympic Games at the Panathenaic Stadium. The Panathenaic Stadium is the only stadium in the world that is built out of pure white marble. Athens is also a great place to bring children because they have Attica Zoo.

 1) **Guided Bus Tours**-These tours are operated daily in Athens, you have the choice of touring in the day or at night. The tour guides are English speaking, the bus does stop from time to time, and there is time allowed for walking and taking in all of the beauty that is Athens. There is also hop on / hop off guided bus tours and these provide an easy way of sightseeing, which is a useful way to travel around Athens, since you can leave the bus to explore and get back on when you are ready.

 2) **Panathenaic Stadium**-The Panathenaic Stadium is at the base of Ardittos Hill, in the Pangrati region of Athens. This stadium hosted the very first Olympic games of 1896. The current stadium was constructed on the site of the original stadium, which was built almost 2,300 years ago. Panathenaic Stadium is used for many large events in the city and has a maximum capacity of some 80,000 people.  media type="youtube" key="yYt1-j5ltQg" height="317" width="426"3) **Attica Zoological Park**- Attica zoo opened up in 2000, it has over 270 different species of birds. It is the third largest bird park in the world. Attica zoo is located right on the outside of Athens, in the Spata area. This zoo also has over animals such as kangaroos, llamas, reptiles and other small animals. It has a play are for children, picnic area, and café. It is a perfect outing for a family and can easily be reached by bus.

 4) **New Acropolis Museum**- This building was designed by Swiss architect Bernard Tschumi. The cool, airy, and energy efficient design comes from the use of special glass and baffles allows the galleries to remain comfortably cool yet lit by natural sunlight. Upon entering into the museum at the main entrance of the New Acropolis Museum, visitors can look down into this "well" to see some of the ancient village. There is also floating glass where you can stand on top of while looking at some the excavations. It can be a bit of a scary yet interesting experience because the relics are 30 feet below. The glass is a textured pattern of dots to prevent it all from becoming too dizzying for the tourists. This museum is also filled with plenty of ancient statues and paintings of Greek Gods, warrior, and ladies in wait.

5) **Piraeus (Port of Athens)** - Piraeus has been the Port of Athens for more than 2500 years, feeding the capital city with ships filled with traders, goods, and pilgrims. If you cruise to Athens, you will be able to go through Piraeus. Some tourists love to cruise through Piraeus at night so they can the beautiful Piraeus as a backdrop. The Academy Award-winning Melina Mercouri film "Never on Sunday" was shot in Piraeus. On January 6th, keep an eye out because young Greeks go diving for gold crosses as part of the Epiphany observances.