Athens

Athens hits visitors as more sprawling, more chaotic, and more layered than they expect. Beneath the modern city of 4 million people, every other construction project unearths another piece of Classical Greece. The Acropolis rises in the middle of the city — visible from rooftops everywhere, lit gold at night.

The Plaka neighborhood is the historic heart, a tangle of streets winding under the Acropolis with tavernas, gift shops, and Byzantine churches. Monastiraki has the flea market and rooftop bars. Anafiotika is a tiny pocket of Cycladic-style whitewashed houses tucked just below the Acropolis itself, built by craftsmen from the islands in the 1800s.

EWT Tours disembarks our Mediterranean cruise in Athens. Most travelers spend at least one extra day; some stay 3-4 days for a full Athens deep-dive plus a day trip to Cape Sounion or Delphi.