Hey All!
I’m an inexperienced traveller.
Just purchased 2 txts to ATHENS as a surprise for my boyfriend and I.
I want to experience culture and have a relaxing trip. I’m not into any busy tourist spots.
Where should we visit. I’m thinking of doing air bnb’s from locals?
Thanks in advance!

We just returned. Stayed at a small bouquet hotel (Pan Hotel) Great location.

When are you going and for how long? Athens is a big city and there’s so many options outside Athens. Are you planning any islands? The small islands off Athens are overlooked but I enjoyed Poros Island with a day trip to Hydra. Lots of beautiful towns on the Peloponnesus Peninsula; Naflion, Delphi, Meteorea.
Are you renting a car?
Check out Matt’s FB page and website
www.greecetravel.com
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Matt Barrett's Guides to Greece and the Greek Islands

Alison exactly. When and where is key information missing from this post. I don’t think anyone has ever described Athens as “relaxing”.

Alison You have a lot of options. Not wanting to be in busy areas changes things. Islands? Most of them are pretty quiet. 6000 islands with only 220 are developed.

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We did a day trip to Delphi and it was absolutely worth it!

Check out Matt Barrett's Greece Travel Guide on FB…. Anything you could want to know and more

I’d recommend taking ferry from Piraeus ( port of Athens) and going to a smaller islands. Athens is a big, busy city and it is full of tourist attractions. Which I think some of them is a must
. Also, Athens is busy in season. It might be “ more relaxed” other time of the year.

Go to Nafpaktos it’s Beautiful small and amazing there!! Lena Adamopoulos has a beautiful spot I stayed at on a huge olive acerage 15 min walk to city centre and beautiful beaches

Islands are a great idea, but many “shut down” by mid-October. A lot of the restaurant staff leave to go back to mainland, so research carefully.

Yes, and at the other end the Islands don't "open up" until early May ( which.we experienced last year.) However there are always people around so it's not total shutdown!

Checkout Matt Barrett Greece His website has everything you need to know about what to do, where to stay anywhere in Greece

Athens is a busy tourist spot. Not relaxing vut full of a
Marvellous things to see and learn about history.

Definitely read up on the Peloponnese Peninsula. Lovely little towns, beautiful vistas and amazing ancient ruins.

I highly recommend doing the 1 night tour to Meteora via train. One of the highlights of our trip!

We have never regretted our trip to Greece in the off-season in early March. We took the.train into Athens and walked about 3 three blocks towards the Acropolis. The.hotel had roof top seating. Tea and biscuits all day. The most amazing breakfast buffet I've ever seen. Being.in town meant wonderful walking. Many sites. Amazing food. Wonderful people and nothing was busy. We took an overnight visit to Delphi which was great. We had about a week in Athens. We then had two weeks by car in Crete. Off season is best.

Sandy we are going in May. What hotel is this? Sounds delightful!!

Cathy I Attalos Hotel but it was in 2012. Have a wonderful trip.

Sandy Thank you very much!

We always do airbnb in Europe…. The best!

Maybe you talk with a travel agent..

No more than two days in Athens. Paros Crete are great islands.

We went to Athens last Dec and it was amazing we stayed at the O&B hotel with a view of the acropolis complex and it was amazing... Breakfast every morning and walking distance to everything.

Acropolis musuem

Any places on or near the beaches?

We stayed at Apollo Palm ~ a funky neighbourhood of carless streets - art deco & close to everything. We were on a tour & upon our return stayed at a sweet spot at foot of acropolis - this was our view from our deck

Philippos Hotel

I'd book another ticket to either turkey or Spain/Portugal from Athens.

Kalabaka / Meteora. A highlight. We had to wear skirts back in the 80's. The Coloseum in Athens.

https://www.namuseum.gr/
NAMUSEUM.GR
Αρχική | Eθνικό Αρχαιολογικό Μουσείο

And check out the beautiful subway!

If you want to tour a little — do the hop on hop off bus (includes the beaches) just to see all the areas. If you want a more relaxed area — go to the beach area of Athens. I just returned from there. It was a lot of fun.

Athens is a huge, busy metropolis. Not a place to relax. See the Parthenon, then head out to islands for relaxation.

We just returned from Athens and Crete…stayed at 3 different airbnbs and they were amazing. In Athens we stayed in Keramikos… the area looks a bit rough with graffiti and such but our BNB was pristine and very secure. The second we stayed at was close to Acropolis metro station. Older unit but beautiful. Just be aware that you can’t flush any toilet paper ( it goes all goes into a bin next to the loo).

Best trip of my life was to Greece in 2018. We spent 3 days in Athens which included a day trip out to ancient Corinth. We went in the dead of summer and it was not a problem. We were in the city for the history and found a couple good food places. We mostly stayed in airbnb but I can give the best western in Athens 8 stars out of 5. Greek hospitality, American comfort. Easy access. Best choice, hands down.
If you love history and are planning to do ancient Corinth I can try and find the contact of the local taxi driver that became our tour guide for the afternoon. Local guy and knows his stuff.

Free walking tour in athens was great!

Thanks everyone for the advice!
I mentioned that I was inexperienced. Well, I didn’t realize that Greece would be so chilly that we won’t be able to enjoy their beaches. Big Brooky mistake.
So now we’re in the process of paying a cancellation fee to the airlines and have to transfer the credit to a new trip. It’ll be limited to wherever that airlines flys
Thinking Bermuda or Vietnam - but I don’t think 10 days is enough for Vietnam.

We stayed in the Thiseo area and loved it. Lovely airbnb. It was removed enough from busy busy and felt local. Walked everywhere or used the subway.