The Glorious City has a pedigree like no other, counting its life in millennia and its icons as the best-known in the world.
You could say Athens is the city of perpetual sight-seeing. Its ancient splendours are so elegantly poised, its philosophers so penetrating and its democratic government so ground-breaking that it was attracting tourists right from the word go – starting with the Romans. And they haven't stopped since. Some, like the Romans, leaving their own mark on the 'the Glorious City' most (including the British) burning or stealing its architectural 'furniture'.
With 3,500 years of life on the Aegean shore, it's not surprising that Athens has become a little worn around the edges, its history a little tangled. A good place to start untangling it all is the New Acropolis Museum. This ultra-modern, yet beautiful, building was completed in 2009, and houses the vast collection of objects pulled from the soils of the Acropolis. It has won awards for the sensitive way it has presented the story of the Acropolis.
And it is the Acropolis – and above all the restored splendour of the Parthenon – that has become the icon of Athens to the rest of the world. Climbing to the top of its cliffs, to stand under those huge columns, is a rite of passage for any visitor. But Athens has plenty more to offer. There's the Ancient Agora, seat of Athens democratic government, and the Pnyx, where its citizens debated and voted in their thousands.
The Temple of Olympian Zeus offers a glimpse of a temple even grander than that of the Parthenon (before it was plundered), while the Stoa of Attalos gives you the real thing (albeit reconstructed) – a full replica of the enormous covered mall where Athenians came to talk, eat and shop. And after all that sight-seeing, you'd like to do the same, try the Monastiraki Flea-market, and its endless confusion of stalls, ouzo taverns and cafeneons.
Closer to the centre of the new (for Athens) town, Syntagma Square offers more chance to enjoy the vibrant city that Athens has become. It's also still a square ringing with the echoes of recent protest and democracy. A reminder that, for all its past glories, Athens is a city constantly remaking itself, while preserving its proud heritage.
