Athens was never famed for its beaches, but in recent years its becoming more and more popular to stay 'close to home' for fun in the sun. And why not? You can experience a small piece of island magic without ever having to set foot on a ferry. Here is a list of great beaches in Athens and within a 60 minute drive of the city.

Alimos beach is most famous for its fine sandy beachfront, located in close proximity to the city centre. It is very well connected with the local transportation and can be found 11 km south of Syntagma Square in the center of Greece’s capital. This means, of course, that Alimos beach is crowded most summer days – Athens is a city of more than six million, and all those people desperately want to cool off during the hottest summer days. Yet thanks to its size, there will always be enough space to set up an umbrella and do some sunbathing!

The Lake of Vouliagmeni is a natural lake 12 m deep, and a perfect gem along the Athenian Riviera. It is located a few meters from the sea: many people prefer to take a dive in its crystal-clear and extremely cool waters instead of the Aegean Sea's salty ones.

Vouliagmeni lake is a wonderfully relaxing place to visit during a hot summer day. You can enjoy a swim in its beautiful cool waters before getting a drink from the nice cafe right at the edge of the lake. You can even have your wedding there, and rent the whole place out if you can afford it!

Vouliagmeni beach – 23km away
Close to Vouliagmeni Lake and Limanakia lies the sandy beach of Vouliagmeni, one of the best-organized beaches which offers all types of beach facilities. Tennis and volleyball courts, a play area for children, a water slide, individual cabins and a restaurant are some of the features that make the area famous among Athenians. Nightclubs can also be found there, and on weekends there are plenty of chances to come across an open beach party so you can have a beer, dance with laid-back locals and experience a summer night in Athens.

Vouliagmeni lake and the beach of Limanakia, meaning “small ports” in Greek, are separated by the seaside road that connects the city of Athens with Cape Sounion, mentioned above. And by the way, this route makes for the best possible seaside road-trip in the Attika region. A visit to the Lake means that you can also take a dive in the Aegean Sea simply by crossing that road. Limanakia is not an actual beach: rather, it is the rocky edge of the land on which Athens is built. However, as it is easily accessible, many Athenians head there to cool off simply by jumping off the small rocks to the cool waters of the Aegean and then climbing back up. Please remember that you can only do that when the waters are calm, as a heavy sea will make climbing up very dangerous.

Cape Sounion beach – 65 km away

Let’s go a little bit further this time: 56 kilometers away from Athens city center, to Cape Sounion, as it is truly an amazing site that should not be missed during your vacation in Athens. The sight of this splendid rocky promontory rising out of the Aegean is one of the best in Athens. At its highest point one can see the Temple of Poseidon, which was originally constructed in around 600 BCE, and rebuilt by Pericles in 440 BCE following its destruction by the Persians in 480 BCE. The Temple of Poseidon at Sounion is a must-see for travelers to Athens, and luckily for them there is a really nice beach located a few hundred meters away from the Temple’s entrance. If you want to spend the night, there are also numerous luxury and budget hotels nearby!

Legrena beach – 64 km away

Legrena is the last beach before reaching Sounion, and the Templae of Poseidon lies a few meters further down the road. The beach is located 60 km southeast of Athens and 3km west of Sounion, and for many meters surrounded by a protected cove. This beach is totally disorganized, but one of the cleanest in Athens and quite unspoilt. There are many taverns and cafeterias in the wider region, where you can enjoy a coffee or a delicious meal by the sea. It can get a bit crowded on weekends but it’s perfect during the week days.

Porto Germeno – 60km away
Porto Germeno, whose real name comes from the ancient settlement of Aigosthena, in antiquity used to be the port of Megara at Corinthiakos Bay. Porto Germeto is also a long beach, located 60 kilometers west of Athens' city center. The beach is not very organized, but it is pretty popular and often busy. This is especially true on weekends, when local residents come to enjoy the sea. The waters on this side of Athens are spectacular and island-like, making Porto Germeno one of the best beaches for anyone who loves crystal-clear, cool waters. It is also one of the most family-friendly beaches in Attika.

To read this article in full, please visit: GBTimes

It has often been said, that you can’t dig a hole in Athens without finding something of archaeological value. This was certainly the case when they created the underground Metro system. Thousands of artefacts dating back millennia were uncovered, all adding to the overall knowledge of Athens in the past. Some of these finds were transferred to already existing museums. At Syntagma Station though, they went one step further. 

Syntagma Metro Station is the central station where all lines connect.   The Syntagma Metro Station Archaeological Collection can be found at the top floor of the station complex.

There are cases exhibiting artefacts such as weaving loomes and clay amphorae from all the periods of settlement in Athens.  You can find neolithic, classical Greek, Roman and Byzantine exhibits all within one metro station.

The Archeological Collection is free to look around.  Theoretically, if you  have passed the barriers for access to the metro, you should have a validated metro ticket (tickets cost €1.20).

To read more, please visit: Dave's Travel Pages

Corfu, a stunning Greek island, is featured in a new 6-part BBC drama series being aired in the UK. The show is called Durrells and is based on Gerald Durrell’s trilogy of Corfu memories.

 

Keeley Hawes, also seen in Spooks and Line of Duty, is the leading actress in this drama series. The best beaches like Palaiokastrisa, Agios Georgias, and Achilles, as well as Danilia, a traditional Corfu village, are all captured on screen.

The village of Danilia is owned by one of Greece’s most luxurious hotel groups and hopes Durrells will inspire people to go on holidays in Corfu. They are even offering hotel packages to celebrate the new drama, which will include a complimentary private tour of the village.

Corfu has also been the location for James Bonds’ For Your Eyes Only.

To view this article in full, please visit: Sunday Express

The European Parliament has voted to end visa-free travel for Americans within the EU.

It comes after the US failed to agree visa-free travel for citizens of five EU countries – Bulgaria, Croatia, Cyprus, Poland and Romania – as part of a reciprocity agreement. US citizens can normally travel to all countries in the bloc without a visa.

The Commission is legally obliged to act to suspend the visa waiver for Americans, but the European Parliament or the Council of the European Union have the chance to object to the “delegated act” it uses to do so.

It was reported that the EU was considering the adoption of a US-style electronic travel permit scheme – a move that could create a new administrative hurdle for British tourists after Brexit.

Currently foreign travellers must pay a fee of $14 (£11) when they complete ESTA, an automated online system that determines their eligibility to travel to the US.

To read this article in full, please visit: Yahoo

A journalist from Travel + Leisure recently traveled to Athens to experience first-hand the revival of the arts scene. He shares with us his time spent in Athens, giving us a new perspective and discovering for the first time raki in outdoor cafes, open air cinemas, and ancient art in one of the city’s many art galleries.

“I started where everyone does, in the mythic Athens, the tourist Athens. But when I reached the Acropolis, I kept walking: past the stands selling archaeological schlock, past the spectators on Segways, into the park that surrounds Philopappou Hill. I took a seat on a rock ledge overlooking olive trees, where a few smart Athenians had strung hammocks to watch the sunset. Someone was playing a bouzouki. Someone else was practicing the trumpet. Everywhere there were ruins. The yawning sun cast the whole park in a strange sepia glow.”

“Soon it was dark. I was pleasantly drunk, wandering again. Every restaurant was flung open, the interiors empty, the tables and chairs spilled onto the street. You could not tell, based on the confusion of small plates arriving and departing, whether people were just starting dinner or almost finished. No one, as far as I could tell, had any intention of leaving.”

To read this article in full, please visit: Travel + Leisure

Greetings to all of our followers and friends in the community!

We wanted to raise awareness about a recent issue we've had in our Classified listings. Unfortunately, some people have fallen victim to a scam disguised as 'Puppies For Sale.' This incident has since been reported and handled accordingly. We want to let everyone know that: 

1. Any kind of animal for sale will no longer be allowed on XpatAthens. Although not all of these posts are scams, we have decided as an organization to support animal adoption. If you're looking for a puppy, dog, cat, or other please visit our list of animal adoption organizations in Athens.

2. Users who post inappropriate content (scams or other) will be blocked from posting on XpatAthens in the future.

As always, if you come across any suspicious content in our Classified or Event postings, please contact us at info@xpatathens.com so we can solve the issue as soon as possible.

At XpatAthens, we always strive for the best for our community. Our priority is to provide our readers with positive and quality content. We will stand by our efforts in making XpatAthens a safe place to receive news and other useful information within the international community in Greece.

Sincerely,

The Team at XpatAthens

With a history that spans more than sixty years, the Athens & Epidaurus Festival combines an impressive line-up of music, theatre, and dance performances. This summer, the Athens & Epidaurus Festival will be hosting a wide array of renowned Greek and international performers.

Among the headline acts are Chinese pianist, Yuja Wang, the British rock band Jethro Tull, and Yo-Yo Ma the greatest solo cellist in the world. A production of Oedipus based on Sophocles’ Oedipus Rex, by acclaimed American theater director Robert Wilson, will be held at the Ancient Theatre of Epidaurus on 21 & 22 June. The Greek National Opera will present Vincenzo Bellini’s Norma in June and Giuseppe Verdi’s La Traviata in July.

 

 

The Athens & Epidaurus Festival is Greece’s leading cultural event and one of the oldest performing arts festivals in Europe (1955). Each year, the Athens & Epidaurus Festival presents performances from acclaimed artists in theatre, dance, and music and attracts large audiences from around the world.

 

The festival takes place annually in the months of June, July, and August. More specifically, the Athens Festival performances are held between June 1st and mid to late July while the Epidaurus performances are held every Friday and Saturday, from early July to mid-August.

 

In Athens the festival is held at the Odeon of Herodes Atticus, Peiraios 260, and Opening to the City. In Epidaurus it takes place at Ancient Theatre of Epidaurus and the Little Theatre of Ancient Epidaurus. Site-specific performances are presented in various neighbourhoods of Athens and Piraeus, including outdoor spaces and archaeological sites, thus expanding the Festival’s scope and audience and encouraging spectators’ active engagement.

 

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XpatAthens is proud to be a Media Sponsor of the Athens Festival

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ReBrain Greece, a new pilot program for the repatriation of at least 500 Greek professionals with significant qualifications and expertise, was presented on Monday by Giannis Vroutsis, the Greek Minister of Labor, Social Insurance, and Social Solidarity.

The program aims to tackle the Greek brain drain issue by facilitating the gradual repatriation of highly-qualified Greek nationals who left Greece during the economic crisis in search of better-paying jobs.

The ReBrain Greece initiative guarantees the repatriated Greeks a minimum wage of €3,000 monthly month for at least two years. The program commits to paying €2,000 per month, while the employer companies will cover the remaining amount. At the end of the two years, the companies will continue to employ the professionals for at least one more year, continuing to pay a minimum monthly salary of €3,000.

 

Greeks aged between 28 and 40 with recognized international scientific and professional experience and post-grad academic credentials who are willing to the Greek labor market needs in new technologies will be able to register in the ReBrain Greece platform.

Greece has already begun loosening its strict lockdown measures, and as of Friday May 14, 2021, the entire country will begin to move more freely!

This means that the SMS system for leaving home will end, night curfew will begin at 12.30 am (instead of 11 pm), while domestic travel restrictions will be lifted as part of Greece’s phased returned to normality after months of strict lockdown measures. 

Also, the click-and-collect and click-in-shop systems will cease as retail trade gets closer to normal with health protocols in place stipulating one customer per 25 square meters.

What’s more, as of Friday, May 14th, the Greek version of the “green certificate” regarding travel to the islands (with the exception of Lefkada and Evia) comes into force, either by boat or by air.