Celeste, from Family Goes Out, gives her best advice for families visiting Athens during the warmer months. It's best to visit visit in May and June or September and October, where the temperatures are cooler and child-friendlier, but if you must visit during the peak of the summer, August is a good time to visit Athens, as the city empties when the Greeks go on holiday.

Babies and young children can get ill during hot weather (dehydration, heat stroke, sunburn). Babies less than 6 month old should be kept out of the sun. Always bring a light sheet, umbrella/cover for your stroller. Young infants cannot be in the sun during the hottest hours of the day. Sun hats with a wide brim and protective flap on the back, protective clothing and sunscreen are a must. Make sure your children drink plenty of water.

For July and August, make sure that you book your (air conditioned) accommodation (and everything else such as ferry boat / air tickets, etc.) well in advance. Choose one of the city hotels with a swimming pool. Another great option is to stay at the Athenian Coast, also known as the Athens riviera. There are several family friendly beach hotels and resorts here and it is very easy to get to the city from here by either car or public transport.

Athens is very hot during the day time so plan your activities in the mornings and afternoons/evenings. Do as the Greeks do and have a nap together with your children during the hottest hours of the day. You can also take a dip in your city hotel swimming pool (make sure the children stay in the shade) to cool off.

Visit the archeological sites only in the early morning, they open at 08:00.

To get around the city, instead of walking use the Athens Metro system.

A great idea for seeing all the highlights of the city is to use one of the so called hop-on-hop-off busses. There are several companies in Athens that offer such tours. These busses are air-conditioned and stroller friendly. Some of these bus tours combine their tickets with the tourist train in the historic center called Athens Happy Train or Sunshine express. This is another great way to get around the Plaka area with your kids whilst sitting in the shade and enjoying the sites. I would recommend the train for the afternoons.

• The National Gardens
• The New Acropolis Museum
• Hellenic Motor Museum
• The Athens War Museum
• The Museum of Greek Children’s Art
• Museum of the Ancient Agora

To read this article in full, please visit: Family Goes Out

In an effort to help refugee children in Greece complete their education, the Greek Ministry of Education and UNICEF have teamed up to devise short-term and long-term plans to fulfill this goal.

UNICEF’s Regional Director for Central and Eastern Europe, Marie-Pierre Poirier, visited Athens and Lesvos recently with the aim to collaborate with Greek authorities. While meeting with Greek education officials, she was informed about the current situation and the effects on refugee children.

According to UNICEF’s data, around 22,000 children are among the 55,000 migrants and refugees stranded in Greece. After interviewing 75% of school aged refugee children, 1 in 5 had never even begun their education. As a jumpstart, Greece’s Education Ministry has initiated pilot education and activities for children at refugee camps over the summer with the aim of beginning proper classes in the fall in their native language, English, and basic Greek.

While in Athens and Lesvos, Ms Poirier presented two plans to address the educational needs of the children. The first plan is a programme developed for younger children, which will allow for the immediate intervention at reception centers and the second plan is a programme to address the needs of adolescents, which include both education and career orientation.

For the younger children, the goal is to learn their mother tongue and English so they will be prepared once they settle in a host country. The goal for school aged children is to place them in Greek schools.

Apart from the educational needs Poirier was informed about, there are children who are unaccompanied. These children need to be aided by Greek institutions, prosecutors, and social workers to place them in foster care and eventually unite them with their families. UNICEF is also collaborating with the Migration Policy Ministry and the Social Solidarity Ministry to provide protection for unaccompanied minors.

To read this article in full, please visit: Greek News Agenda

Workers at all means of public transport in Athens have announced their participation in the 24-hour general strike on Wednesday, September 21, 2022.

The strike will affect: 

Athens Metro Lines 2 & 3, Urban Train ISAP (Metro Line 1), tram, blue buses and trolley buses!

*LATEST UPDATE: September 20, 2022

---

For information on how to contact an airline not listed below, click HERE.

AEGEAN AIR:
Customers are kindly advised to check the latest flight details by calling:
From Greece 0801 11 20000
From abroad or mobile + 30 210 6261000 or click HERE.

OLYMPIC AIR:
Olympic Air will attempt to contact with passengers on flights affected to forward them to other flights as well as network and informing them about changes in departure times.

For more information please contact the customer service at: 801 801 0101 (fixed) and 210 3550500 (mobile phones) or click HERE.

There are over 2,000 islands in Greece and 16,000 km worth of coastline. The country is famous for its diversity, sandy beaches, pebbly shores, caves, and crystal waters so it can be hard to find where the best beaches are in Greece. Here are just a few:

Kephalonia - Ionian Islands

The popular beaches of Myrtos has white sand and rock, and excellent views of the cliffside village of Ano Mera. There are also caves with stalactites and stalagmites and one that is over 3km long.

Lefkada is mainly a mountainous island with natural beauty, plane trees, historical and archaeological sites, and beautiful islets opposite the port of Nydri. These islets of Skorpios, Madouri, and Meganissi have plenty of caves to explore, including one that is known to have concealed a submarine during World War II.

The popular beaches are Porto Katsiki with white sand and turquoise waters and Egremnous, where the sea is perfect, but harder to get to.

 

This island is known for its world-class beaches, becoming packed in July and August. Most of the beaches are on the south coast, which is protected from the northern winds.

This island is not short of beaches with 62 exceptional ones to choose from. The organized beaches are on the south side and the quiet, untouched beaches are on the north side. Koukounaries and Lalaria are the two most popular beaches - Lalaria can only be accessed by boat.

To read this article in full, please visit: Hip Greece

The Greek Infrastructure, Transport, and Networks Ministry has announced that six regional airports in Greece will receive 197 million euros in EU funding towards their upgrade.

With the goal of boosting EU growth, the European Commission President started the Juncker Plan in 2014 and has since given the airports of Kastoria, Milos, Syros, Naxos, Paros, and Chios funds for modernization and development.

Part of the funds will come from Public Private Partnership and will focus on the design, construction, financing, and management of the airports. Under the supervision of the Civil Aviation Authority, the investors will have the right to use and manage airport facilities.

To read this article in full, please visit: Greek Travel Pages

Summer has come and Athens is brimming with bars ideal for night (and day) crawlers! There is an abundance of bars that have various cocktails to choose from, sophisticated spirits that offer breaths of coolness, and super views of the acropolis. 

If you feel a little spoiled for choice and don't know where to start from, here are 3 of our favorite summer bars!

 

The Zillers, a restaurant and bar, is located on the top level of a hotel and is a popular hotspot in the city. Visitors will enjoy an excellent view of the Acropolis and of Mitropoleos square. What else could you ask from an open-air space for your summer nights? Cocktails of course! You may try the Ipanem cocktail with cachaca, passion fruit, lime, honey, and candy. 

The first Greek Vermouteria borrows its name from the smells and aromatic herbs used in cooking. Inside the Odori, you can find a drinks list that is more than generous. Not limited to classic cocktails, but "playing" different vermouth and selected Greek spirits to enjoy your drink in your own measures. There are 8 signature options based on an equal number of herbs that flavor vermouth and they say it's exactly what you need. The interior is reminiscent of the botanical garden and the tables that lead to Skouleniou street are more than suitable for after-office drinks and an evening spirit. 

Where: Skouleniou 2, Athens
Telephone: 210 3314674

 

From the center, we move on to Hymettous where something exciting awaits. Is it the freshly roasted coffee? Is it the refreshing cocktails and the tables outside? It is and it's all together in this hip espresso & cocktail bar which promises 'peace of mind,' but also countless summer nights (and days) on the comfortable terrace and the accompaniment of fine foreign musicians. Visitors must try their fresh homemade Sangria and Spicy Mule, with homemade syrup chili, pineapple, slices of cucumber, and spicy cayenne pepper grains. 

Where: Plateia Ymittou 3, Hymmetus
Telephone: 210 762 1880

Located relatively close to Athens (about 39 km), Mavro Lithari is a small but sandy, organized beach. It beach bars with ice-cold drinks appropriate when the heatwaves strike. The refreshments and drinks served at the beach bar will come in handy when the temperatures rise.

@drone_arcade

Kakia Thalassa is one of the cleanest beaches in Attica (except during northern winds). This beach is paved with small pebbles outside and sand in the water, it is relatively organized with sun loungers, umbrellas, and swings for kids. It is about an hour's drive from the center of Athens.

@karpdimitris

Located in Agia Marina Bay, Loubarda is organized and has shallow turquoise waters. The beach offers shelter from the wind due to its unique location.

Saronida

@scarlet_starlet_mary

Saronida beach provides plenty of shade, but only if you get there in time to catch a spot to place your towel under the trees. It is sandy and has beautiful clear waters. It may not be organized, but you will find a kiosk and restaurants right across the road.

Grand Beach Lagonissi

@grandbeachlagonissi

Undoubtedly one of the most beautiful and luxurious sandy beaches in Attica. It has beautiful waters and sand inside and out. A set with an umbrella & 2 sunbeds for a maximum of 2 persons costs € 30.00 from Monday to Friday. A set with an umbrella & 2 sunbeds for a maximum of 2 persons costs € 60.00 on Weekends and Holidays. Special rates apply for children aged 2-12.

Author and blogger Marissa Tejada recently went on a different kind of tour of Athens. Together with a local architect, she explored the city and listened to the stories behind each of the buildings. Here she tells us about her experience of the complex mix of ancient, historic, and new architecture of the city of Athens.

One thing I love about traveling in Europe is the amazing architecture that can be admired in the old towns. It’s wonderful to take in everything from fantastic castles, gorgeous sky high churches with spires and Gothic accents, to the charm of buildings and homes that have lined cobbled lanes before industrial modern times. For an American like me, it is all very fairy tale at times and simply charming.

It has been said that the landscape of Athens is an architectural challenge. Unregulated city growth and planning led to cookie-cutter housing, a lack of green space and grand centuries’ old buildings falling to the developer’s wrecking ball. Once elegant homes remain simply abandoned.

I have been walking the city center streets, where I live, for years now and failed to really look closer, only admiring the obvious: the Acropolis and other ancient structures that have survived with grace and the most important neoclassical buildings. However, I always kind of shook my head at buildings that lined the oldest Athenian neighborhoods which were a big old unnecessary hodgepodge of styles (some just ugly), at least to me.

Athens is a city built over a city, many times over. The ancient Greek world has been buried over time. Fast forward to today, within the past decades even, engineers and architects continue to literally bump into a landscape of antiquities.

Exploring much of Greece, you’ll find this kind of construction where eras are built over eras. Another reason why you can say Athens is truly a fascinating city of layers.

To read Marissa's article in full, please visit: My Greece My Travels

There's something new in the southern Athenian suburb of Athens - Glyfada is now home to i-bike - an excellent bike sharing system available to locals and visitors.

There are two i-bike stations at Glyfada, one at the beach by Vergoti Square and one at the old City Hall. Cyclers can choose from 20 available bicycles for transportation purposes, strolling or just for fun.

Users must be over 18 and can rent a bike for as long as they wish with the use of a credit card or via cell phone, returning it to any of the installed stations across town. Regular users, applicable only to Glyfada residents, can sign up for the system and receive a special e-card which provides 24-hour access. Cards are available from Glyfada City Hall.

Bike sharing, first implemented in European cities in 1965, gives people the chance to borrow a bike from one point and return it to another point in the city.

For more information in English, please click HERE.
To read this article in full, please visit: Greek Travel Pages

“Cruise travel is a growing tourism sector and at the same time has positive prospects, contributing in many ways to the European economy. A country like Greece, with unique beauty and diverse destinations, history and culture, can and should be developed into a leading cruise destination, and indeed all year long,” said Kyriakos Anastasiadis, CEO Celestyal Cruises and executive member of CLIA Europe.

Greece has maintained its ranking as the third most popular destination in Europe, with a 13.3 percent share and total of 4,176,500 cruise passenger visits. Santorini, Piraeus, Mykonos, Corfu and Katakolon took the lead as ports of call in 2015, with some 980,049 passengers starting their voyages from the port of Piraeus.

Besides being one of the fastest growing sectors in Europe, cruise travel employs some 10,000 people who contribute over 188 million euros annually to the Greek economy according to the Cruise Lines International Association (CLIA).

The CLIA report, presented on Tuesday, revealed that the industry in Europe grew by 2 percent and an estimated 40.95 billion euros in 2015, adding 10,000 new jobs to a total of 360,571 whose salaries plus benefits reach 11.05 billion euros.

To read this article in full, please visit: Greek Travel Pages