Athens has been a city for 3500 years but its greatest glory was during the Classical period of ancient Greece from which so many buildings and artifacts still survive.

Athens was the birthplace of European civilization.
Athens is the country's most important cultural, commercial and industrial center with some 4.5 million people living in the capital and its suburbs. Omonia Square is the city's most crowded point, Plaka and Thission are the districts that attack both tourists and locals since they represent the most beautiful and best preserved part of the old city. Kolonaki, the most chic quarter, is patronized by intellectuals and the fashion conscious and boasts the most luxurious and expensive shops.

The northern suburbs have the most modern high-rise blocks and shipping centers and they also claim tree-lined streets with large villas surrounded by spacious gardens.

The western suburbs are composed of working-class neighborhoods and cities factories.

Eastern Attica is famed for its tavernas and also a number of summer houses.

Southern Attica from Neo Faliro to Sounion, is the most important summer retreat for both locals and visitors, with its beaches, nightclubs, second homes and luxury hotels.

Athens ancient and more recent monuments, its museum, its sights, its attractive, lively traditional districts, the wonderful sunny Attic climate, and its fascinating past are more than enough reasons to spend some time here.