The Traveling Runner

Athens will always hold a special place in my heart. Not only for its beauty, culture and people but also because this is the city where my husband and I were engaged! I think Athens is largely underrated in the tourism and travel community. I was surprised and humbled by everything we experienced in the 6 days we were there! From the museums, to the people, to the metro, to the restaurants, and the most genuine air b&b host, we felt at home. I hope my itinerary will give you a jump start and motivation to create the trip of a lifetime.

Before I get started, I want to review the general structure of my itineraries. I have mentioned in my instagram posts that I categorize itineraries based on 3 criteria defined below.

Lauren’s Itinerary Classification:

1. Heavy itinerary: 75-90% of your time is planned with sightseeing, museums, or excursions with minimal downtime*
2. Medium itinerary: 50-75% of your time consists of sightseeing and 25-50% of your time consists of downtime*
3. Light itinerary: 25-40% or less of your time is spent on excursion, sightseeing or museums. 75-100% of your time is spent with downtime*

*Downtime is defined as all meals, sleep, exercise, sunbathing at the pool, walking around with no real destination or location in mind, or anything not scheduled in advance.

I classify my Athens itinerary as medium. With the below outline, my husband and I were able to sleep in (it took me longer than usual to overcome the jet lag), go for daily morning runs, enjoy a sit down lunch and dinner, and have a bottle of wine on our balcony that overlooked Monastiraki Square each night. As you go through the itinerary, you can gauge your preference and decide which type of vacation works for you.

Day 1: Arrive in Athens at the international airport. I love taking public transportation abroad so we hopped on the metro after clearing customs and passport control. It takes approximately 40 minutes to get from the airport to Monastiraki Square. We checked into our air b&b and walked around the city to stay active. This is the only way to combat jet lag to begin to train your body on the local time. Then we walked around the Monastiraki Square neighborhood before eating dinner. I recommend going to bed early so you can wake up early to begin your next day refreshed!

Day 2: If you are in Athens on a Sunday (we were on our day 2), go to the Parliament building in Syntagma Square to see the Grand Change of the Guard at 11 am. After, begin visiting the archeological sites. On our second day we went to the Ancient Agora where we saw the Temple of Hephaestus. Many tour websites such as Viator or Get Your Guide offer combo tickets that allow entry to most archeological sites, excluding the Acropolis where the Parthenon is located, within the city. We found an excellent combo ticket through Get Your Guide. We visited approximately 1-2 sites a day (6 in total, not including the Aropolis and Parthenon). It takes approximately 1-3 hours to explore each site. Some sites are smaller than others and don’t require much time. The biggest sites that require the most amount of time are Temple of the Olympian Zeus, Kerameikos, and the Ancient Agora.

Day 3: On this day we visited the Acropolis and Parthenon. In order to visit the Acropolis and the Parthenon, you need to purchase a separate ticket. You can either participate in a guided tour or self-guiding tour, depending on your preference. You will also catch a glimpse of the Theatre of Dionysus. We visited the Acropolis in the morning before the outside temperature became unbearable (we went the end of September and the high was still 85 degrees F or 29 degrees C). After eating lunch, we visited Hadrian’s Library which was one of the archeological sites included in our combo ticket.

Day 4: We took a half day trip to the Temple of Poseidon and Cape Sounion. We pre-booked a 4 hour guided tour to and from Athens. Many guided tours will pick you up at your hotel or, in our case, at our air b&b. It is approximately a 1 hour drive from Athens. We left Athens around 9 am and returned around 2 pm. We took the rest of the day to relax and walk around.

Day 5: We walked from Monastiraki Square to the National Gardens. After exploring the National Gardens, we visited Aristotle’s School archeological site. The next site we visited was Temple of Olympian Zeus which was approximately a 20-25 minute from Aristotle’s School. We then walked from Temple of Olympian Zeus to Kerameikos; approximately a 35 minute walk.

Day 6: On our final full day in Athens, we visited the National Archeological Museum. We were there for approximately 2 hours but the duration can vary depending on how long you chose to stay. After, we visited the final archeological site included in our comb ticket: Roman Forum.

Day 7: We departed Athens at 6:30 am from Piraeus port, headed to Mykonos. To get to Piraeus, we took the metro from Monastiraki Square to Piraeus Port. This will take approximately 35 minutes. The port is large and you may need to allow an additional 30 minutes to walk to your ferry’s departing gate. The departing gate number will be listed on your ferry ticket. Check the gate map prior to your arrival so you know what to expect.

Restaurant recommendations coming soon…..!