Athens Most of Athens’ highlights are centred around the city’s rich, ancient history.

It’s most popular attractions, the imposing Acropolis and Parthenon, dominate the city’s skyline, watching protectively over the city that calls them home. Affording incredible views, the magnificent Acropolis is arguably the most important ancient monument in the Western world. First inhabited during Neolithic times, it was lived on until 510 BC after which time it was dedicated to the Gods.

Standing supremely over the Acropolis and visible from just about everywhere in Athens is the Parthenon - a monument that epitomises the glory of ancient Greece. The remains of a temple built as homage to goddess Athena, work began on this graceful structure in 447BC and was completed in 438 BC. Elsewhere in the city, the Temple of Olympian Zeus was the largest temple in Greece in its time, featuring 104 Corinthian columns. The nearby Roman Stadium was originally built in 4th century BC as a venue for athletic contests. It also played host to the first ever Olympic Games of modern times in 1896. The Ancient Agora and Roman Agora were ancient marketplaces and the focal point for social and civic life.

Popular museums in Athens include the National Archaeological Museum – one of the most important museums in the world because of its fine collection of Greek antiquities; the Museum of Cycladic Art; the Benaki Museum and the popular Acropolis Museum that showcases surviving treasures of the Acropolis. Athens is also home to the most technologically advanced and largest digital Planetarium in the world. Its highlight is a 950 sq. m hemispherical dome which spectacularly displays 360° IMAX and 3D movies of the galaxy beyond. The monasteries of Metéora are a collection of the largest and most important Greek Orthodox monasteries in the world. Precariously located atop sandstone peaks, monks settled on these “columns in the sky” from the 11th century. Situated at 613m above sea level, the ethereal peaks and the scenery from them is truly breath-taking.