Syntagma Square
Syntagma Square or Constitution Square is the main square in Athens and
has a metro station, the Greek Parliament building, hotels, cafes, and a post
office.
Syntagma Square
Photo by Donna Dailey
The main square of Athens, Constitution Square (or Plateía Syntagmatos in Greek), is one that every visitor should see – and at some point probably will. The metro station is one of the busiest in the city, and the square has newspaper kiosks selling foreign papers, several hotels, banks, ATMs, and currency exchanges.
There’s also a main post office, though its street address is Mitropoleos 2, just round the corner at the south-west corner of the square. Syntagma Square also has public toilets, and some outdoor sculptures to enjoy. In addition, this is where the X95 bus to and from the airport stops, along the southern side of the square, and local buses too.
Syntagma Square
Photo credit: puthoOr photOgraphy on Visualhunt
Small gardens, shady cafés and a fountain down one side all make for a pleasant break for Athens’ office workers at lunchtime, and for visitors too. You’ll pay a little more for your coffee but it’s the perfect place to hang out and people-watch.
Hotel Grande Bretagne
The Hotel Grande Bretagne on Syntagma Square
On one side is the distinguished Hotel Grande Bretagne, almost a tourist attraction in its own right. Richard Strauss, Elizabeth Taylor and Sir Winston Churchill have been among the guests. Churchill would have remembered the experience as it was during World War II and an attempt was made on his life there!
Our Pick of the Athens Guides
Greek Parliament Building
The hotel was built in 1862 as an annexe to what was then the royal family's summer palace and is now the Greek Parliament Building, or Vouli, at the top of the square. In front of this is the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier, guarded by the Greek soldiers known as Evzones, whose Changing of the Guard ritual is one of the most popular tourist attractions. It is an impressive, precise and dramatic routine, with the guards dressed in their colourful traditional costumes.
The Changing of the Guard on Syntagma Square
Syntagma Square Metro Station
Syntagma metro station, the hub of an ever-expanding system, not only provides many useful transport links but also offers visitors a glimpse of what lies below the busy streets of the modern
city. It features a display of archaeological finds uncovered during the
excavations of the transport system, and a diorama of the square as it would
have looked in the past.
Some other Athens pages
The Athens National Historical Museum is in the former Greek Parliament building and houses an archive of historical artefacts and documents.
This drive around Attica offers visitors high hills, beach resorts, small villages and classical sites like Marathon and the Temple of Poseidon at Cape Sounion.
Piraeus is the port of Athens from where many ferries to the Greek islands depart, and it also has an Archaeological Museum and the Hellenic Maritime Museum.
The Athens Byzantine and Christian Museum is housed in a beautiful villa with an underground wing and lovely gardens too.
Athens International Airport is east of Athens city centre with its own Metro train station, buses to Athens and Piraeus, taxis and car rental offices.
Greece Travel Secrets lists the ten best museums in Athens, with the top two being the National Archaeological Museum and the Acropolis Museum.
Easter in Athens is, like everywhere in Greece, the biggest religious celebration of the year and this page tells you what to expect over the Easter weekend.
Athens car rental options include almost all of the major international car hire firms such as Avis, Budget, Hertz, and Europcar.
Around Monastiraki is the flea market, Athens cathedral, Kerameikos Cemetery, the Benaki Museum of Islamic Art and the Psirri and Gazi nightlife districts.
The Athens War Museum is a fascinating look at Greek history through the lens of warfare from ancient battles to the Greek War of Independence and World War II.
This extract of Artistic Athens in the Lonely Planet book Culture Trails takes visitors on a journey through the artistic side of Athens..
Athens Airport hotels include the luxury Sofitel at the terminals, Holiday Inn near the airport, and others close by like the Hotel Pantheon.
Athens culinary tours are among the food walking tours offered by an unusual company, Culinary Backstreets.
The Greece Travel Secrets website looks at the Athens weather, the chance of rain, the climate in summer and winter and the best time to visit Athens.
The Athens Agora or ancient market is a must-see site and one of the best things to do in Athens with its restored arcade building, the Stoa, and its museum.
This beginner's guide to Greek architecture explains how to tell your Ionic from your Doric columns, and what to look for in temples and Byzantine churches.
The best views in Athens include views from the Acropolis and of the Acropolis from the top of some of the city’s several hills and from hotels and restaurants.
The best things to do in Athens, Greece, include top archaeological sites like the Acropolis and must-see attractions such as the National Archaeological Museum
Athens walking tours and other experiences like cookery lessons, ceramics workshops, dining with a family, and street art are available from Alternative Athens
Athens in the rain isn’t something you’re likely to experience but here are suggestions for things to do in the rain in Athens including museums and shopping
Ten Fun Things to Do in Athens include eating in the Central Market, watching the sun set over the Acropolis and seeing one of the world's oldest theatres.
Athens Airport car rentals include Alamo/National Car Rental, Avis, Budget, Europcar, Hertz and Sixt, all with offices at the airport.
Greece Travel Secrets visits the Monastiraki Flea Market, followed by Sunday lunch at Sigalas on Monastiraki Square
Athens, an Eater's Guide to the City, is published by Culinary Backstreets, who do walking food tours in Athens and the book recommends the best places to eat.
Two of the best cocktail bars in Athens, MoMix Kerameikos and The Clumsies, are making creative cocktails using that most Greek of Greek spirits, Metaxa.
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