Do you know Athens? Is it a 'complete shithole'?

[Fuckoffeverything]

I read this on another thread. I've never been there. Have you been there? Is it really a complete shithole? What are your opinions on it?

We found the traffic dreadful and the crowds. Apart from the Acropolis and museum we didnt find much of interest. Found the stray dogs quite upsetting. This was about 10 years ago though maybe things have improved traffic wise

I went to Athens over Christmas in 2019 and couldn't recommend it more. Fantastic city. I have no idea what people are on about when they say it's a shithole/rough. All cities have their less than glam parts, no matter where you go. Doesn't mean it's 'rough'.

The food was incredible and just mooching round the city you'd see so much history. One of the best holidays I've been on. December was a perfect time of year to go, no tourist crowds and the weather was really good for walking.

There are stray dogs and cats everywhere in Greece, not just Athens.

If that's going to upset you, just don't go to Greece.

I stayed in quite a high end American business hotel and even then, the minute you left the hotel you were walking though a very fun down area of concrete flats with mangey dogs strolling around, broken pavements etc The actual historical attractions were well run, clean and tidy though and you pay to enter those. I think if you were going to explore the streets I wouldn’t recommend but if you’re going to see the incredible history it is well worth it.

We had two days and three nights there, as that's what I'd judged was the right amount of time to hit the historic sights we wanted and see. We had a day doing the Acropolis and the Acropolis Museum and we had another day to do Monastiraki, the Agora, the Roman Forum, etc and it was perfect. If you read up on what there is to see, find accommodation in a suitable spot and hit the things you want to visit then it's fine.

I wouldn't go and spend a week there and I wouldn't go for the shops or the atmosphere, but the sights are great and we ate well too - good restaurants. But it's a huge, rather grotty city with lots of people sleeping on the streets in some areas, lots of graffiti and derelict shops. Greece has been through tough economic times recently and it shows. So be realistic.

Greece went bust, do you even know or care about that? The number of exceptionally well educated taxi drivers I met there was shocking and appalling. People who would be earning professional wages in another Euro country but they couldn't afford to leave. But the important issue to write to the embassy about is a bit of graffiti on tourist sites 😂how crass can you get.

One thing I find about travel is that UK markers of whether somewhere is 'rundown' don't necessarily apply in other cities.

e.g. stray dogs in Greece - everywhere, including the posh bits.

I nearly had a fit in Warsaw when I thought DH had booked our hotel in a rundown crappy area made up of cheap, nasty concrete.

Then when I looked at the shops outside the hotel, they were very high end and we were actually in one of the poshest areas. Warsaw was completely obliterated in WW2, what I was looking at was Communist era buildings as that was what got built. To my UK eye, it looked like a rundown estate but I couldn't have been more wrong.

I didn't see one dog the entire time

Yes I went there in 2016 and I can confirm shithole status. There was one nice part of it near the acropolis. The rest was graffiti, homelessness and brutalist type architecture. I naively thought it would be like Sorrento or Florence with beautiful views, bars and restaurants. In reality there were very few places to go out to eat outside of the small nice bit. My phone got stolen inside our hotel because somebody came into the restaurant off the street. We left early.

@SenoraAveiro well you should complain to the Embassy!

There must have been cats though? I resolved to pack a load of Dreamies next time as there were just so many, most making good livings from tourists at restaurants or being fed in churchyards.

Athens is a city of over 3 million people, 1/3 of the total population of Greece.

It was never going to look like Sorrento.

Oh I can't take Greek cats @AnnaMagnani

DH has to stop me smuggling them all into my suitcase every time we leave...

It’s nicer than Paris. But I think Paris is a dive. Some amazing things to see but rough in between.

Yeah there are rougher bits, sure, but it's a huge capital city, it's not the same as going to some manicured tourist destination.

I mean there are bits of London which would make tourists shit themselves, but nobody encourages them not to visit the city because of that.

True, none of the tourists go to Brent.

Even if you are in Kensington, you stick to South Ken and not North.

In a lot of European cities, it's often worth thinking about how much got bombed to smithereens in WW2 as well. The Old Town may have been rebuilt pretty but the rest, probably is a load of concrete. Worse if you are in the former Eastern bloc/anywhere governed by a dictator or military junta such as Athens.

I liked Athens - was there for a week (for work and 2 weekends tacked on) and enjoyed it. Good food.

Really loved it. I heard similar reports. However back packed and stayed. Hot, dusty and interesting...

Maybe a bit cheeky to jump in with a question but what are people's experiences of Copenhagen? I desperately want to go for a long weekend but have seen several comments on websites about Danes being blunt to the point of rude, and a few remarks about weeing in the streets...which honestly is kind of the exact opposite of the view I'd come to imagine so it's made me doubt a bit! (Obviously I'm sure some people do wee in the street, but is it really common?)

A while since I have been to Copenhagen but it would be ideal for a long expensive weekend.

It's a clean, safe easy place to go. Danes all speak fluent English, plus Danish is horrendous to learn, so even if you try to speak in Danish everyone will answer you in English.

Unless you are there in a work/relationship capacity you probably won't notice the bluntness. I'd personally say it's similar in the Netherlands and parts of Germany.

They are very polite people, it just comes out in other ways than an English person might. They aren't going to say sorry when someone else bumps into them - why do we do that anyway? And it's totally acceptable to start a conversation by just saying 'You!' which would be rude in English but not to a Dane.

On the other hand, while there isn't a word for Please, there are numerous complicated ways of saying Thank-you.

It's just a cultural difference that as a tourist for a weekend, you may not even notice.

Weeing in the street - Danes are weird. They hate it but would also be too polite to stop someone. Anyway as a tourist for a weekend, it'll be fine.

I've been. I didn't see any weeing in the streets. It is horrendously expensive so be prepared.

We planned a holiday in Stockholm worrying about how expensive it would be, then looked at Bath as an alternative.

Stockholm was cheaper!

So yes, Scandinavian holidays are expensive but you might be surprised.

I loved Athens. Stayed in a gorgeous small hotel called AthensWas, absolutely recommend

I loved Athens. Visited as a poor student back in 2003 so would have stayed in a cheap as chips hotel. We were careful at night.

I do remember exploring during the day and finding some really pretty areas. Grid system so it's easy to navigate.

Had 3 nights in Athens over Easter, I'd last been 30 years previously. Was very pleasantly surprised, sights aside (and they're literally EPIC), the cafe culture was fab, amazing hotels and rooftop bars (granted our hotel was very special - The Modernist), but I could have happily stayed and explored for longer. Felt safe, everyone was very friendly. It's an enormous sprawling city, but the old part was all very walkable. I think going spring time when the weather was pleasant also helped - I can imagine it feels like Hell's Kitchen in August.

If history isn't your thing (and I know that some people do not get it at all), then Athens does not have much for you (other than the boats out to other islands). I love it but some of the people begging can be a bit menacing. Once, I was paying at a restaurant and I had to remove the bank notes because the lady begging outside (who had been watching me for some time) was rapidly advancing towards the plate. I had to grip them inside my hand until I could transfer them into the hand of the patron. It has never happened anywhere else.