Cruise Holidays To Athens

Overview

Athens is the starting and finishing point for many cruises but if you haven't been before, stay on an extra day, or book a late flight home so you can have a few hours in the city.

Ships dock at Piraeus, the bustling port, crammed with cruise vessels, inter-island ferries and hydrofoils. There's not much to do here but you can take a train or taxi into the city. Here, the top thing to see on everybody's list is the breathtaking complex of the Acropolis, a huge, historic park with many other temples and antiquities surrounding the jewel in the crown, the hilltop temple to the goddess Athena, after whom the city was named.

At the base of the hill, stop for lunch in the touristy but pretty district of Plaka, or head for the Kolonaki or Monastiraki districts for upmarket shopping. There are many other museums, including the magnificent Archaeological Museum. If you're in the city overnight, take a trip to nearby Cape Sounion, for one of the world's most romantic sunset views.