It features not only tropical beauty but also ruins of ancient Athens and also a large population of ducks. It comprises of plants and flowers from all over the world. Not only this, the garden also has a botanical museum.

Earlier the garden belonged to the King and hence common people could only stroll around its boundary taking in its beauty from the outside. But today they are free to roam within and enjoy its peace. The children at the same time get to enjoy the small zoo that has been constructed within its vast grounds.

A small cafe near the Irodou Atikou street, quite close to the garden, called O Kypos is the perfect place to arm yourself with a cool beverage that helps you while away the time in the park. A small duck pond is also present where you are allowed to feed the duck. This garden is well known for the large number of ducks who reside here. Water turtles are another species found in great numbers in the garden’s ponds.

All in all if you go to Athens for a calm holiday where you wish to take in its beauty you simply must give the national garden one day!

1 – Means normal tariff and it should be used 18 hours a day from 6:00 am – 12:00 am
2- Night Tariff – It should be used between 12:01 am – 5:59 am (This is DOUBLE PRICE)
3 – Tariff for special occasions …. out of city travel (Going from Athens to a Village)
4 – WARNING … Tariff 4 doesn’t exist .. if you see Tariff 4 it means that its a special scam program that the driver has installed and is robbing you blind.

Legal surcharges apply for calling a cab by radio (€1.60), trips to or from the airport (€3.20) and heavy bags (€0.32). Tipping is not necessary, although it’s common to round up to the nearest full euro.

Though taxis are a common and cheap means of transport in Athens, be sure to avoid a taxi fraud by insisting on the meter and making sure the rate is correct. Taxis are obligated to use a meter when you flag them down. The minute they see you are a tourist they try to negotiate a flat rate with you  or set a rate that is ridiculously high (e.g. 20€ for a short trip). In these cases it is best to find another and again insist on the charge shown on the meter. If you feel you have been overcharged, ask for a receipt (they are obliged to give one) and take the plate number, then phone the tourist police to report the driver on 171.

In busy tourist locations such as Syntagnma square you will often see that the first couple of taxis in the line do not have their “vacant light” on the roof on. That is because they don’t want to drive local people but only tourists who they can rip off. The drivers with the light off will never use the meter, but always quote you a price before the trip that is way too high for the distance driven, but many tourists don’t know that and will take the cab anyway. Do not get duped here and insist that the taxi drivers use a meter.

You can also expect to share the ride in a taxi during rush hours if you can find one, and at night after the Metro has shutdown. As such if you hail a taxi which is already occupied (Free Taxis have a brightly lit TAXI sign on top of the cab) the driver will ask where you want to go to before he will let you in to join the other customers. Strikes by cabbies and public transit are common so be prepared and watch the local news.

Buildings and structures of the classical agora included:

• Peristyle Court
• Mint
• Enneakrounos
• South Stoa I and South Stoa II
• Heliaia
• Strategeion
• Colonos Agoraios
• Tholos
• Agora stone
• Monument of the Eponymous Heroes
• Old Bouleuterion
• New Bouleuterion
• Temple of Hephaestus
• Temple of Apollo Patroos
• Stoa of Zeus
• Altar of the Twelve Gods
• Royal stoa
• Temple of Aphrodite Urania
• Stoa of Hermes
• Stoa Poikile

Many buildings were added later to this site. Those in place by the 2nd century included:

• The Middle stoa which sat across the sanctuary, in front of the Heliaea
• A small Roman temple was added in front of the Middle stoa.
• An Altar of Zeus Agoraios was added just to the east of the Monument to the Eponymous Heroes.
• The Temple of Ares, dedicated to Ares, the god of war, was added in the north half agora, just south of the Altar of the Twelve Gods.
• The Odeon of Agrippa and accompanying gymnasium were added in the centre of the agora.
• The substantial Stoa of Attalos was built along the eastern edge of the agora.
• A collection of buildings were added to the south-east corner: the East stoa, the Library of Pantainos, the Nymphaeum and a temple.

The statue of Poseidon is now in the safe hands of the National Archaeological Museum in Athens, but the temple makes the presence of the Lord felt and it seems that the Temple of Poseidon, with its magnificent view of the Aegean, serves the role of sea watcher from the high promontory. Beneath the promontory of Poseidon, there is a small resort area offering several hotels and anchorage for yachts.

The temple was built by Pericles during the Golden Age of Greece and flaunts the plain Doric style. When you reach the top, you stand at one point of a magical triangle which the ancient Greeks enjoyed – from Sounion, you could see the Temple of Aphaia on the island of Aegina, and the Acropolis itself.

Tourists can reach Sounion easily by bus from Athens, or by organized day tours. Though sunset happens to the preferred time to visit Sounion, you can be an early bird if you want to avoid rush. When going up the hill, be careful on the alternately rough or slippery rocks. Also it is advisable to be on guard as there are no guard rails, chains, or anything similar for protection against a steep fall. Again, be prepared to face strong winds on the height.

Philopappos Hill:
Philopappos was the grandson of the King of Commagene and a well-known donor of the city, having made a large number of significant bequests. On the top of the legendary Hill of the Muses, lies the burial monument of great Gaius Julius Antiochus Philopappos. Philopappos Hill offers enough greenery for nature lovers to take a stroll around, relax or click pictures.

Zappeion Garden:
Zappeion Garden, taking pride in the awe-inspiring Zappeion Hall (which is at present an exhibition hall), is open from sunrise to sunset. The Hall building itself was erected solely for the purpose to host the first modern Olympic Games in Athens.

Lycabettus Hill:
Lycabettus hill is an ideal starting point for many significant venues of Athens. You can view the Acropolis and the grandiose Olympic Stadium from above and then through a pedestrian path lined with century-old trees you can head towards the Mediterranean coast. The Lycabettus also has an open air theatre at the top which holds concerts and various other events during the summer months.

National Gardens:
Patronized by Queen Amalia, the National Gardens, displays a multitude of strolling paths, large shady trees, cool ponds and lots of greenery.

The Village Entertainment Park:
The Village Entertainment Park, as the name suggests, is an ideal spot for recreational activities right from shopping, dining, wellness to outdoor activities. The park features varied facilities like picnic tables, Mediterranean vegetation, spacious retail area with everything on fashion, news, books, music and electronics stores. The complex also comprises some 20 indoor cinemas, a multitude of cafes and restaurants, plus an outdoor playground for children, which annually hosts a number of children’s events.

Lycabettus Hill
Lycabettus is basically a limestone rock with a height of around 1,000 feet. This rock gives a wonderful view of the entire city and is partially floodlit. You will have to trek a bit to reach the peak but the effort is worth it. There are small shops as well as restaurants up there. You’ll even come across a church.

The Agora
Agora is famous for its temple of Hephaestus. Earlier it was a spot where the military people assembled together to note down their duties and follow the orders given by the Emperor but now it is well known for its market place as well as minor monuments and the colonnade housing the museum.

Piraeus
Piraeus, situated in the outskirts of Greece is a wonderful port city with a population of around 175,695 people. This place can be extremely relaxing. If you still wish to explore this place then you may visit the Nautical Museum or Piraeus Museum.

National Archeological Museum
National Archeological Museum was established in 1829 is located in the Exarhia area in central Athens between Epirus Street, Bouboulinas Street and Tositsas Street. It is well known for its wonderful collection of Greek artifacts. This Museum attracts a lot of tourists and is considered to be a pride for Greece.

Cape Sounion and the temple of Poseidon
Cape Sounion is located at the southernmost tip of the Attica peninsula. Try to visit this particular place at the time of sunset. The view that it provides is breath taking. This spot basically contains the ruins Greek temple of Poseidon.

Athens International Airport that started its services from the 29th March 2001 is the civilian airport that provides services to the city of Athens and the region of Attica. The Airport is a major hub for Olympic Air, as well as for Aegean Airlines. The airport provides its services to about around 15 million travellers round the year and was named after the noted Greek statesman Eleftherios Venizelos. The airport has become immensely popular with and as a gateway to Asia and the Middle East. It is also learnt for the regular investment into the pioneering technology as Airbus A380. The airport replaced the now-closed Athens (Ellinikon) International Airport. Its first arrival was there on an Olympic Airways flight from Montreal and the second one there was an Olympic Aviation flight from Kythira. Its pioneering departure was a KLM flight to Amsterdam. The airport is situated between the towns of Markopoulo, Koropi, Spata and Loutsa, about 20 km (12 mi) to the east of central Athens (30 km (19 mi) by road.

At present the airport has twp terminals consisting the Main Terminal, and the Satellite Terminal that can be reached by a foot-tunnel from the Main Terminal. A new above ground link to the midfield satellite terminal was completed in 2010 and was open for the use. It is now used as a Schengen facility. It has two runways with an average length of 4 km (2.5 mi) long. The airport was designed with purpose to handle the ever increasing demands of the air traffic as to accommodate about 50 million passengers a year. The airport is also approved by the European Aviation Safety Agency and the Federal Aviation Administration for take-offs and landings of the biggest passenger jet worldwide, the Airbus A380. It is counted among the 30 busiest airports of Europe.

As for terminals in the hotel the primary one is the Main Terminal that handles the all intra Schengen flights as well as many other non-Schengen flights.  All check-in desks there are situated in the Main Terminal. There are about three separate levels there as one for arrivals, one for departures and a food court level. The other terminal is Satellite Terminal which handles non-Schengen flights only. It is easily approached by an underground link complete with moving walkways.

Divani Apollon Palace Spa 5 Star Hotel in Venice

•    Overview of the Hotel: This hotel is located at an exclusive area of Vouliagmeni. There find dining, extensive spa services and elegant accommodations are provided at the Divani Apollon Palace & Spa. This hotel has around 286 luxurious rooms. By the beach the Anemos Restaurant there open around in the morning and a delicious breakfast is offered out there. It is located about about 11 miles away from the Athens center. It is the chain of the Divani Collection and The Leading Hotels of the World.

•    Amenities at the Hotel: As for the general facilities in the hotel in includes as        restaurant,  bar, 24-hour front desk, newspapers, grounds, non-smoking rooms, elevator, safe, soundproofed rooms, chapel/shrine, heating,         baggage storage,  stores in hotel and air conditioning. for services in the hotel they includes as room service, meeting/banquet facilities, business center, babysitting/child services, laundry, dry cleaning,  hair/beauty salon, breakfast in the room, ironing service, currency exchange,         souvenirs/gift shop, shoe shine, packed lunches, car rental, tour desk,         fax/photocopying and ticket service.

•    Hotel Rules: With respect to the hotel rules they remain universal at the common areas of the hotel whereas for the different types of room the hotel rules also vary accordingly. The check in time into the hotel is 14:00 hours and the check out point is 12:00 hours. The cancellation and prepayment policies in the hotel vary according to the room type.  Pets are allowed on request without any extra charges.  Hotel accepts cards like as American Express, Visa, Euro/Mastercard, Diners Club and JCB.

•    Hotel Room Types and Rates:

Special Offer Superior Double Room: € 873.36 (Per Night)
Superior Double Room: € 1091.70 (Per Night)
Executive Double Room: € 1669.68 (Per Night)
Suite with Sea View: € 2568.72 (Per Night)
Special Offer Executive Suite: € 2568.72 (Per Night)

The Royal Garden was constructed by the Queen Amalia in 1838 and was accomplished by 1840. It was made by the German agronomist Frederick Schmidt who for the garden imported about 500 species of plants and a goof variety of animals that involves the peacocks, ducks, and turtles. However harsh dry weather proved to be too harsh for the plants and many of the plant species could not survive and animals too thrived.   The upper garden, behind the Old Palace, was fenced off and was the private refuge of the King and Queen.

The fate of the garden revived when in 1878, the Danish architect Theophil Freiherr von Hansen developed the neo-classical Zappeion Hall. It was then named after Evangelis Zappas, an Epirote businessman who played an important role in making the start to the   Zappian Olympic Games; he was a precursor of the modern Olympic Games. The Zappeion was the Olympic village for the 1896 Summer Olympics in Athens and too organized fencing games within it premises. The area in front to Zappeion was extensively used as for the parking and standing of the tams and buses. For a long period the park was under the control of Monarch as in 1974 plebiscite to abolish the monarchy the park was named as the National Garden. The park remains open for the public from sunrise to sunset and gives an imperative relief from the hectic city center. Its main entrance is on about Leoforos Amalias, the street that named after the name of the Queen who dreamt about this park. In the national park one can visit a duck pond, a small zoo, a Botanical Museum, a small café a children’s library and a playground.

Classical Athens Imperial 5 Star hotel in Athens

•    Overview of the Hotel:This hotel is located at the Athens theater district as across from Metaxourgeion Metro Station and Karaiskaki Square. It provides well equipped rooms along with free Wi-Fi, satellite TVs and CD players. Hotel facilities there involve a well rated gym and a good number of options to do things. During summer there is available an outdoor pool and bar situated at the top of the hotel on its roof. The hotel provides the panoramic views of Athens.  The hotel has about 262 rooms and it is the chain of the classical hotels.

•    Amenities at the Hotel: As for general facilities in the hotel it includes the system as restaurant, bar, 24-hour front desk, newspapers, non-smoking rooms, rooms/facilities for disabled guests, elevator, express check-in/check-out, safe, soundproofed rooms, baggage storage, stores in hotel, gay friendly,         allergy-free room, air conditioning and designated smoking area. In services at hotel it involves as room service, meeting/banquet facilities, business center, babysitting/child services, laundry, dry cleaning, breakfast in the room, ironing service, currency exchange, souvenirs/gift shop, car rental, tour desk and fax/photocopying.

•    Hotel Rules: With reference to the hotel rules it includes as a uniform policy at common areas of the hotel that differs as according to the different hotel rooms. The check in time into the hotel is 14:00 hours and the check out time is until 13:00 hours. The cancellation and prepayment policies also vary according to the room type.   Pets are not allowed in the hotel.  Hotels accept cards as American Express, Visa, Euro-Mastercard and Diners Club.

•    Hotel Room Types and Rates:

Standard Double Room: € 115 (Per Night)
Superior Double Room: € 125 (Per Night)
Deluxe Room: € 145 (Per Night)
Junior Suite: € 175 (Per Night)