Dear Athens,
It was never supposed to end up this way between us.
We were supposed to fall deeply, madly in love. I was supposed to adore you, with all your history and culture. We were supposed to make incredible memories together. I was supposed to go home and make everyone jealous of my time spent with you.
I wanted to love you, Athens. I really did. Ever since I was old enough to be interested in history, yours has been one that's fascinated me. Gods and goddesses; philosophers; music; art; ancient ruins — these are the things I fantasized about when I thought of you.
I looked forward to visiting you. I wanted to prove all the people wrong who told me you've gone downhill during Greece's financial struggles. I wanted to find interesting and beautiful parts of you to share with people who are wary of visiting you these days.
I wanted to highlight your redeeming qualities, Athens.
But damn, you made it hard.
As soon as I arrived, I had that sinking feeling that things just weren't going to work out between us.
As superficial as it sounds, you really weren't much of a looker. Your streets were dingy, your buildings weren't pretty, and all the cool ruins were nowhere to be seen.
And, to top it all off, you were bloody HOT Athens — and we're not talking “hot” in an attractive way. We're talking “hot” in an “I-couldn't-step-outside-without-wanting-to-pass-out” kind of way.
Yes, Athens, you left quite a bit to be desired.
It seemed like for every positive thing I saw in you, there was a negative lying in wait just around the corner to cancel it out.
For example:
While the hotel I stayed in was modern and clean and had a rooftop bar and pool with amazing views, the staff was rude, the air conditioning didn't work, and it was way too expensive.
While I enjoyed shopping and roaming around Monastiraki Square in your Old Town, the walk to get there was a bit sketchy, and it was so crowded at night.
While walking through your Ancient Agora in the steps of greats like Socrates and Aristotle was cool, the ruins that remain there weren't as impressive as I'd hoped.
While I enjoyed looking out over your basin-shaped valley from the spot where St. Paul first preached to your people about the Unknown God, the air was a bit hazy and the sun unbearably hot.
While standing atop the Acropolis WAS amazing, standing in a huge line to do so in 115-degree weather was not. The day I was there, it was so hot that they CLOSED the Acropolis in the afternoon.
While seeing the Parthenon was cool, seeing it covered in scaffolding and swarming with people was not.
The only things about you I liked without any caveats were watching your amusing changing of the guard ceremony, and eating mounds of frozen Greek yogurt in attempts to cool down.
If I'm being completely honest, I actually hated you while I was with you, Athens. I found myself in a sour mood, eager to move on to the next destination and leave your oppressive heat and ugliness behind.
Looking back on our brief relationship now, though, I'm not quite so angry; I can appreciate the things we saw and did together. I can be somewhat in awe of your history and ancient ruins. I can admit that there was more of you that I would have liked to see if it hadn't been so hot and if I'd had more time.
But, while I might be convinced to give you a second chance someday, I'm not very optimistic that things will ever work out between us.
I'm sorry, Athens, but I'm just not that into you.
Sincerely,
Amanda
Have you been to Athens? If so, what did you think of it? If not, has there ever been a city that let you down like this?
*Note: I visited Athens as part of a discounted 9-day Classic Balkan Trek tour with Busabout. All opinions (obviously) are my own.
Amanda Williams is the award-winning blogger behind A Dangerous Business Travel Blog. She has traveled to more than 60 countries on 6 continents from her home base in Ohio, specializing in experiential and thoughtful travel through the US, Europe, and rest of the world. Amanda only shares tips based on her personal experiences and places she's actually traveled!
Sounds like a very privileged take..but also what did you expect when visiting an arid Mediterranean country during the hottest months of the year? Lol did you expect it to be a nice 74 degrees? I can agree Athens is wildly overrated and not in good shape but this is what happens when a country is in an economic collapse, buildings will be abandoned, streets will be full trash and of the homeless, and people aren’t going to be in a chipper mood when they’re making poverty wages and can hardly afford the necessities. I mean these things are happening in America too like New York, Detroit, Chicago and California. But if you venture out you’ll see more of what a country has to offer, the whole Peloponnese is gorgeous and cities there are much cleaner than Athens and offer so much more, especially places like in northern Greece like Thessaloniki.
Hi Amanda! I am also from Ohio! My husband and I, and 2 couples went to Athens…just a few days ago (July 2023) … I have to AGREE with you. Most people were unhappy. No one talked to you. Or was nice. People kept to themselves. We were looking out for pickpocketers- b/c you should…especially on the train and YES people were onto us. So most the time I’m trying to look mean myself, and keep my possessions CLOSE.
And yes, Athens was a mess. I may feel worse about it than you… haha! Ok let’s say- I did get tan b/c it was 48 degrees Celsius. Yes that’s accurate. And I did see old stones. But the pantheon and all temples are basically old stone and new- not all original. It’s looking at the old, but a lot of new stone they’ve put in there to keep them up…. And yes I was in tons of lines. Lots of people- with not much regulation. Streets were dirty… side walls were non existent or too small or cracked or not level because they weren’t built right…. Graffiti everywhere. Safest and most relaxing places were the pay- to-stay pool on the roof or our hotel… and we went down to the coast there outside Athens and we stayed at a paid for- lake experience. It was so so nice.
I won’t go back. I can understand the years of terrible government (b/c they’ve had every kind of government of you don’t know) and now, economic hard times… sorry for going off- I just didn’t have enough resources I looked at telling me DONT GO.
I thought it was a dump. Sorry Athens but being followed and then finding my wife’s bag zips all undone on the first day did not get us off to a great start. There are so so so many dodgy blokes hanging around, rough areas, druggies, “street art” (read tagging and the occasional good mural). I’m guessing a lot of the posters are from the Greek tourist board. Sorry, never ever again
You just didn’t visit Athens the way it should be visitiled. Yes, Athens can be urban, with street art, crowded areas etc.and some people enjoy that. But even if you’re not this type of person, Athens is about tradition, not views. Yes you can visit the Acropolis and the museums, but it’s more about the history and being in the actual place that’s been untouched yet preserved all these years. It’s about the walks in the narrow streets of Plaka and of course the great food and the people. If you’ve done all that, you should then head to the islands for the views, the cool weather, etc.
Or it could just be that Athens isn’t one of my “places.” We all connect to destinations differently; we can’t all love the same places for the same reasons. There are other cities I’ve had this disconnect with, too (like Amsterdam), and I’m not sure that any amount of visits will make me fall in love with cities that I just don’t click with!
I agree with Dimitris. You need to know about a place to appreciate it. I am a classics major so for me it was the thrill of a lifetime because I stood on the Pnyx and could visualize the trial of Socrates happening before me. I understood the foundations of democracy were built here and that itself was SO MOVING. I mean we are talking about a city that is over 3400 years old. Time takes it’s toll on a city and a civilization. Nevertheless, I’m glad it wasn’t Disneyfied. We went in May because ALL the research we did told us not to go in the summer…and it still was a little warm, but not unbearably so.
We also had rude people at the hotel we stayed at but wonderfully helpful people who called a cab for us and made sure we weren’t overcharged by the driver. They were wonderful. I think you need to get away from tour groups to experience that side of a city.
We’ve traveled quite a bit as well and have learned three things.
1)Read and research before you go
2)Go off season for both less crowds and better temperatures and prices
3)Avoid tour groups if you really want to get to know a place.
We recently visited Granada in March and it was perfect.
I just visited Athens last month, and it was the people that ruined it for me. My friend and I both had receipts thrown at us when visiting a grocery store, was accused of shoplifting and followed around a store when I was just trying to pick up souvenirs. I think if I ever go back it will be for a day or two to visit the sites I missed.
Absolutely Amanda, Athens is a disgustingly filthy dump with cranky people such a disappointment. If I wanted dirty I could have gone to Asia and skipped the long flight. Sadly I’m here for a month and struggling to find a reason to leave the apartment.
Sorry to hear that! I do know some other people who have enjoyed Athens – maybe try to find some of their posts to see what they did to enjoy it so much!
What really bothers me is the unfriendliness of the people, faking politeness for profit in all gestures of life.
In the wake of the Greek crisis this has taken huge dimensions without saying it was not there all along…now though it is a one-way street.
Since living in Greece, I have clearly seen how the locals ‘categorize’ foreign visitors to the tourists where they fake politeness for business and profit and all others that they mistreat, oppress and exclude consistently as ‘non Greeks’ that they want to share nothing with…the reason I understand all this is because I am Greek and not just a holiday visitor.
Unfortunately I would only recommend Athens, as a short stop over to see the antiquities and nothing more and that strictly not in July or August where it is impossible to walk at 35-40C for hours under the sun.
I’m just leaving Athens and was wondering if other people had experienced the awful treatment from 99% of Athenians as I did (so I googled it and found this post). I have travelled a bit and lived abroad, now I live in my hometown, São Paulo. I’m quite shocked at how rude Greek people in touristy cities and towns can be to travellers. Made me feel really unwelcome and awkward. It was nice to see the ruins and learn something about the places I visited and all, but I do not plan to come back. What’s with the attitude Athens?