I expected the Acropolis to be totally overrun with tourists, and not surprisingly it was. The problem was not so much the overall number of people, but rather the abundance of large (we’re talking 50+ people) tourist groups more focused on staying clumped together, possibly listening to headphones and walkman-like devices hanging around their necks than being aware of their surroundings and other people. Fortunately, we were there early enough to have avoided the worst of the traffic and still enjoyed ourselves thoroughly!
In terms of its grandeur, I can assure you the Acropolis does NOT disappoint. Its ruins visible from seemingly everywhere in modern Athens, so one can only imagine how spectacular and imposing it must have been in 438 BC when it was completed. We made sure to get all. the. views. We were also super strategic about our tourism itinerary to avoid the inevitable holiday, Saturday afternoon, or Sunday closures of various sights and activities AND to build up to the “big show” and peak at the end of our trip. Since Friday, March 25 was a Greek national holiday, we used that day to watch the parade and go to the Acropolis Museum, which is privately run and therefore open pretty much always (and as it happened had free entry the day we went). Then we went to a restaurant that had a view of one side of the Acropolis for dinner, and then went to the bar at our hotel, the Grande Bretagne, to have a view of the other side of the acropolis while we had a night cap. On Saturday, we skirted around the base of the Acropolis and visited the Ancient Agora. And then we finally visited the Acropolis on Sunday, just as the suspense had built.
All of that to say: We got a lot of views before actually visiting the Acropolis. Photographic evidence:
There is a large, slippery rock outcropping across from the entrance to the Acropolis. Severin insisted that we scale it before we could actually enter the place. I can also say visiting the Acropolis is not exactly an experience to leave for the end of your bucket list. It’s a significant uphill slog, there are some stairs, and once you get there the paths are pretty rocky and bumpy and slippery (or rather, there are gravel paths, but since the large tour groups are clogging them up, you are forced to scramble over large flat-ish rocks to get around the Acropolis.)
You enter the Acropolis through a set of stairs and basically everything in your line of sight is stone. Here is a picture of the Temple of Athena Nike, which was on the right side of the gates to enter the Acropolis. It was in remarkably complete condition, but it was destroyed by the Ottomans and reconstructed in the late 19th century:
My favorite feature of the Acropolis is dwarfed by the Parthenon, but it has a lot more character. It is called the Erechteion and it is known for its famous lady-columns called caryatids. The caryatids in situ at Acropolis are actually exactly replicas; five of the six originals are stored permanently in the Acropolis Museum down the hill (discreet iPhone photo below for your viewing pleasure). The sixth is in the British Museum in London, having been stolen by Lord Elgin in 1801 along with a literal boatload of other antiquities from the Acropolis that are known collectively as the “Elgin Marbles.” The Greeks remain–understandably–quite unhappy about this and have empty outlines in the Acropolis Museum for the artifacts waiting to be returned.
And the crown jewel of the Acropolis, the Parthenon, built in 400+ BC. Severin and I plopped down on a marble bench in front of it to read about what we were seeing in our guidebook and take the whole scene in.
And lest you forget where you are, here is an extra large Greek flag to remind you:
As we left, here is the mob scene at the entrance for those who slept in…as a good capitalist, I must admit I did wonder aloud to Severin if they shouldn’t raise the price of admission. I believe we paid 20 euros each (about 23 bucks) for a combination ticket that gave us access to the Acropolis and several other sites including Hadrian’s Library and the Ancient Agora. I’d definitely pay 20 euros (or more) just to see the Acropolis…
