The capital city of Greece, Athens, is always a popular travel destination.
When travelling with children, as with anywhere, things may get slightly more difficult than if you were travelling alone. Fortunately, there are several ways to make your trip fun, informative, and enjoyable for the whole family.
Take a Tour
Private tours in Athens are big business. There is so much more to be learned, and in a more in-depth way, by hiring someone who knows their way around. It is so much more effective and a lot more fun than just wandering aimlessly around the city yourself.
Hiring people to guide you to all the most interesting spots, telling you the history of the city allows you to gain a deeper understanding of the ancient place you’re travelling around, and is much more interesting than simply reading a guide book.
Locals and a few decent tour companies offer you the chance to see below the surface of Athens. And what a history there is!
Seeing the Sights
Athens has always been a must-see tourist hub. From the ancient wonders, such as the temples and museums, to the modern stops, like the beaches, fields and buildings, there’s plenty to do in Athens.
And forget about the additional complications when travelling with the kids, because the majority of the tourist attractions are child-friendly and pushchair-accessible, although it is advisable to still keep your children close. You wouldn’t want to be known as the people whose children accidentally destroyed an important piece of Greek history!
Beautiful Weather
Being a Mediterranean country, Greece has a lovely climate. And there’s no better place to take advantage of that than Athens.
The olive trees that seem to be planted everywhere let out a constant fresh smell, and Athens has a lower rate of rain that anywhere else in Western Greece, so you are pretty much guaranteed a good environment for outside activities and tourism.
If you are looking for ideas, there is no end to the fun you can have. The National Geographic magazine’s short list of top 10 things to do in Athens is a good start, although you’ll definitely rack up a quickly-increasing list of other things to do along the way!
Travelling with kids, you may not be able to go into many of the pubs to sample some of the famous Greek ouzo, but there’s plenty else to do.
Once more unto the beach!
Kids, adults, and anyone in between; who doesn’t love a good beach to kick back and soak up some sun, work on their tan, go swimming in the beautiful clear water?
Fortunately for you, Athens has some of the best beaches within reach scattered around its outskirts. I mean, who would go to a Mediterranean country like Greece and not spend a few days relaxing on a sandy beach?
Swim around, see the amazing sea life resident to your specific area of Athenian beach, and then kick back on the sand, sipping your drink. And then maybe move on to the next step.
It has to be food.
Sample the cuisine
If there is one thing that kids like, it’s eating. Luckily, with a restaurant to be spotted in Athens every few minutes and plenty of local food to try, you’re not exactly starved for options!
Food and drink is a key point of Greek culture, so it stands to reason they have tonnes of different platters for you to savour and enjoy. You can try out our very own Greek Kleftiko recipe here before you go.
At first glance, your vegetarian friends may be dismayed at the multitude of meat-based meals that seem to dominate Greek cuisine, but not to worry!
There are plenty of veggie and dairy-based foods for those who want to go to Greece but have a range of dietary needs or preferences. From the plethora of types of cheese from all different kinds of animals, prepared in different ways, to the varying kinds of meat and vegetables, cooked, boiled, and chopped, Greek cookery encompasses an astonishing range.
Of course, there are plenty more things that you can do with the family on your trip to Athens, but let’s keep it simple, shall we? There is a reason Athens is frequently voted so high on lists of the best places to visit, and that’s simply because there are just so many interesting and fun things to do there, from food to history, and much more.
