My sister and I already watched the beautiful sunset and sunrise overlooking the Acropolis of Athens. Next, it’s only natural for us to pay the ancient and historical citadel a visit. Wasting no time, we made our way to Syntagma Square to catch a train to Akropoli (Acropolis).
One good thing about travelling in Athens is the city has excellent public transportation service that runs throughout the city, ranging from the buses, metros and taxis. As a result of that, getting from one place to another in Athens is easy, convenient and not to mention, cheap too. 😉
Syntagma Square – The City’s Meeting Point & Public Transportation Hub
Syntagma Square a.k.a Constitution Square is the city’s public transportation hub and a favourite meeting point between the locals and visitors. Next to the square lies the 19th century Old Royal Palace that houses the Greek Parliament since 1934.
Almost every major event in Greece has either been mourned or celebrated at Syntagma Square, Athens. The mass demonstrations and strikes in Greece we often see on the national news take place mostly at the square. Below the square lies the modern and beautiful Syntagma Metro Station with punctual trains travelling to almost everywhere in the city, including the Athens International Airport (Eleftherios Venizelos Airport).
Places of interests such as The Acropolis, Plaka, Monastiraki, the National Gardens, Ermou Street shopping area, Kolonaki, The Temple of Olympian Zeus, and more are located within walking distance of Syntagma Square.
Train Ride From Syntagma To Akropoli (Acropolis)
Our first time taking a train in Athens was a fun and pleasant experience. We effortlessly bought our train tickets from one of the many automatic “Ticket Sales” vending machines available at designated areas in the station. The instructions available in Greek, English, French and other languages were easy to follow.
Since we’ll be visiting many places in a day, we purchased the Daily 24-hour tickets priced at €4 per ticket. The tickets are valid on all metro lines, the tram, and city buses (excluding express trains and busses) for 24 hours from its first validation within Athens city. That helped us to save some money. 😀
From there, we made our way to the designated platform, validated our tickets at the validation machines and boarded the train headed to Elliniko. Akropoli (Acropolis) Metro Station is just one stop away from Syntagma station. The train stations and trains are clean and well maintained.
Priceless Artefacts At Akropoli (Acropolis) Metro Station
Our jaws dropped in disbelief when we arrived at Akropoli (Acropolis) Metro Station. There, we saw many priceless artefacts on display in every nook and corner of the station. The walls are adorned with intricate carvings depicting the life during ancient Greece.
Elsewhere, centuries old marble statues, paintings, earthen pottery and ruins of ancient aqueducts and cisterns sites were openly displayed for public viewing – we felt as if we walked into an astonishing museum of antiquities and not a metro station.
We took some time to admire our new surroundings and explored the metro station before making our way outside towards the Acropolis of Athens. My sister and I were delighted with what we saw and couldn’t wait to see what was in store for us at the ancient, historical site. 🙂
Up next: Exploring the Acropolis of Athens – walking in the footsteps of the gods, goddesses and great philosophers of Greek civilization