Athens and around - The Rough Guide to Greece - page 110

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Evangelismós); USA, Vassilísis Sofías 91 T 210 720 2419,
W athens.usembassy.gov (Metro Mégaro Mousikís).
Emergencies European emergency number T 112;
Ambulance T 166; Fire T 199; Police T 100; Tourist police
T 171. For details of emergency hospitals and duty doctors
and pharmacies T 1434.
Internet cafés There's free municipal wi-fi in many parts
of Athens, including Sýndagma square and the port at
Pireás, as well as in many hotels and cafés. Among the
more central and reliable internet cafés are: Bits & Bytes,
Kapnikaréas 19, off Adhrianoú, Pláka (24hr); Athens
Internet, Veïkou 3a, Koukáki (24hr); and Ivis Travel,
Mitropóleos 3, Sýndagma (daily 8am-10pm).
Laundry Most hotels will do laundry but charge a fortune.
Laundromats that do service washes include National ,
Apóllonos 17, Pláka (Mon & Wed 7am-4pm, Tues, Thurs &
Fri 7am-8pm; €6.50 per kilo, also offers dry cleaning);
Athens Launderette, Veïkou 3a, Koukáki (daily 8am-10pm;
€7 per load) and a nameless place at Psárron 9, just off
Platía Karaïskáki, Metaxouryío (Mon-Fri 8am-8pm, Sat
8am-5pm, Sun 8am-noon; €9 load).
Luggage storage Best arranged with your hotel; many
places will keep the bulk of your luggage for free or for a
nominal amount while you head off to the islands.
Otherwise Athens Internet Cafe, Veïkou 3a, Koukáki T 210
923 5811 (open 24hr) charges €3 per day; Pacific Travel,
Níkis 26, Sýndagma T 210 324 1007 (also at the airport),
charges €6 per day, €27 for a week.
Pharmacies There are a number of large general
pharmacies ( farmakía ) around Omónia, especially on 28

Oktovríou (Patissíon) and Panepistimíou; many also sell
homeopathic remedies. Standard hours are Mon & Wed
8am-2.30pm, Tues, Thurs & Fri 8am-2pm & 5.30-8.30pm.
The weekly Athens News has listings of pharmacies open
out-of-hours: a list of these is also on display at many
pharmacies, or call T 1434.
Police Dial T 100 for emergency help ( T 112 from a mobile)
or T 171 for the Tourist Police; for thefts, problems with hotel
overcharging, etc, it's the latter you should contact.
Post o ces ( tahydhromía ) For ordinary letters and
parcels up to 2kg, the branch on Sýndagma (cnr
Mitropóleos) is open Mon-Fri 7.30am-8pm, Sat
7.30am-2pm, Sun 9am-1pm. There are machines selling
stamps and phonecards. To send heavier parcels, use the
post office at Mitropóleos 60, near the cathedral (Mon-Fri
7.30am-8pm), or at Koumoundhoúrou 29 by the National
Theatre, Omónia. There are also major branches near
Omónia at Eólou 100 (the central office for poste restante)
and on Platía Kótzia. Queues can be enormous, so be sure
you're at the right counter - there are often separate ones
(with shorter queues) for stamps and parcels.
Travel agencies There are dozens of travel agencies,
including many budget and youth- or student-oriented
ones, in the streets of Pláka just of Sýndagma, especially
on and around Filellínon and Níkis. As well as ferry and
plane tickets, many of these will offer island packages or
tours of Greece. Among them are Magic Travel, Níkis 33
T 210 323 7471, W magic.gr; Pacific, Níkis 26 T 210 324
1007, W paciictravel.gr; and student specialist Robissa,
Voúlis 38 T 210 321 1188, W robissa.gr.

Around Athens: Attica
Attica (Attikí), the region encompassing the capital, is not much explored by tourists
- only the great romantic ruin of the Temple of Poseidon at Cape Soúnio and the
beaches immediately outside Athens are at all well known. The rest, if seen at all, tends
to be en route to somewhere else - the airport or the Peloponnese or to the ports of
Rafína or Lávrio .
At first sight the neglect is not surprising; the mountains of Imittós , Pendéli and
Párnitha , which surround Athens on three sides, are progressively less successful in
confining the urban sprawl, while the routes out of the city are unenticing to say the
least. Yet a day-trip or two, or a brief circuit by car, can make a pleasant and rewarding
break, with much of Greece to be seen in microcosm within an hour or two of the
capital. There are rewarding archeological sites at Eleusis and Ramnous as well as
Soúnio, and beaches almost everywhere you turn, though none remote enough to
avoid the Athenian hordes. Combine a couple of these with a meal at one of the scores
of seaside psarotavérnas (fish restaurants), always packed out on summer weekends, and
you've got a more than worthwhile day out.

The Apollo Coast
Athens' coastline is often overlooked by visitors, who are here for their Classical fix
and off to the islands for beaches. For Athenians, though, it's an essential summertime