For most visitors the highlight of a visit to a hotel ATHENS is the brilliant glimmers of the ancient, the classical Greek city, most famously embodied by the Acropolis and its encompassing archeological sites. Even on a brief site-seeing to one of the exquisite hotels, however, it is a shame to see Athens simply as the location of ancient sites and museums. Although the neighbourhoods may have need of the style and monuments of most European capitals, they are worth at least some tour. The old nineteenth-century quarter of Pláka, in particular, is a delight, with its mix of Turkish, Neoclassical and Greek-island architecture, and an array of arousing little museums devoted to traditional arts, ceramics and music. Just to its north, the bazaar area, around Athinás and Eólou, enjoys an almost Middle Eastern atmosphere in its life and trade, while the National Gardens, aristocratic Kolonáki and the hill of Lykavitós offer an adjournment from the maelstrom. Further beyond, but still well within the confines of Greater Athens, are the monasteries of Kessarianí and Dhafní, the ulterior with Byzantine mosaics the equal of any in Greece.
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