Photo by Jill Stowe

If there is one ancient site outside Athens you absolutely should not miss during your Athens sojourn, it’s the Temple of Poseidon (admission: €4; +30-22920-39363) at Cape Sounion.

You could make the approximately 90-minute drive on a bus as part of a €34 tour, but we recommend the less expensive and just as efficient public bus (+30-210-821-3203). If you travel by public bus, you won’t be restricted by a tour schedule. As an added benefit, you’ll have the option of stopping off in Vougliamenis, Voula, or Varkiza for a swim or drink by the beach. Alternatively, you can opt to climb down the hill in Cape Sounion and swim there, hiking back up to the café by the Temple of Poseidon to drink a coffee or fruit juice afterwards.

The bus to Cape Sounion departs from Mavromateon and Ioulianou Streets—you can also catch it at Klafthmonos Square or on Filellinon Street—in Athens every 60 minutes every day of the week, from 6.30 a.m. to 5.30 p.m. Buses return to Athens every 30 minutes, starting at 5:40 a.m. weekdays and 7:30 a.m. on Sundays and holidays, the last bus leaving Cape Sounion at 6 p.m. The fare is €4.90 each way.

Popularity: 12% [?]

Photo by Kaymaria Daskarolis

Athens is one of the most walkable large cities in Europe.

Today, the city offers many well-organized, clean, safe transportation options. If you don’t want to walk or drive, you can take the bus, trolley, tram, suburban railway, electric railway, or metro.

If you do not want to have to worry about buying individual tickets each time you use some form of public transportation—let alone worry about figuring out how much you are supposed to pay for each form (€.40, €.50, €.60, or €.80 per ticket—consider buying a pass that gives you access to all forms of public transportation.

A one-day pass costs €3, a weekly pass runs €10, and a monthly pass tops out at €38. Note that a passport-sized photo is required for purchase of a monthly pass.

Also good to know: Children aged six and under ride free on all modes of public transport in Athens.

Once you validate a daily, weekly, or monthly ticket, you won’t need to validate it again. Don’t forget to validate your ticket. If you run into a patrolling inspector without a valid ticket, you will be fined 60 times the cost of the ticket.

Popularity: 5% [?]

Athens is an immensely walkable city. Still, should you decide you want to ride—or should Mother Nature not be as accommodating to your desires as you’d like—you’ll do well to check out bus #400, OASA’s (the public bus system’s) “sightseeing line.”

You can buy your ticket for €5 on the bus itself. Your ticket will be good for 24 hours, so you can get on and off the bus wherever you like. You can even start your tour on one afternoon and continue it the following morning if you find yourself shifting into “chilling-for-five-hours-at-a-local-café-and-then-heading-to-the-taverna” mode. We’ve been there.

The bus makes stops at many popular sites and cruises through neighborhoods of greatest interest to most tourists, including the National Archaeological Museum, Monastiraki, the Benaki Museum, and Plaka. No, there is no Vince Vaughn character on the bus offering funny asides about the city’s history and people, but bus #400 provides easy and inexpensive access to places you’ll want to go.

Popularity: 6% [?]