The Acropolis starts at your door

Few cities take you 3,000 years back and return you to the present within the same walk. Athens is one of them - and nowhere is this more felt than in the shadow of the Parthenon, where history is not a souvenir but a neighbour. One of the oldest cities in the world, with recorded history going back to 3200 BC, it has always drawn people in. In recent years, the neighbourhood around the Acropolis has had its own quieter renaissance: Koukaki and Makrygianni have become some of the city's most interesting areas, with restaurants, wine bars, galleries and a nightlife that doesn't wind down easily. For anyone drawn to culture, the area delivers - from the Acropolis and its Museum to the Ancient and Roman Agora, there is more here than most cities manage in their entirety.

Steps from Parthenon hotel, one of Athens' great walks begins. Dionysiou Areopagitou runs directly below the rock of the Acropolis, from the Temple of Olympian Zeus all the way to Thissio, with the Odeon of Herodes Atticus and the Theatre of Dionysus along the way and the Pnyx hill visible at every turn. Almost directly opposite the hotel, the Acropolis Museum holds 14,000 m² of finds from the rock and its slopes. The top floor is the Parthenon Gallery - metopes, frieze and pediments from the ancient temple, arranged so you can see them the way they were meant to be seen.

Athens has something for every taste and every budget. Within equal reach of Parthenon hotel, Monastiraki and its open-air market - Athens' favourite labyrinth for antiques, vintage finds and things you won't find anywhere else - and Ermou, one of the world's great pedestrian shopping streets, packed with international brands. A little further, Voukourestiou for luxury brands and jewellery, Kolonaki for boutiques, concept stores and Greek designers worth the detour. Department store or mall? Athens has both. And for something more local, Koukaki's small ceramics shops are worth a stop on the way back.