City walks Athens

13/07/2024

22/06/2024

By my colleague Nikki St:

Recognised as among the best educated in Europe, Licensed Tourist Guides in Greece are daily faced with the challenges of touring this country, with all the good and the bad, yet always upkeeping the best image of Greece. We are far more than fact-tellers, and the millions of travellers who have toured with us can confirm this.
Now, in an intentionally vague draft law presented last minute, the Ministry of Tourism intends to deregulate a profession that functions as the ambassador of its own realm, and the whole country, instead of striving for the opposite: more regulation.
Tourism in Greece has many other serious problems that need to be solved, and if the Ministry can't find them, they should consult with Licensed Guides, who are experts in the field. Υπουργείο Τουρισμού - Ministry of Tourism

18/06/2024

**PRESS RELEASE OF THE PANHELLENIC ASSOCIATION OF TOURIST GUIDES**

**INSTEAD OF EXCELLENCE, DEGRADATION TO THE LOWEST AVERAGE**

The Ministry of Tourism, with its new draft law under consultation, devalues the essence of the profession of the Tourist Guide, which since the 1950s has been widely acknowledged as the decisive factor in the qualitative upgrade of Greek tourism.

In Greece, the Tourist Guide has never been associated with a specific monument or museum. Accompanying the visitor on tours throughout Greece, whether by sea or land, the guide connects the past with the present, interpreting all kinds of attractions of the country and highlighting its culture, i.e., the entirety of its cultural heritage.

This special role of the Tourist Guide was enshrined in the Tourist Guides Act of 1977, which the current leadership of the Ministry of Tourism, in the name of modernization, seeks to "modernize" by modifying the definition of the profession. The multifaceted role of the Tourist Guide is now limited to the presentation of organized archaeological sites and enclosed monuments!

Instead of the excellence that the government so heavily promotes, a supposed modernization to the lowest average is being pushed!
Instead of the Tourist Guide promoting a holistic experience, they are condemned to a one-time local service.
Instead of a qualitative upgrade, the degradation of the overall tourist product is chosen, with all that this implies for the country's image.

We Tourist Guides represent the entirety of our country, its past and its present, not just the hall of a museum.
June 18th 2024

17/06/2024

02/01/2023

26 things to do in Athens- almost for free!!

Watch the sunset on top of Philopappos Hill
Take a stroll at the National Garden and Zappeion Hall
Get lost in Plaka
Visit a museum for free
Go cycling at the Stavros Niarchos Foundation Cultural Centre
Go bargain hunting at the city’s flea markets
Witness the glory of the Athenian Trilogy
Visit the modern Olympic Games Complex
Find out the history of Athens in Thissio and Areopagitou street
Discover the old Athens in Anafiotika
Walk through the First Cemetery of Athens
Escape the crowds at the Diomedes Botanical Garden
Go shopping at the Meet Market
Catch a glimpse of Athens from above on top of Mt Lycabettus
See the Changing Of The Guard ceremony
Admire the magnificent Street Art
Catch a picture of “The Runner”
Explore historical Orthodox Churches
Taste a local bite at Athens Central Market “Varvakios”
Get a glimpse of Ancient Athens in the Metro
Explore the hidden gems of Piraeus
Hike around the Holy Monastery of Kaisariani
Go skateboarding or catch an event at Latraac
Catch an event at the Kypseli Municipal Market
Explore Flisvos Marina on the Athenian Riviera
Spend a day at the beach

13/12/2022

Christmas 🎄 in Piraeus

11/11/2022

https://youtu.be/B3bvG0Xp7Ec

Welcome to Athens - a living, breathing city, home to many of the world’s finest museums alongside the best of what contemporary culture has to offer.Our new...

14/10/2022

https://m.facebook.com/story.php?story_fbid=470381988451184&id=100064381615669

🇬🇷 Today Athens celebrated its liberation from the N**i occupation! A marvelous celebration took place today on the Acropolis with hundreds of “evzones” (Greek presidential guards) and women with traditional Greek clothing from various areas of Greece carrying the Greek flag. Full story: https://bit.ly/3yBYv25
📸 Photo credit: Κώστας Μπακογιάννης - Kostas Bakoyannis

12/07/2022

https://fb.watch/eddNwka3f_/

22/06/2022

https://youtu.be/vKis733UDNU

Most people around the world immediately think of the gyro when the Greek cuisine is mentioned, but there are so many other traditional foods worth trying wh...

19/06/2022

Athens, for food lovers, can be one of the best travel experiences and here is our Ultimate Guide to Athens for Foodies.

19/06/2022

This list with 16 unusual places to explore in Athens is all you need to read to visit Athens off the beaten path and explore the city like a local.

09/05/2022

If I wasn’t living near the beach in the southern suburbs of Athens, I would definitely be a resident of Plaka, the oldest historical neighbourhood of the Greek capital, located between Syntagma and Monastiraki Square. I love everything that awakens inside of me when I’m there- nostalgia for a p...

30/03/2022

16/02/2022

True 😍🥰😍🇬🇷

09/02/2022

Today it's a very important day since we celebrate the Greek language. An Indo-European language, spanning at least 3,400 years of written records. Its writing system has been used for approximately 2,800 years.

At the begining Greek had other writing systems used, Linear B and the Cypriot syllabary. The Greek alphabet arose from the Phoenician script and was in turn the basis of the Latin, Cyrillic, Armenian, Coptic and Gothic.

Its modern form, Greek is the official language of Greece and Cyprus and one of the 24 official languages of the European Union. It is spoken by at least 13.5 million people today in Greece, Cyprus, Italy, Albania, Turkey, and the many other countries of the Greek diaspora.

Greek roots have been widely used for centuries and continue to be widely used to coin new words in other languages; Greek and Latin are the predominant sources of international scientific vocabulary.

So today we celebrate the language of the epic poems of the Iliad and the Odyssey, the Platonic dialogues and the works of Aristotle, the New Testament of the Christian Bible, of novels written by modern authors such as Nikos Kazantzakis (Life and Times of Alexis Zorbas or Christ Recrucified, some the known ones) and Nobel prize in Literature awarded poets George Seferis (1963) and Odysseas Elytis (1979).

Let us and the world celebrate and honor the beauty and foundational role of the Greek language in Western Civilization!!!

www.tourist-guides.gr

16/01/2022

the Thieves the Sculpture of the Parthenon (οι Κλέφτες τον Γλυπτών του Παρθενώνα) Manolis Emmanuel, is the protagonist of a video-mockumentary of "Lost My Ma...

29/11/2021

National Guard

12/10/2021

The Parthenon at the Acropolis

12/10/2021

Photo Kiki Barbageorgopoulou

10/10/2021

The great Maria Callas in Athens ❤️