Athens tour-mild

I'm researching Athens for someone who cannot climb the Acropolis. The Celebrity tour (which is listed as mild) says they will be at the pedestrian zone of the Acropolis. How much can they walk around here and how much will they see from here?

You can see the Acropolis. There is an elevator that takes handicapped persons to the top. Go to the main entrance and follow the signs towards the left. The elevator is an industrial-type cage that goes up on the side of the rock. It is not visible from the main pedestrian area. At the top, it is near the Erechtheion. From there, it is all fairly flat.

Your Celebrity guide (or yourself) should be able to direct you to the elevator. Don't shortchange yourself. You can do it.

Be aware that many have said that a Dr. note is required for the elevator unless you are in a wheelchair.

And, if you have seen pics of it - you might think twice about using it :eek:

I wouldn't.

Check this out

http://www.sagetraveling.com/Disabled-Access-at-the-Acropolis

If you obviously need help - wheelchair, cane, elderly - you will be allowed in it. Unless it is terribly crowded that day, no one will ask for a Dr's note, but you could get one if you wish or if your disability is not obvious such as a heart condition. Last month, we met an elderly couple from our cruise and I mentioned the elevator to him. He was allowed to use it without any notes or hassle.

The elevator is perfectly safe. I rode on it three years ago while accompanying someone with a badly sprained ankle. Unless you are wildly acrophobic, the ride is fine.

The elevator was installed for the Athens Olympics. It was placed out of sight and it has been running without any problems ever since.

Just don't think you cannot get to the top because of a disability. You can always look at it and decide whether to use it or not.

getting to the top via the disabled lift is just the beginning!

the whole Acropolis site is very uneven and slippery-lots of research required

Once on top, you must use your judgment. For the flattest route, walk left from the elevator behind the Erechtheion towards the flagpole. Walk to the right between the Erechteion and the Parthenon to see the front of the Parthenon. Then walk back to the flagpole lookout for a great view of the city and the Acropolis and walk back to the elevator. The walk around to the other side of the Parthenon and all the way back to the Propylaea are the uneven and steepest parts. The site will be slippery if it is wet. Otherwise, a good pair of shoes will keep you upright.

The only research you need is paying attention to the ground and knowing your limitations. Just going up and taking the short flat walk to stand between the Erechteion and the Parthenon is worth the effort. Or even just going up and looking at the site without walking around much at all will let you see the entire setting and experience "being there."

Sorry to keep nagging about this, but going up to the Acropolis is an incredible experience. It is available now due to the elevator. If you can do nothing else than get up there, stand by the elevator landing and look around, it will be an experience you will never forget. Take advantage of it and just do what you can. If you can make it to the elevator, go up. If you get to the top, take lots of pictures and walk what you can. No one forces you to go to every square inch of the Acropolis. If you are mobile enough to go on a cruise, you can do that much, or at least give it a good try.

Thank you all so much for the info! This helps alot.

getting to the top via the disabled lift is just the beginning! the whole Acropolis site is very uneven and slippery-lots of research required

YES, lots of pavement and logistical challenges in Athens and many other Europe cities. BUT, with patience and some creativity, much can be seen and done. Right next to the Acropolis is the super charming Plaka, plus the new Acropolis museum. I'd focus my attention for that area. Don't try to do too much else at other locations in Athens as much of this large and sprawling city is a little marginal and limited. Much of Athens, sadly, is just a big, big urban area that can be third-world-like in some areas.

You can check out my earlier post on “Athens Tips, Suggestions, Examples to Enjoy!” for many details, ideas and interesting visuals on this great city. Lots of ideas here from me and others experienced with Athens. This posting has had over 5,615 views. Appreciate those who have dropped by, made comments, etc.

http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=1101008

THANKS! Enjoy! Terry in Ohio

Did a June 7-19, 2011, Solstice cruise from Barcelona that had stops in Villefranche, ports near Pisa and Rome, Naples, Kotor, Venice and Dubrovnik. Enjoyed great weather and a wonderful trip. Dozens of wonderful visuals with key highlights, tips, comments, etc., on these postings. We are now at 102,692 views for this live/blog re-cap on our first sailing with Celebrity and much on wonderful Barcelona. Check these postings and added info at:

http://www.boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=1426474

Outdoor dining in the Plaka in the heart of Athens’ historic area. Lots of music and fun, shopping, music, plus good food. Don't miss this part of Athens!!:

A lower-angle view of the Parthenon:

Here are two views of the Tower of the Winds in Athens that is right near the Plaka. First is a night view of it on the left with the Parthenon and its historic hill/walls lighted in the higher background. This octagonal Pentelic marble clock tower is in the Roman agora in Athens. Second, you can see some of the design details at the top. The structure features a combination of sundials, a water clock and a wind vane. According to Wikipedia, it was supposedly built by Andronicus of Cyrrhus around 50 BC, but according to other sources might have been constructed in the 2nd century BC before the rest of the forum. In early Christian times, the building was used as the bell-tower of a Byzantine Church. Under Ottoman rule, it became a tekke and was used by whirling dervishes. The design of the 18th-century Radcliffe Observatory in Oxford, England, is based on this Tower of the Winds:

 

 

 

Outdoor dining in the Plaka in the heart of Athens’ historic area. Lots of music and fun, shopping, music, plus good food. Don't miss this part of Athens!!:

 

 

 

Terry, we ate at this restaurant while on our last visit to Athens !!!!! I remember the stairs inside because there were stairs down right next to these that accessed the ladies room downstairs ! We had a really good gyro here with a nice cold beer !!!! Seems you keep posting pics of places (very precise ones) of places we have visited (Mykonos you posted a pic of the pharmacy I bought band-aids at !) Just thought it was a bit uncanny. TEX

Terry, we ate at this restaurant while on our last visit to Athens !!!!! I remember the stairs inside because there were stairs down right next to these that accessed the ladies room downstairs ! We had a really good gyro here with a nice cold beer !!!! Seems you keep posting pics of places (very precise ones) of places we have visited (Mykonos you posted a pic of the pharmacy I bought band-aids at !) Just thought it was a bit uncanny. TEX

Great fun and mention by TEX. Glad that we BOTH have been in so many different and interesting places. Where are you headed next? Our next major "adventure" planning is for Jan. 20-Feb. 3, 2014, Celebrity Solstice sailing, departing Sydney, doing 14 days on this nice ship, finishing in Auckland. Been there? Any good tips and insights?

THANKS! Enjoy! Terry in Ohio

Did a June 7-19, 2011, Solstice cruise from Barcelona that had stops in Villefranche, ports near Pisa and Rome, Naples, Kotor, Venice and Dubrovnik. Enjoyed great weather and a wonderful trip. Dozens of wonderful visuals with key highlights, tips, comments, etc., on these postings. We are now at 102,692 views for this live/blog re-cap on our first sailing with Celebrity and much on wonderful Barcelona. Check these postings and added info at:

http://www.boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=1426474

Great fun and mention by TEX. Glad that we BOTH have been in so many different and interesting places. Where are you headed next? Our next major "adventure" planning is for Jan. 20-Feb. 3, 2014, Celebrity Solstice sailing, departing Sydney, doing 14 days on this nice ship, finishing in Auckland. Been there? Any good tips and insights?

 

THANKS! Enjoy! Terry in Ohio

 

Actually we are going back to Roatan Honduras for Christmas. DH and I went for a week in July and loved it. We are both divers and the water and reef there is beautiful. Second largest barrier reef in the world. We are taking the kids (grown) so they can dive too ! After that ...... who knows ? I have Thailand and Tahiti/Fiji in my sights so perhaps in 2013 we will get to one of those with the other in 2014. Sorry, haven't been to Australia - YET ! ;)

Is there an additional fee, over and above the normal Acropolis admission fee, to use the elevator?

No. It is an elevator to offer access to wheelchair users or visitors with sunstantial mobility issues and it is offered for free.

Some problems appear from time to time. Elevator itself is fine, since from ground level to the base of the elevator, a Hirolift is used for 20 - 25 steps. This Hirolift is battery operated and baterry can run out at some point if many visitors have to use it. This is a substantial problem for wheelchair users and a surpassable problem for non wheelchair users with a condition that allows them to handle 20 - 25 steps till the base of the elevator.

Please remember, this is NOT an elevator for general use, but only for those that use a wheelchair or those on a medical condition that would not allow them to go up. Elevator and hirolift use need booking by calling in advance. It is a doable procedure; have done it several times with friends that are wheelchair users; still the whole thing may have some hickups / problems, not regarding elevator itself but the hirolift before.

I have written a quite extensive page describing who can use the elevator and how you can arrange. Page can be found in Trip Advisor, here: http://www.tripadvisor.com/Travel-g189400-c144005/Athens:Greece:Use.Of.The.Acropolis.Elevator.html

Thanks, Nick. I am starting to have my doubts about being able to use the elevator. Especially since we will be arriving by cruiseship, so the phone call the day before will be an issue.

So, do you have any idea of about how far the walk is up the Acropolis? I mean from the entrance to the top? I know it is about 150m high, but how much meandering is involved? How long does it take? I climed it as a kid, but I have very little recollection of the hike.

If you definitely need to use the elevator but phone call is the only problem, i 'd try to work around it:

- use your mobile phone and make a call over the Internet, using the cruise ship's wi - fi, either through Skype or some other application. Here we have applications where we can call from Greece to the States on our cell phone for as low as 10c per minute and that on 3g; i am sure you 'll find something through wi - fi blah blah blah. Or

- make the call prior day if a port of call is in Greece ( ommit the +30 part of the number and start with the 210yyy in this case ). Or

- ask if you can use the elevator without specifically saying "i did not call". If you are asked, you can always say "no. I tried to call but it was impossible. I am really sorry". :o

I mean, if you definitely have mobility issues that can affect your visit or affect your decision to go to the monument, work around the call issue. This is NOT advised for a wheelchair user, since it needs a lot of logistics and it 'd be a pity not to be able to go up at the end, despite all the investment of time; still for someone that has some issues, but could also walk it up with some stops, it may be worth the effort to go up, even with no call, having in mind that walking it up may be the only option in case elevator is not available. Certainly better option than staying on the ship's decks, looking the harbour.

Which takes us to the issue of this being a difficult ascend or not.

I 'd say it is NOT the hike or difficult / steep ascend most people believe. Acropolis ascend has a notorious reputation, back from the 70's, when you had to walk it up from Monastiraki Sq. side, on a dirt path, with no signage. It was a long walk up and quite tiresome.

Nowadays, ascend is mostly done by the other side. For those arriving on subway, a wide, clean, spectacular, not steep, pedestrian alley gets you up to the middle of the walk, aside a parking space and then up, while cruise ship visitors do half the ascend since they start from that parking space. A not steep pedestrian alley gets you to ticket booth and then it's the final ascend from ticket booth / main gate up the Hill. That's the steepest part which is a mix of walking and steps with lot of stops between. Despite its notorious reputation it is not that bad, it's pretty doable and definitely spectacular and rewarding.

For a single visitor, already in Athens, that starts at 07.30am and goes up, having in mind to grab the first ticket, things are sincerely smooth. Most friends i have gone up with, told me afterwards it was not the difficult walk they believed.

Nevertheless, for a cruise ship passenger, things are more difficult and this does not have to do with the ascend by definition. Problems a cruise ship passenger will have to go through are:

- longer queue lines. If you arrive at a large group, you stop in front of the ticket booth, in the middle of a populated group, then you queue and get herded through the gate, all that add on the total time, 10 - 20 minutes. Groups are very much slower to move that a single visitor.

- temperatures: For a reason i cannot understand, most cruise ship groups arrive at 09.30am - 10.30am, even some times 11am. At this time in the summer, it is already very very hot ( not the same in November though ). If you have to queue and queue in the heat, you 'll hate it anyawy, even if it's flat ground in front of the Vatican.

All in all, a moderate doable walk is felt harde by large groups, since they have to go through longer queues, some sensibly expected delays and do it in higher temperatures.

Ascend to the Acropolis, especially having in mind you start from the coach buses parking area, is NOT that hard for anyone with average physical condition. It is doable and rewarding. If you can handle a 10 - 15 minutes mildly uphill walk in your area, then Acropolis ascend is doable.

1. Wear comfy shoes with a very very good grip ( that's the most essential part, rock surface is like ice in some limited areas; most of it is non polished rock or corridors from concrete with a good grip, still some areas may be slippery )

2. Wear a sunhat, sunglasses, have comfy cloths depending the season and have a bag with some water in.

3. Evaluate if you 'll need the elevator when you reach at ticket level. If you arrived from parking space to ticket booth and handled it all right with no problems, rest of the ascend is of same length more or less and doable for someone that walked already up to that point.

I hope these were helpful. It is not a very difficult ascend and is certainly easier that what most people think. For those that deal with unsurpassable kinetic problems, elevator is also there which works decently. All in all a very doable situation, under all the limitations brought by the fact this is a fort, initially built 36 centuries ago, on top of a rock. It is sucessfully visited by thousands of visitors per day.

I have to agree - I was really expecting a much harder more arduous walk up. But it just wasn't as bad as I was expecting. Yes, there are steps and many are uneven but there are many places you stop and just rest a bit. Sit down on an ancient rock (many are part of the buildings) and just take your time. And, if there are a lot of other tourists there, the places where it gets more compressed it causes the line to go slowly which is good for those of us who tend to huff and puff if we rush :D

I was with a friend using a cane. They let us both go up in the "elevator" (ha, it's more like an open cage). We had to go up separately, though. It's very small.

I have to warn that getting to the elevator is a bit tricky too, as the walking is on very uneven terrain. And as others have noted, walking around the Acropolis is risky--I saw quite a few people slip and fall on the marble, and some of them were young. I also saw one young girl (teenager) pass out from the heat (July).

It's still worth the risk, I think, to see this amazing site. But be prepared and cautious.

I hope these were helpful. It is not a very difficult ascend and is certainly easier that what most people think. For those that deal with unsurpassable kinetic problems, elevator is also there which works decently. All in all a very doable situation, under all the limitations brought by the fact this is a fort, initially built 36 centuries ago, on top of a rock. It is sucessfully visited by thousands of visitors per day.

Wow! Thanks for the advice! We will definitely get to the top.

:cool:

Sincerely happy to offer advise on such a matter : )