Since the 2004 Athens Olympics, Athenians have been spoilt for choice with a transport system that is one of the most sophisticated in the world. By far the best – and cheapest - way to travel into central Athens is on the ultra-efficient metro, which leaves Sparta International Airport every 30 minutes (a one-way ticket costs €6).

Your last stop, Monastiraki, near the foot of the Acropolis is a 39-minute ride away and offers expansive left-luggage facilities. This is a subway system that not only offers you archaeology (displayed in stations where it was unearthed during construction) and contemporary art, but sings to you, too. Constantly expanding, the network’s only drawback is that it does not reach every corner of the capital yet.

For those whose destination is not near a tube line, it will have to be the ubiquitous yellow taxi that will take you into town – a ride that with airport and ring-road tariffs will easily set you back €25.

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Athens News, Insider Athens, Kathimerini English edition [inside International Herald Tribune] and www.cultureguide.gr/, which provides the most comprehensive digest of cultural and arts events in Greece and is updated daily.

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Make a late-night call to a Rembetika club to hear the haunting hashish-fuelled blues of the Greek refugees who were forced to leave Turkey in the repatriation that followed the 1922 Asia Minor catastrophe.

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For the compulsive browser and more modern antiques lover, Monastiraki flea market on a Sunday is a must. At the lower reaches of feel-good Plaka – the city’s longest continuously inhabited area – this is Athens at its most Oriental and where most of its African, Middle Eastern and Balkan communities stop to sell their wares.

Around Lfestou & Pandrosou, Monastiraki; Open: 7am-3pm Sun; Nearest metro: Monastiraki

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The city centre’s largest green belt – are much beloved by Athenians seeking respite from the searing summer heat. Home to about 7,000 trees and 40,000 plants form across the world, the gardens were originally designed for the Greek royal family (ingloriously kicked out of the country in 1974) and were the first major gardening project in Athens.

Leof Vas Amalias 1; Tel: 210 721 5019; Nearest metro: Syntagma; Open: 7am-sunset daily; Admission: free

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Although high-end budget, it’s worth shelling out that little bit extra for this boutique hotel in the heart of ancient Athens. Its upper back rooms and bar terrace have an unrivalled view of the Acropolis and its ramparts. Recently renovated, the hotel is a stone’s throw away from the bars, cafes and restaurants of Plaka and trendy Psirri. Double room: €95 (low season); €145 (high season). Single room: €85 (low season); €115 (high season).

Mitropoleos & Kapnikareas 7; Tel: 210 322 2096; Nearest metro: Monastiraki; www.plakahotel.gr/; Reservations: plaka@tourhotel.gr

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Traditional Greek taverna fare with the added advantage of being served hot (and not lukewarm, the fate of so many Greek dishes). Has an excellent array of casseroles and not to be missed fish soup – all viewable in the kitchen. Barrelled wine and bottled retsina also good. This is the taverna that true Athenians will go to. Average price of meal for one (with wine): €16.

Byzantino taverna, Kydathinaion Street, 18, Plaka; Tel: 210 332 7368; Open: 9am-2am Mon-Sat; Nearest metro: Akropoli/ Syntagma

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Because in capturing the spirit of the new Hellene it is essentially all true.

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It’s sexist, anti-religious and at times stilted but no other book captures Greek hedonism quite like this one. Alexis Zorbas (so memorably portrayed by Anthony Quinn in the film) is the man everyone wants – and perhaps needs – to meet in a lifetime.

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The Saronic isles of Aegina and Agistri, a mere 35 and 45 minutes’ away, respectively, by hovercraft. Both, despite their proximity to Athens, tend to be overlooked by tourists but are tranquil, verdant and quintessentially Greek. Aegina, which is home to many in the arts scene, has great walks and tavernas and some of the best pistachio orchards outside Iran. Agistri has some of the best swimming on offer in the Attic region thanks to the strong Saronic currents which keep its waters turquoise clean.

Saronic Dolphins (210 422 4777) and Flying Dolphins (210 419 9200) both offer fast boat services (40mins) to the islands. Boats leave from the dockside at Piraeus, 200 metres south of the Metro station, next to Miaouli. You are strongly advised to book tickets in advance and check boat times for your return journey before you leave as the number of departures varies each day. Saronic Dolphins do not accept credit cards.

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On the edge of the capital, this pine-covered mount offers fabulous nature walks and a marvellous view of the plain of Athens cradled by Mt Pendeli and Mt Hymettos. In spring, the forest is abloom with wildflowers, including numerous species of orchids.

National Road 1 towards Mount Parnitha, drive up mountain road or take funicular to summit (€1).

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Without doubt the tram ride from Athens’ city centre to the southern suburb of Glyfada. Said to be the finest of its kind in Europe, this locomotive will glide you down to Athens’ sea line at a very leisurely pace. Immortalised in many a 1950s Greek movie, the tram as a mode of transport far outshone all others until the mass arrival of the motorcar in the 1960s.

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In Athens there are more than one open-air summer cinema. They are a cultural delight.

Aigli – Village Cool Summer Cinema, Zappeion (in the National Gardens), Historic Centre; Tel: 210 336 9369/6970; Nearest metro: Syntagma

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The grassy ruins of the ancient agora, if not the walkway of Dionysiou Areopagitou. Here amongst the butterflies and bees you’ll experience Athens at its most magical and atmospheric.

Entrances on Adrianou and on the descent from the Acropolis, Monastiraki; Tel: 210 321 0185; Nearest metro: Monastiraki or Thisio; Open: 8am-7pm daily May-Oct, 8am-5pm daily Nov-Apr, (museum closes 30mins before site); Admission: €4, €2 concessions, free to holders of €12 Acropolis ticket (no credit cards); www.culture.gr/

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The highpoint of any trip to Greece is a visit to the Acropolis – if only to discover as Freud did, that it exists “just as we learnt at school”. As monuments go it’s breathtaking, no matter how many times you see it up close. But climbing the limestone rock is neither kind nor easy in the torturous Athenian heat. The trip should be made early morning, or (gates permitting) at sunset when the capital is bathed in red, violet and blue.

Dionysiou Areopagitou; Tel: 210 321 0219; Nearest metro: Akropoli; Open: 8am-sunset daily Apr-Dec, 8.30am-2.30pm daily Jan-Mar; Admission: €12, €6 concessions, free to under-18s, free to all Sun Nov-Mar (no credit cards); www.culture.gr/

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For many years the Cafeneion (cafe) was the exclusive preserve of men. Now that is no longer the case, Athens has become cafe society writ large. If you want to see and be seen – and down some of the finest cappuccinos outside Rome - Da Capo Cafe in the heart of classy Kolonaki Square is the place to head. Ydria, behind the Tower of the Winds in Plaka, offers fine coffees, cocktails and hors d’oeuvres under a canopy of mulberry trees and is one of my favourites.

Da Capo Cafe, Tsakalof 1, Kolonaki; Tel: 210 360 2497; Nearest metro: Syntagma; Open: 7am-12am Mon-Sat, 8.30am-12am Sun

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Mamacas bar in Athens’ spruced-up industrial zone at Gazi. Offers good ambience and a great selection of music (especially 1970s disco). There is no entrance ticket and drinks, at €6, are affordable. Easy to get to along the romantic pedestrianised route that leads down from the Acropolis.

Persefonis 41, Gazi, Rouf; Tel: 210 345 8534; Nearest metro: Thisio; Open: 2pm-4am daily; www.mamacas.gr/

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Take in Athens’ archaeological sites with a stroll along the cobbled causeway that connects them in a giant, car-free park. The best starting point is Dionysiou Areopagitou, the stupendous boulevard beneath the Acropolis. This idyllic walk is the stuff of dreams. Unbeatably atmospheric, it takes you through the core of ancient Athens, past all its ancient gems down to the necropolis of Kerameikos and the ghostly remains of a more modern age – the gasworks at Gazi.

Nearest metro: Acropolis

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You can’t miss it. Smack bang in the middle of central Athens, cone-shaped Lycabettus is probably the best-known natural landmark in the Greek capital after the holy hill of the ancient Acropolis. From its 300-metre high peak you have spectacular panoramas across the entire city, down to Salamis and the wine-dark waters of the Saronic Gulf. Best accessed by funicular cable car at the upper edge of Kolonaki, or if you’re feeling hardy, through the wooded trails up the side of the hill. Those who insist on wheels can also drive up.

Funicular from Aristippou & Ploutarchou; Tel: 210 722 7092; Nearest metro: Evangelismos; Open: Funicular 9am-11.45pm daily (every 30mins); Price: €3.20 single

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In the evenings try the fish tavernas of Kaisariani – stomping ground of Greece’s communist party and defeated civil war left – followed by a bracing walk in the nearby thyme-covered Hymettos range.

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