Greece is a wonderful place to spend Christmas with your friends and family. But how much do you know about festive Greek traditions? From New Year's Day to New Year's Cake - or Vasilopita - we have all you need to know to enjoy the holidays as much as possible!

Remember to stay connected with us through our weekly newsletter, Facebook, Twitter and Instagram!

Remember to stay connected with us through our weekly newsletter, Facebook, Twitter and Instagram!

Remember to stay connected with us through our weekly newsletter, Facebook, Twitter and Instagram!

Food is a vital part of Greek culture... and it's delicious! So if you ever wondered how to adjust your diet accordingly, let us show you 3 simple steps to do so. Also, if you love coffee like most Greeks, but are not a fan of smoking... no need to worry! Check out our list of cosy and smoke-free cafes in Athens.

Have you got an idea that can change people's lifes? Well the Athens Digital Lab is calling for you! Submit your proposal and get all the support and guidance you need, in order to make Athens an even better place to live.

Remember to stay connected with us through our weekly newsletter, Facebook, Twitter and Instagram!

Ten months before the event with 50% discount!

Professional and amateur running and open water swimmingathletes from all over the world will feel a rush of adrenaline at the top sports tourism event “Santorini Experience”, which will be held for a 5th consecutive year, on 4-6 October 2019.

“Santorini Experience” opens its registration 10 months before its implementation, in order to serve the high demand from abroad, in the best possible way. Specifically, participants will be able to take advantage of the early bird prices, with a 50% discount on their registrations, if they complete them by 31/3/2019.

Those who decide to travel to Santorini to compete, should hurry up in order to take advantage of this offer, as in the second registration period, from 1/4/2019 the discount will be 25% per activity. The third and final registration period will be activated from 1/7/2019until the day of the event, setting the final registration cost per activity.

Register now HERE!

Santorini Experience collaborates in registrations for a second consecutive year with Travelotopos Ltd, the most innovative software solution company in tourism. Since its foundation in 2014, the company has designed and launched in the market four booking systems covering all sectors of tourism with great success and acceptance from the industry. In 2016 it had been awarded as the Best New Solution for Tourism in the Tourism Awards.

“Santorini Experience” participants will get the special designed technical T-shirt of the event signed by its Official Sports Supplier Luanvi, while at the same time they will receive even more gifts and surprises by the official sponsors. Specifically, participation packages in running include bag, t-shirt, medal, entry number and timing chip, while in swimming, bag, t-shirt, swimming cap, medal, tattooed entry number and timing chip.

The event’s entire collection will be available soon at Alafouzos Sport store in Fira, Santorini and online through the official site of Luanvi. Luanvi, the leading company in the
sportswear industry in Spain, with more than 35 years of history and a great number of partnerships with professional teams from all team sports, is also the official sponsor of the Spanish Paralympic team and Spanish Tennis Federation. Luanvi excels in the area of running, providing technical shirts and high quality sportswear to almost 40 big sporting events per year (indicative of this is the company’s exclusive partnership with Valencia Marathon).

The Spanish sportswear manufacturer will cooperate for the second time with Santorini Experience.

Watch the video teaser of Santorini Experience 2019 HERE!

On Saturday October 5 th 2019, runners will have the opportunity to enjoy the three established routes on the Caldera, overlooking the enchanting images of the volcano and the background scenery of Imerovigli, Firostefani and Oia. Specifically, the 5km “Aristides Alafouzos” route is ideal for running and dynamic walking, the 10km is addressed to the most experienced in distances and the 15km route to those who love strength, endurance and adrenaline. All routes start from the desalination plant in Oia, including parts of trail track, and finish in Oia.

On Sunday October 6 th 2019, participants will have the opportunity to swim from the volcano to the old port of Fira, having the imposing view of the island in front of them, in
the 1.5 miles (2.4 km) race. Organization will provide amateur athletes with a high-quality safety lifeguard buoy, giving them extra motive to choose “Santorini Experience”. Swimming route will take place with the upmost safety in the enchanting sea of Santorini (average water temperature of 20-22 degrees Celsius). Once again, experienced lifeguards will contribute in safety measures, providing staff as well as lifeboats. Different categories will be formed depending on the final participation entries, while a separate category for those wearing wetsuits will be added.

For yet another year, Luanvi is the event’s official sports supplier, while Athina Luxury Suites is the official sponsor.

Official Supporters include: Santorini Hoteliers Association, Meltemi Hotels & Resorts, Boatmen Union Santorini and Avance Rent A Car.

The following hospitality sponsors will support the event: Santorini Hoteliers Association, Meltemi Hotels & Resorts, Athina Luxury Suites and Sienna Resort. “Santorini Experience” is a co-organization of Municipality of Santorini, Municipal Sports Cultural Environmental Organization of Santorini (DAPPOS) and Active Media Group.

More info at: www.santorini-experience.com
Official Sports Supplier: Luanvi
Official Sponsor: Athina Luxury Suites
Official Supporters: Santorini Hoteliers Association, Meltemi Hotels & Resorts, Boatmen
Union Santorini, Avance Rent A Car
Hospitality Sponsors: Santorini Hoteliers Association, Meltemi Hotels & Resorts, Athina
Luxury Suites, Sienna Resort

Official Hashtag: #SantoriniExperience

Photo credit: Elias Lefas 

Riff raff and lots of laugh with Aussies, Graussies and anyone who loves Australia

 

Beers, cocktails, shots and the best burgers in town from Bullseye Burgers

 

Kappatos Gallery in collaboration with the non-profit organization Pantheon presents the exhibition titled “Performance Rooms 2019." Now entering its third decade ROOMS is an event which was first organised in 1999. This year, nineteen curators present performers from the visual arts as well as other artistic fields such as theatre, dance, music and multimedia in the rooms of a hotel. Each room will host a live performance for the four-day duration of the exhibition, which will be open to the public for three hours every day starting Thursday 24 January until Sunday 27 January from 19:00-22:00.

The exhibition aims to systematically present and record contemporary trends and propositions in the artistic field of performance, both in theory and practice. It also aspires to create an essential and fruitful dialogue between the participants, in continuation of previous Rooms events, which have contributed in promoting a large number of artists and curators.

The exhibition is of a non-profit mentality and will take place at the rooms of the St. George Lycabettus Hotel at Deksameni Square (Kleomenous 2, Kolonaki, Athens).

Participating Artists: Marilena Aligizaki, Katerina Drakopoulou, GAAM (Konstantinos Gkarametsis) and Anna Papathanasiou, Maria Galazoula, Giannis Gardiklis, Vera Iona (Papadopoulou) and Eliza Krikoni, Roula Karaferi, Spyros Kouvaras, Giorgos Nikopoulos, Artemis Orfanidou, Evgenia Papageorgiou, Iro Papakosta, Marios Stamatis, Vasilis Skarmoutsos and Foteini Alexopoulou, Antigoni Theodorou, Thodoris Trampas, Eleni Tsamadia, Evtixia Tzanetoulakou, ZS Ensemble.

Participating Curators: Domna Gounari, Dio Kaggelari, Nasia Kalamaki, Dora Kechagia, Francesco Kiàis, Alkistis-Maria Kontopoulou, Macklin Kowal, Maria Maragou, Valentini Margaritopoulou, Dimitra Marini, Christina Mot, Simoni Niarou, Vasiliki-Maria Plavou, Nikoleta Prepi, Irini Savvani, Marianna Strapatsaki, Lina Tsikouta, Evtixia (Faye) Tzanetoulakou, Antonis Volanakis, Maria Xypolopoulou.

Escape rooms or escape games have rapidly become a huge entertainment trend throughout the world. The first escape game was developed in Kyoto, Japan in 2007. Escape rooms are physical adventure games in which players solve a series of puzzles and riddles using clues, hints, and strategies in order to complete the game’s objective and escape within a specified time limit.

Heading to an escape room is a great way to have fun with your group of friends or family; it's also an excellent way to pump back the motivation into your team. Do something different after work, put your skills to the test, and bond as a team in one of the numerous escape rooms in Athens.

 

Exit Plan Escape Rooms

Exit Plan, one of our favorite escape venues in Athens, is located in Agios Dimitrios right next to the Athens Metro Mall. They offer three different escape rooms, two of which also cater for English speaking players. The 'Dark Side of Elements’ has been ranked #1 escape room in Athens by avid escapers from around Greece. So, gather a group of 2 to 6 players and head to Exit Plan to think, unlock, open, have fun, and escape!

 

To find out more about escape rooms in Athens and their rankings, please visit: The Escapers

 

During the past, few years the number of people in Greece that appreciate and look for smoke-free places is constantly increasing. Since the idea of smoke-free venues (cafes, bars and restaurants) has become pretty much mainstream, a small group of volunteers have created a website that aims to encourage and accelerate this smoke-free trend.



If you want to discover a restaurant or bar in your area where smoking is not allowed indoors, all you need to do is check out their ever-growing list of smoke free venues.