One of the Best Ways to See Athens Is by Taking an Afternoon Stroll

The shattered pediment and graceful, time-worn columns of the Parthenon, temple of Athena, glow softly pink in the fading light. In the surrounding shadows, all of Athens struggles on the treeless hills. In the west and southwest is the open sea.

The effect is dazzling. You are standing where the philosophers Plato and Socrates once stood.

My advice is to tour this ancient city on foot. Its main attractions can be covered in a morning or afternoon stroll. Museum-hopping takes a little longer.

For a glimpse of the contemporary, as well as of the antique, start at the eastern end of the showcase residential district called Kolonaki, where Vassilissis Sofias and Vassileos Konstantinou Avenues meet.

High above the intersection, the Hilton International Hotel affords a prime vantage point for route reconnoitering.

Visitors peering from the 13th-floor terrace-cafe get a stunning view of the tree-lined boulevard, Vassilissis Sofias, known locally as “Millionaires’ Row,” with its embassies and luxury apartment buildings.

Then pass the National Garden and central Syntagma Square to Plaka and the hilltop Parthenon.

Departing the Hilton, walk five blocks west on Vassilissis Sofias to Neophytou Douka Street. A right turn leads a few paces to No. 4, the glass-and-marble facade of the Museum of Cycladic and Ancient Greek Art (open 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. Monday, Wednesday, Thursday and Friday; 10 a.m. to 3 p.m., Saturday; admission $1.25).

An hour’s tour of this little museum introduces one to Greece’s heritage of sculpture and vase painting. If you prefer not to break your walk, plan to come back another day.

Continue west two blocks on Vassilissis Sofias to yet another of the small museums of Athens, the Benaki. Housed in an imposing mansion with a columned portico behind a wrought-iron grille, it specializes in holdings of Greek folk art, crafts and costumes (8:30 a.m. to 2 p.m. daily except Tuesday; $1, Sunday free).

At the Benaki, cut across the avenue and detour through the cool precincts of the National Garden.

By bearing right on garden paths you will again reach Vassilissis Sofias. Turn left, then left again at the next corner onto a marble-flagged esplanade.

The pedimented and columned pile on the left is the home of Greece’s Parliament. Beneath its yellow-tan walls the famed presidential guards--the Evzones-- stand straight as oaks: tall, handsome soldiers in a curious get-up of automatic rifles, tan pleated miniskirts and white tights with black tassels at the knees.

You are now in the very center of Athens. The thoroughfare facing the Parliament is Amalias Avenue. Cross it into Syntagma Square, a popular rendezvous dotted with sidewalk cafes and newspaper kiosks and surrounded by shops, airline offices and major hotels.

At the lower corner of the square--the side away from the Parliament--cross west into Mitropoleos Street and follow the sign reading “Monastiraki and Plaka.” If walking has worked up an appetite, now is the time to satisfy it.

Just steps away around the corner on the left, the Delfi Restaurant, at No. 13 Nikis St., is known throughout Athens for robust regional fare, including that savory staple of Greek cuisine, meat-and-eggplant pie, moussaka , and a masterful preparation of squid laced with lemon juice, kalamarakia . With a bottle of cold, crisp resinated wine, a meal for two costs about $15.

As you leave, turn right, then swing left back onto Mitropoleos, a narrow, bustling artery of boutiques and specialty shops.

At No. 19, Vlaha Flokatis offers superb examples of flokati --thick shaggy rugs of pure lambs wool renowned for their warmth and durability--at prices $80 to $500.

A bit farther on, cross Ipatias Street to a flagged square with its pleasant garden and stately Greek Orthodox Cathedral. On the far side meander into Pandrossou Street, gateway to Plaka.

Pandrossou Street is the flea market of Athens. It is also a favorite hangout of sandaled young Americans who sit at the curb late into the night strumming blues or rock on their guitars.

In addition to the usual array of cheap tourist souvenirs, you’ll find authentic Greek lace, woolens and leatherware. Cable-knit sweaters are best buys at about $30.

Pandrossou’s stalls and shops dribble out into Monastiraki Square. Double back a block to Eolou Street and turn right.

Begin a gradual climb into the oldest part of Plaka, the maze of tavernas, narrow stone stairways and color-washed houses clustered around the walled hill of the Acropolis and its crowning Parthenon.

Eolou Street empties into pretty, little Kalogriani Square, with its canopy of locust trees and taverna awnings, then crosses Adrianou Street. You are only a block away from one of the city’s most historic landmarks, the octagonal stone Tower of the Winds.

The shell of an early water clock--a contraption of chains and pulleys powered by hydraulic pressure--it was built before the birth of Christ, when Rome and the Caesars ruled Greece.

Pass through the gate guarding the entrance to the tower and wander among the crumbling pillars of an ancient agora , or marketplace. Returning to the gate, bear left on Pelopida Street, which runs parallel to the looming Acropolis. At the bottom of the street turn left, then immediately right.

You are in a constricted passage of row houses, Epaminondas Street. Go straight about 75 yards and veer left into a small square of shuttered dwellings with a filigree of ironwork at their doors.

The south side of the square funnels into Dioskouron Street, the direct uphill link with the Acropolis. At the upper end of the street, amble through a sidewalk cafe, climb a zig-zag flight of stone steps and pass through a break in a stone wall.

A stairway on the left brings you out into a hedge-bordered road. This is Theorias Street. Here a right turn leads along the base of the Acropolis to an inviting grove of pines and the monument’s entrance (hours are 7:30 a.m. to 7:15 p.m. daily; admission $4).

Time your arrival for sunset. As you mount a marble path worn smooth by millennia of use, the one sight that surpasses all others in Athens and perhaps in the Western world rises ahead like a vision of antiquity distilled. There is the Parthenon.

To protect it from damage by visitors, the Parthenon is roped off and open to view only from the surrounding courtyard, littered with fallen marble.

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Hotels in Athens range from spartan pensions in the Plaka district to luxury-class establishments offering every amenity of comfort and services.

Best bets for the budget minded are: the Ava Hotel (9 Lissikratous St.; $24 double, with bath), and the Plaka Hoel (7 Kapnikareas St.; $32). An excellent mid-range choice is the Hotel Electra, two blocks from Syntagma Square (5 Hermou St.; $75).

At the upper end of the accommodations scale, standouts include the Hotel Grande Bretagne (Syntagma Square, $160-$200), and the Hilton International Hotel (47 Vassilissis Sofias Ave.)

For the full flavor of old Athens, sample the traditional neighborhood tavernas. The list is endless, but my own favorites--all in Plaka--are Xynou (4 Angelou Geronta St.), Attalos (16 Erehtheos St.) and Eden (vegetarian specialties; 3 Flesa St.).

With a bottle of resinated white wine, a Greek staple, a meal for two will rarely cost more than $15.

For more elegant dining, try the Delfi Restaurant and Gerofinikas (10 Pindarou St., in the Kolonaki district). Expect to pay up to $30 for two.

For more information on travel to Greece, contact the Greek National Tourist Organization, 611 West 6th St., Suite 1998, Los Angeles 90017, (213) 626-6696.