Athens blessed with beaches on its doorstep and beautiful islands just a short boat ride away from Pireas. For a day out form the city, the first major resort to the east, less than half an hour form downtown, is Glyfada, which merges with Voula to the south.

As you head south along the coast and farther from Athens, the resorts are quieter and more spread out. Whither you travel along here by bus or in a rented car, there is no mistaking the magnificent spectacle of the temple that stands proud on the 60-metre headland of Akra Sounion.

The present temple is dedicated to Poseidon and there could be no more fitting setting for it than this cape overlooking the Aegean Sea. The temple may have been designed by the same architect responsible for the elegant Temple of Hephaistos in the Agora site in Athens.