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Savas grows his own avocados, and serves them with everything from roe to mangoes at this green-fruit-focused mezedopleion.

Another of the many apartment-only hotels in the wealthy southern suburbs. Most of the two-room apartments with kitchenettes have sea views; those that don’t overlook the hotel’s best advantage, a garden courtyard with a pool and Jacuzzi. All are served by full hotel amenities, including extras like childcare.

Come to the colourful Saturday street market here for a real feeling of the vibrant community of Exarcheia.

Fun, high-quality, modern taverna-food-with-a-twist. Share one massive salad among five, then pass around bite-sized spanakopitas (spinach pies) and balsamic chicken.

Though this is the youngest, hippest spot on the square, it’s still easy to relax among the ivy-covered outdoor walls.

Canoeing and rowing competitions took place in a 2,200-m (7,300-ft) artificial lake, with seating for 14,000 spectators. Now there are plans to make the area an environmental zone, with an adjoining archaeological park, displaying Stone-Age finds uncovered during construction and finds from the nearby site of the Battle of Marathon (see Marathonas).

The first recorded games were staged on the plains of Olympia in 776 BC. Dedicated to Zeus, they lasted one day and featured running and wrestling. In 472 BC – with the addition of boxing, the pancration (another form of hand-to-hand combat), horse racing and the pentathlon (sprinting, long-jump, javelin, discus and wrestling) – the event was extended to five days and held every four years.

The sailing centre was the first Olympic venue to host a test event – an international regatta in 2002. Sailing events were among the most exciting competitions of the whole games, partly because of the meltemi winds, which gust reliably along the coast every August. There are plans to convert the site into a 1,170-berth marina.