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If you’re only in Athens for a day, this is the one sight to see. The temples, especially the great Parthenon, built to honour Athena, have been the dominating influence in Western architecture for over 2,000 years. They continue to astonish and inspire. (see See Acropolis)

The museum, not yet completed, is being built over a late-Roman and early Byzantine settlement. The site is packed with houses and at least one fountain and reservoir, rare in the parched city. A walkway through the site and glass floors in the museum will allow visitors to see all angles of it, a fascinating juxtaposition to the earlier archaeological finds within the museum. (see New Acropolis Museum)

The colossal temple to Zeus was commissioned in 515 BC and took nearly 700 years to complete, during which time many other buildings – temples, baths and a law court – sprang up around it. (see Temple of Olympian Zeus)

In the late 1990s, Athens undertook its biggest archaeological dig ever: excavating a long-delayed metro – essential for hosting the Olympics. Many feared that the tightly scheduled dig would endanger what lay beneath. The Syntagma metro station was a brilliant compromise: though modern and gleaming, one glass wall looks directly on to the site, with detailed explanations of its ancient layers. (see Syntagma Metro Station)

One of the most interestingly layered sites. Buildings and remains include the ingenious Tower of the Winds from 50 BC, the first-century AD Roman forum, and a mosque built by the Ottomans. (see Roman Forum & Tower of the Winds)

Hadrian built this luxurious Corinthian-columned building in AD 132. Most of the space was actually a showy marble courtyard, with gardens and a pool. There were also lecture rooms, music rooms and a theatre. The library itself was on the east side, where you can see marble slots for manuscript scrolls. (see Hadrian’s Library)

The Agora, the marketplace where philosophers held forth, tradesmen bickered and statesmen hammered out the terms of the first democracy, was the city’s heart and soul for 600 years. This is one of the most hands-on sites in Athens and includes the Temple of Hephaestus, the best-preserved ancient Greek temple. (see The Agora)

This fascinating site around ancient Athens’ walls should not be missed. It contains evidence of all the activities that take place at a city’s edge: tombs (raised circular mounds for war heroes, pompous marble statues for great statesmen), temples, important roads, pottery workshops, and a brothel. It’s also a shady oasis in the congested city centre. (see Kerameikos)

This 11th-century monastery on the cypress-clad slopes of Mount Hymettos makes a wonderful day trip (best reached by car). The chapel, dedicated to the Presentation of the Virgin, is built atop Classical ruins, its walls decorated with cloisonné (enamelled) masonry and late 17th-century paintings. The ram’s-head fountain is said to cure infertility. (see Kesariani, Mount Hymettos)

The great marble shrine to the sea god, situated on Cape Sounio’s peak and surrounded by the Aegean Sea, is among the most stunning sights in all of Greece. It was built in the 5th century BC. British poet Lord Byron was one of many who fell under its spell 2,400 years later, composing poetry in its honour and carving his name on a pillar. Come at sunset, just before it closes, for a spectacular and unforgettable view.