4Foreword in your pocket guides 5Greece is making the headlines these days asthe world media focus on the worst economicsituation in its modern history. Public debt hasspiraled out of control and the new governmentof George Papandreou has the unenviable task ofsaving the economy from bankruptcy with painfuland unpopular measures and at the same timerestoring its credibility with the financial marketsand foreign governments.The sentiment among the population is certainlygloomy but don’t expect to witness scenes of panicand misery in the streets of Athens. Life goes onas usual and, bar the occasional demonstrationagainst the harsh measures, a visitor will find thecity as enjoyable as ever. Winter sales are filling upthe shops with bargain hunters and restaurantsand bars, especially on weekend nights, are buzzingwith crowds refusing to get depressed with thecrisis. What’s more, the three week Greek carnival(Apokries, pg 21) has just started, so dress up andjoin the locals in this much needed annual fun fest.Winter sports enthusiasts will find our short guideto ski resorts useful (pg 17), and for lovers ofhistory and ancient ruins we have all the detailsabout how to organise a day trip to Delphi, one ofthe country’s most important archaelogical sites(pg 16).Cover storyESSENTIAL CITY GUIDESAthens In Your PocketHarilaou Trikoupi 22106 79 AthensGreecee-mail: athens@inyourpocket.comwww.inyourpocket.comwww.inyourpocket.grISSN 1791-4558© Athens In Your PocketPublished 6 times per yearThis issue: 20,000 copiesThe Charioteer is a beautiful bronzestatue found in Delphi in 1896. Thefigure of Iniochos (rein-holder) as itis known in Greek was part of a largersculpture including a chariot and fouror six horses. It was erected in 474BC to commemorate the victory of achariot team in the Pythian games.(Delphi Museum)© Gunnar Bach PedersenEditorialPublisher Fotis GeorgelesManaging Editor Vangelis KoronakisContributors Mandi Millen, StephanieBaileyLayout & Design AIYP creative studioPhotography © Athens IYP - VK<strong>Maps</strong> © Road Editionstel. (+30) 210 3316196fax (+30) 210 3316195Sales & CirculationAdvertising Director Louisa NathanailAdvertising Mgr Nikos TsouanatosDirect Market Mgr VassilisZarkadoulasFinancial Director Efi Mourtzitel. (+30) 210 3617530fax (+30) 210 3617310Europe In Your PocketThe year 2010 promises to be another great onehere at In Your Pocket. We now publish a record58 guides and mini-guides across 22 Europeancountries, with more than four million In YourPocket-branded products printed and distributedannually. The latest to join the list were KranjskaGora and Otepää: winter capitals of Slovenia andEstonia respectively. This year we will be launchingnew guides in Venice, Glasgow, Vienna, Kranj,Celje and Bovec, as well as a few other cities weare keeping a secret for now.We welcome enquiries from anyone who would liketo take part in our Pocket Revolution, starting up anIYP. Simply send us an email requesting more info:the address is publisher@inyourpocket.com.Copyright noticeText and photos copyright Athens PocketLtd 2008-2010. <strong>Maps</strong> copyright RoadEditions. All rights reserved. No part ofthis publication may be reproduced inany form, except brief extracts for thepurpose of its review, without writtenpermission from the publisher andcopyright owner. The trademark In YourPocket is used under license from UABIn Your Pocket (Vokieciu 10-15, Vilnius,Lithuania tel. (+370-5) 212 29 76).Editor’s noteThe editorial content of In Your Pocketguides is independent from paid-foradvertising. Sponsored listings areclearly marked as such. We welcome allreaders‘ comments and suggestions.We have made every effort to ensurethe accuracy of the information at thetime of going to press and assume noresponsibility for changes and errors.Press Box“Solid, reliable information on everything fromwhere to book a reasonable B&B to how bestto spend 72 hours in a city.”The Guardian“You do not even need to pack a guidebook:just pick up an In Your Pocket when youarrive.”Simon CalderThe Independent & LBC Radio“In Your Pocket: a cheeky, well-written seriesof guidebooks.”The New York Times“Most of the traditional guidebook companiesnow have decent websites, with plenty of adviceand information either freely available ordownloadable for a fee, but inyourpocket.comis also well worth a browse. 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Allinformation is also available on the publisher’swebsite.”Sueddeutsche Zeitung“The In Your Pocket series of guide bookletshave turned out to be highly useful in avoidingtourist traps and other travel hazards. A mix ofLonely Planet and Time Out, they have becomea European publishing phenomenon.”International Herald TribuneIn Your Pocket OnlineIn Your Pocket guides have been online, in full,since 1995, and our company has continuallybeen at the cutting edge of internet development.The first travel publisher to offer free PDF guides(back in 2002) you can now download our entirerange of travel guidebooks - for free and in full -from our website, inyourpocket.com. More than25,000 PDFs are downloaded each month, whilethe site as a whole regularly attracts more than250,000 visitors per month.Facebook & TwitterBecome a fan of In Your Pocket on Facebook,or follow us on Twitter, and you can get inside informationon what’s happening around the Pocketworld, as well as win exclusive prizes - such as thetickets we gave away to the opening of the NewAcropolis Museum in Athens. You will also findout first about new guides, new bars, restaurantsetc., and our team of Twitterers is also on hand toanswer any travel questions. Find us at twitter.com/inyourpocket.Make In Your Pocket betterWe want to find out how we can make our guidesbetter: please take five minutes to complete ouronline survey at inyourpocket.com/survey.Then, tell us about your experiences in Pocketcities. A year or so ago In Your Pocket took theinteractive plunge and began allowing readersto post comments under our own reviews. Theresponse has been incredible, nowhere more sothan in Riga, where the famous rip-off joint LordPub has garnered so many comments from angryreaders that at one stage earlier this year oursystem couldn’t cope: we had to reconfigure it toaccommodate all the feedback. All of our venues- and most of our features - are now open blogsready for your comments. If you have somethingto say on Warsaw’s raunchiest nightlife venues,say it at inyourpocket.com. If you want to flauntyour Cornish nationalist credentials, do it at inyourpocket.com.Our local editors are encouraged toreply to comments and make a point of taking onboard what our readers are telling us. While we vetall comments before publication, if you provide avalid email address we usually publish them all.So let rip!Athens In Your Pocketathens.inyourpocket.com athens.inyourpocket.com February - March 2010