Although the economic crisis has left its mark in the capital, as some buildings along its central streets have become noticeably decadent, Athens is well worth visiting, and enjoyment is to be had in its marked array of contrasts.

If you’re on a weekend getaway, the best thing is to organise your short stay by touring specific districts in the capital. And, the easiest, fastest and cheapest way to get around is undoubtedly by metro.

1. Plaka

One of the most authentic districts in Athens, with a rich Byzantine and Ottoman legacy. Indeed, this is the city’s oldest quarter and all the historical architecture is strictly protected.

Its siting at the foot of the Acropolis, its quaint, Bohemian atmosphere, its narrow, cobbled streets and the absence of cars make this one of the favourite districts among sightseers. It is a veritable oasis in the heart of a chaotic city.

Plaka is full of street markets, shops and bars. It is the ideal area for buying traditional products and antiquities, or for tasting local cuisine. However, keep an eye on the prices! This quarter is your springboard for seeing ancient monuments, notably theAcropolis,the Acropolis Museum and the Roman Agora.

2. Monastiraki

Northwest ofPlaka, between theAgoraand theAcropolis, lies one of the city’s major commercial hubs. Monastiraki is also the name of one of the oldest and most centrally located metro stops in Athens. It also features the added value of an unusual display – the archaeological finds that emerged during the construction of the underground.

The city was also the site of a Turkish settlement for over 300 years, so that nowadays you can still see the influence of that culture in such spots as the Tzistarakis Mosque or the Turkish baths.

Landmarks in the historica lMonastiraki Square include such emblematic buildings as the Church of the Pantanassa, the Tower of the Winds and Hadrian’s Library, in addition to the Pazari or flea market with the most diverse wares on display in its open-air stalls.

Adrianou Street is a pleasure to stroll along, as it is lined solid with interesting shops and bars. Highly recommended is Collage, a cafe-restaurant where you can eat great food, listen to live music or sip a fine cocktail on their terrace, soaking up the cool ambience all the while.

3. Gazi

This is the most stimulating, switched-on area of the city. It revolves around Technopolis, its cultural centre, the largest in Greece, housed in a former gasworks. The district started coming to the fore after the 2004 Olympic Games. This is the most chameleon-like district of Athens with a proliferation of endless pop-ups. The cultural and leisure activities hosted here draw the most avant-garde, cosmopolitan movements to this part of town.

Gazi has undergone marked changes. Where prostitutes and illegal immigrants once roamed, we now see haute couture fashion parades, while brothels have given way to cultural centres. The once abandoned 19th-century buildings have been refurbished as innovative restaurants noteworthy for their striking post-industrial decor. Standout examples are Hoxton and Gazi College.

For enthusiasts of vintage decoration and second-hand objects, Gazi is teeming with stores to browse through.

4. Anafiotika

This quarter has an unusual history. In the 19th century, King Otto of Greece commissioned his palace to be refurbished by prestigious architects from the Cyclades Islands. They chose to settle in the Anafiotika quarter but, feeling homesick for their native land, they decided to build their new homes in the traditional Cycladic-island style. The result is that we can now admire the typical blue-and-white houses lining cobbled streets with a pronounced seafaring air. Together with the squares, viewpoints and gardens, the complex has become one of the most picturesque areas in Athens. It stands out as a pretty “island” in the urban sprawl, affording idyllic views of the city and acting as a vantage point for gazing at some unforgettable sunsets.

5. Kolonaki

This is the city’s chic district with its upmarket luxury and designer stores. The neoclassical and Modernist architecture endows the area with a distinguished, stately air which becomes evident as soon as you set foot in it.

Located here are some of the city’s trendiest bars, pubs and discos. Mind The Gap is ideal for having a bite or your first drink of the evening, while Dybbuk is perfect for dancing to good music until daybreak. Athenians love enjoying their social life, both during the day and by night, a fact we became aware of when experiencing the congenial atmosphere in the local venues, which always seem to be packed.

This district is adjacent to the famous Syntagma Square and is distributed around the foot of Lycabettus Hill, an excellent vantage point for taking in 360° views of the city.

Athens is a destination that should take pride of place on your calendar! Make sure you book your Vueling soon!

Text by Tensi Sánchez of ilovebilbao.com

Images by Aurora Loudeiro

By Clara Arnedo

I’ve just got back from Gambia and some of the sights still linger in my mind: the rainbow that appears onTanji beach every day at sunset, when fishing boats laden with fish come back to the port, and the whole town takes part in collecting and selling the fresh fish. These are just a few of the memories that this small but perfect country leaves with you, to help you get an idea of what Africa is really like. Now Vueling makes it easier for us to travel to the Gambia, with a new route connecting Barcelona and Banjul, the capital of the country.

The journey starts in the capital, Banjul, a city that is small and pleasant. And so is the country, with a population of 1.6 million. Banjul is a relatively safe and peaceful city, where it is worth exploring the crowded colourful markets selling all kinds of wares. The most outstanding is Albert Market, a large typically African market mainly selling fruit, vegetables and fish. When sellers and customers see us they are reluctant at first and quickly avoid our cameras. But after a while they gradually become more open and available. All they need is a little time.

Another attraction in the city is Arch 22, in honour of the president, the bodyguard of the former president, who took his position on 22 June 1994. Since then he has been the great protagonist of the Gambia: we see Yahya Jammeh everywhere – on posters stuck on walls and lampposts in every village and every town.

But the Gambia is especially a country with a coast that opens out to the Atlantic Ocean; a wedge-shaped country that cuts into Senegal and is divided in two by the river that gives the country its name – the Gambia.

First we go to the coast to discover the long, fine sand beaches of Banjul. There are hotels on the seafront, affording a spectacular view of the ocean. But the most memorable fishing scene has got to be Tanji, where you can find a flurry of colours and life every evening on the shore when the fish is brought in. It seems like chaos but there is actually an internal organisation and hierarchy, and laws that enable the same spectacle to happen every day at sunset. The men are strong and muscular and are in charge of carrying tons of fish from the boats to the beach, balancing the baskets on their heads. Once they are on the shore, the women collect the treasure to wash it and prepare it to be sold… young men run further to look for spots to set up and sell the fish. The children often follow, running fast at their heels, hoping to catch a bit of fish that might fall on the way. This makeshift fish market on the sand is the tip of the iceberg of this small country that is bursting with life. In the morning, in that same spot, a colourful fruit and vegetable market materialises, dominated by women buying and selling food. One of these women is Ida Cham Njai, a beautiful and energetic chef who offers the unique experience of accompanying her to shop in the market, and then spending a pleasant day cooking local produce with her at her home. The gastronomy and local produce are the best ways to learn a bit more about this pleasant destination.

A British redoubt in colonial times, it is now one of the smallest countries in West Africa. It also has one of the highest birth rates. The Gambia is full of children, and mothers who wrap them to their hips: it is a beautiful and typical scene of the country. The rest of the country is made up of the jungle, nature and many animals: monkeys, birds and even hippos. The further upstream you go, the wilder nature is, and the more rural the population is… it is a wild adventure to go up the river towards the town of Georgetown, because there are not many places for accommodation. Tourism is not widely developed in the Gambia, and that is part of its charm. In any case, you don’t have to travel very far from Banjul to discover the wild. NearSerrekunda, the largest and busiest city in the country, we find Bijilo National Park, or Monkey Park, which includes easy paths to walk around. In this area you can also visit a crocodile pond, and you can even touch one of the crocodiles! This is the other side of the Gambia, with its river and mangrove swamps; the more authentic Gambia, one of the least developed countries on earth, with a life expectancy of 54 years and a literacy rate of 40%.

But this is not the end of the journey, and the Gambia, despite being a small country, still has a few surprises in store for us. Can you imagine remote African villages invaded by Street Art and graffiti? Well, this is what you can find in the Gambia. Specifically in Bafuloto and Makumbaya – two names that are hard to remember, two villages with small and simple houses, streets made of sand and dirt, where children play under the sun. And on the walls of these huts is where the Wide Open Walls movement found one of its favourite canvases. Pictures that depict nature, with animals from the area and other motifs that fill these places with colour.

A great way of discovering the Gambia from different perspective. Another way of penetrating Africa through this small gateway.

By Clara Arnedo

Makes you want to go, right? Do it! Check out our prices here!

The Alsace Wine Route is speckled with numerous wine cellars where you can taste the famed wines of this French region. And, if you’re travelling with family, friends or your partner, you can opt to discover the world of winemaking through a series of leisure activities in a number of delightful towns and villages, some of them regarded as among the most beautiful in France. You will also come across an endless array of restaurants, from Michelin-starred establishments to the typical winstubs, a kind of bistro offering traditional cuisine from locally sourced products in a relaxed setting. And, seated at a terrace café, to wit. Take note of these venues, which we can highly recommend.

La Nouvelle Auberge
This former post office is located between the cities of Colmar and Munster. The ground floor features a bistro offering market cuisine at moderate prices. The first floor is given over to an acclaimed, award-winning gourmet restaurant, with the subtle creations of a chef who combines cutting-edge technique with simple Alsatian recipes, conditioned solely by seasonality and in line with the slow-food movement, of which La Nouvelle Auberge is a member. They offer four tasting menus with different dishes every day, depending on what the freshest produce from local producers happens to be. Some of their specialities include snail soup with garlic and parsley, oxtail consommé, smoked river fish fillet in red wine sauce and snail paté on toast, all paired with local wines. The interior design is that of a traditional, half-timbered Alsatian home, while the establishment boasts a pleasant, quiet, shady terrace set in natural surroundings.

Avenue 294
A comfortable, inviting establishment with refined decor where the chef crafts new suggestions every day, over and above a menu which is both contemporary and traditionally inspired. Special mention goes to the homemade desserts – watch out for the seasonal fruit tarts – and their wine list, extensive and with acclaimed local wines. As soon as the morning sun peeps through, they open a terrace behind the lovely red house that is Avenue 294. They have comfortable easy chairs and a plant-fringed area suited to having a last drink, for example. Pleasant ambient music accompanies the experience. A gourmet venue in a perfect setting you won’t want to leave.

Hôtel Beauséjour
A five minutes’ walk from the centre of the picturesque city that is Colmar – also known as “Little Venice” for its canals – you can relax in the garden-terrace of this establishment, owned by the Keller family, the fifth generation of restaurateurs. Their cuisine, based on seasonal products, is refined and very Alsatian, as evinced in the homemade foie gras with Gewürztraminer wine gelatine, or their organic five-meat sauerkraut. However, the standout feature of this restaurant-hotel is the interior patio, sited in a garden full of trees and flowers, totally cut off from the rest of the city.

Wistub Brenner
A genuine old-time Alsatian winstub located in the heart of Colmar. They offer the authentic – most compelling – local dishes, including sauerkraut, onion tart, Munster cheese salad and duck magret, cream cheese and potatoes and beef tripe with Riesling. We loved their beautiful, flower-filled urban terrace where you needn’t hesitate to spend a long after-meal sipping those fabulous white wines from Alsace, served in glasses with a green foot.

Le Cerf
Marlenheim, the first town you come to on the Alsace Wine Route if you start off from Strasbourg, has some great wine cellars and a great restaurant – Le Cerf. This establishment, which doubles as a hotel, has been run by the Husser family since 1930. It combines rustic interior design with avant-garde cuisine, which has earned it a Michelin star. Theirs is top-drawer cuisine, featuring regional dishes crafted using contemporary techniques, attested by the likes of sauerkraut or bouchées à la reine (stuffed vol-au-vent), and such international dishes as ravioli au foie gras or oxtail sashimi ramen, served up amid surrounding vineyards. Their terrace is a central patio where local red geraniums lend a touch of charm.

Book your Vueling to Basel, an hour and a half from the start of the Alsace Wine Route, and be sure to soak up the views in some of these magnificent terraces while tasting their delicious cuisine.

Text by Laia Zieger de Gastronomistas

Lanzarote is one of the most beautiful of the Canary Islands and La Graciosa, situated north-west of the latter, is one of its well-kept treasures. The two islands are separated by a strait known as El Río. The origin of the island’s name is not clear – some hold that it already existed before Lanzarote was added to the Crown of Castile following the expedition of the Norman conqueror, Jean de Béthencourt, in 1402. Whatever the case, its name is well deserved.

La Graciosa is the largest of the islands and islets that make up the so-called Chinijo Archipelago and its south side is dominated by extensive beaches of yellow sand, like La Cocina and La Francesa. Also located on the seaboard is its only two towns, Caleta de Sebo and Pedro Barba. Caleta de Sebo is the main population centre, while Pedro Barba is currently uninhabited. Like the rest of the Canary Islands, La Graciosa is volcanic in origin. Its highest peak is Las Agujas, which rises to 266 metres.

Chinijo Archipelago Marine Reserve

La Graciosa is part of the Chinijo Archipelago Marine Reserve. The word Chinijo, a local place-name meaning “small”, is usually applied to children here. With an area of 70,700 hectares, it is the largest marine reserve in Europe and is endowed with incalculable scenic value. This large reserve, which stretches between the towns of Teguise and Haría, comprises the islands of La Graciosa, Alegranza, Montaña Clara, Roque del Este, Roque del Oeste (also known as Roque del Infierno) and El Risco de Famara.

The biological wealth of La Graciosa  is immense. Some 304 species of marine macroalgae have been catalogued thus far, accounting for 53.15% of the Canary Islands’ overall flora. Indeed, it boasts the greatest diversity of macroalgae species in the archipelago.

The rich resources contained in these waters account for the abundance of marine birds which feed on them for their staple diet. The geopark is designated a Special Conservation Area for Birds (ZEPA, in Spanish). The most common bird species here is Cory's shearwater. Also in considerable numbers are some rare or endangered species such as the kestrel, barn owls, Eleonora's falcon and the guincho or osprey.

Another highly significant potential value of this Marine Reserve are the historical references regarding the presence here of the monk seal. This marine vertebrate, which is now an endangered species worldwide, survives thanks to the tranquility and biological wealth contained along these shores, pitted with sea caves and jameos (collapsed lava tunnels) where they take shelter and reproduce. Alegranza is currently one of the best suited spots for reintroducing the monk seal whose numbers have dwindled sharply due to poaching on the nearby Mauritanian and Mediterranean coasts.

Underwater Journey

Diving is becoming increasingly more popular on the island, which features three major diving spots. El Canal, located between Alegranza and Roque del Oeste, has a platform at a depth of 25-30 m and a pronounced, 35-40 metre fault containing a large amount of fauna. There are abundant populations of large-size grouper, island grouper and amberjack, as well as abundant violescent sea-whip, yellow sea-whip and white gorgonian. Another ideal diving area is Montaña Amarilla, in the south-west of La Graciosa near Punta del Pobre. A short distance from the shore is a berm which dips down 12 metres and becomes more perpendicular to the coastline the further offshore you swim, sloping into a 20-m chasm. This is densely populated with mainly common two-banded seabream, red mullet, barred hogfish and Mediterranean slipper lobster. As you approach the last area, Alegranza, a marked increase in coastal marine life becomes evident. Large crabs and limpets can be seen from the boat. Diving in these waters is a privilege, especially since the Marine Reserve came into being. To dive there, you need you first apply to the Canary Island government for the relevant permits.

One surprising feature of these underwater seascapes are the large colonies of sea-whip where the current is strong. They latch onto the rock and catch the nutrition that flows to them through the water. The ban on commercial fishing in this restricted area enables fish to reproduce freely, enriching these waters in quantity and variety. Such species as the wrass, which has disappeared in other areas, is prolific here, as is red mullet, eagerly searching for food on the more sandy seabeds.

Come along and dive in the depths of La Graciosa in the Chinijo Archipelago off Lanzarote. Check out our flights here.

Text and photos by Turismo Lanzarote