April 2013
Book to attend a talk in the Acropolis Museum's "Archaic Colours" series, exploring the original paints and pigments on ancient Greek statues. Activity packs available for kids (15 Dionysiou Areopagitou Street, tel: 210 900 0900, theacropolismuseum.gr).

January 2013
The Antikythera shipwreck found by sponge-divers and again by Jacques Cousteau in the 1950s yielded one of the most intriguing finds in archaeology - the mysterious Antikythera mechanism described as the world's first analogue computer. An exhibition at the National Archaeological Museum displays for the first time all 300 artefacts recovered in the two-stage underwater archaeological excavation of the shipwreck (namuseum.gr).

April 2013
A great way to take in all the archaeological sites around Athens is from behind the wheel of one of the pedal-cars available for hire at Thisseion. They seat four and also have a small electric motor to help negotiate the steeper hills. Turn right out of Thisseion station and you'll find the pedal car rank situated next to the park overlooking the Acropolis.

January 2013
A former working-class industrial district still named for the silk works that once dominated this area, Metaxourgio is gradually being reclaimed and gentrified, its one-time workshops and warehouses giving way to art galleries, theatres and restaurants.