1. Take the metro to Elliniko station. It is the last station on the red metro line.

2. When you get out of the metro station, you will find yourself beside a big road that leads to Gilfada. Catch the bus 122. The ride takes about half an hour. You will leave the city behind you and go through some pine woods. Then, you will go though the city again for a short time. After it gets desolated and rocky and after a few huge bends, you will arrive there.

This is where you wait for the bus.

3. You should get off at the bus stop A Limanakia. Unless you are interested in going to a gay nudist beach, which is at the next stop, B Limanakia.

4. As soon as you get off the bus you will see the road to the beach. The beach is only a minute away on foot.

Notes:

Bring some food. Bring some water.

There’s shade later in the afternoon.

Watch out for the sea urchins. If you are clumsy, bring a needle to get the spines out.

There’s a little bar with very loud music at one part of the beach - the crowded one. We recommend that you go to the right, down the seashore and find a peaceful place.

Check the timetable of the bus line 122.

The rocks are great for diving for those who are into it.

1. Go to the metro station and take the Green Line to Faliro station. After you go out, go towards the Olympiacos stadium (you will recognize it by the red metal construction) and go down the stairs. The stadium should be on your right. Keep going straight ahead and past the run-down thread factory.

2. Go past the factory and continue down the same street until you see this:

Instead of continuing down the main road, turn left (past the blue graffiti) and go through a parking lot located under the road. Then cross both the railroad and the road using a metal overpass. That way you will get to the bus stop Afetiria Neo Faliro, which is also a bus terminus for line number 20.

In the middle of this picture you can see the metal overpass. The blue square marks the bus stop where you should catch the bus number 20.

3. You should count the bus stops and get off at the eighth one. The name is Navtikos Omilos. A couple of dozens of metres down the road is a supermarket Vasilopulos (buy some water here!). Across the road is a church. But you will only be able to see its top as it is on a lower level.

So, here you can see the church with only its roof showing. The beach and the island are behind it.

4. Cross the road towards the church. Then go a couple of meters down the street in the same direction the bus is going. After that, take a turn and go down the road which will take you to the beach. Soon afterwards, you will also see the island.

You need to walk 60-70 meters through the water to get to the island. The island itself is probably around 200 meters long.

5. There’s a shoal that leads to the island. If you can’t see it, ask somebody to show you the way. The depth of the water there is around a meter and a half. Take your sneakers off and use the laces to tie them to your bacpack. Put it all on your head and start walking. Be careful about the sea urchins.

What’s on top of the island? This.

Other useful information:

Once you get to the island, there’s a trail to your right that leads to the top of the island.

The island’s name is Kumunduru or Κουμουνδουρου in Greek.

There’s no shade.

The ticket price is the same for the metro and the bus and it lasts for 70 minutes. It costs 1.2 euros. So, to get to the beach and back will cost you only 2.4 euros.

Another view from the island.

Across the island and right next to the beach, there’s a dilapidated, deserted villa which you can reach by climbing over the rocks. There’s a shade there and it looks like you might be able to put up a tent there as well. We walked around and didn’t meet anybody. The other side of the villa is facing the street, but there’s a tall wall with pieces of glass at the top and the gate is locked.

The old villa across the island.

Time needed to get to the island: One hour from the Travel House.

Timetable of the bus line number 20: http://www.oasa.gr/xmap.php?id=p20 

1. Lycabettus

Towering 300 meters above sea level, it is one of the highest Athens hills. You get a 360 degrees panorama of the Attica Basin. There's a church and a restaurant at the top, and just a little below is a little amphitheater. It is scorching hot in summer, but fortunately somebody planted an olive tree that provides a good shade.

Photo: The view from Mount Lycabettus

You can take the main (asphalt) road which leads almost to the top of the hill or you can take one of the countless trails that lead through pine woods. Just keep going uphill and you can't miss it. The ascent is easier than it looks and it's about a half-an-hour hike from the foot to the summit. Bring water and some kind of head protection from the sun. We started the climb from Sarantapichou street. The nearest metro station is Panepistimio.

Photo: Lycabettus Hill: View from Pnyx Hill

2. Strefi

The hill on Exarcheia is named after a family that it belonged to. This hill used to be a stone quarry, but the Strefis gave it to the city mid-twentieth century. It rises some 150 meters above sea level. Unlike Lycabettus, this is a proper park with paths and benches; and, of course, a little amphithetre. It is significantly lower, but the view is equally good and some say it is even better. After you have reached the edge of the park, the highest peak will be only 15 minutes away. There are a couple of entrances to the park. From Omonia metro station, you can take either Themistokleus or Emanouil Mpenaki streets. Both lead straight to the park.

Photo: Strefi Hill, the highest point and the view on Mount Lycabettus

3. Areopagus

Areios pagos or Ares Rock is 114 meters above sea level. This is where the court used to be in ancient times. Aeropagus is right next to the Acropolis. You can take the metro to Thissio station. Then go down Apostle Paul Street all the way to the big widening and diverging. Then, go left (on the right side of the street there's a kiosk). This road leads to Acropolis. A few dozens of meters a way, you will see a huge rock with old stairs carved in stone, as well as with the new metal ones. This rock is especially bustling in the evening.

Aeropagus : Photo: The view from Aeropagus Hill

4. Philopappos

This hill is located not too far way from the Acropolis and is somewhat higher and a lot bigger than Aeropagus. Its height is 147 meters above sea level. From Thissio metro station, go down Apostle Paul Street (Apostolou Pavlou) all the way to the big widening and diverging. Turn right by the kiosk. When you get to a little church, across the road is a stone path with steps. Take that path straight to the top of the hill. There's an ancient monument dedicated to Philopappos, a prince from the Kingdom of Commagene. The monument was built in the second century A.D. at the burial place of a mystical poet Musaeus (the hill is also called Mouseion). Philoppapos Hill is huge and if you want to see all of it - including the forest park on the slopes and bottom of the hill - it will take you around two hours.

Photo: on the top of Philoppapos Hill

5. Pnyx

It is 97 metres above sea level. The directions are the same as for Philopappos Hill. But instead of turning left at the church, right after you paas it you turn right and after a few dozens of metres, you turn right again. The path leads all the way to the top. In ancient times, Athenians would gather at the top of this hill to discuss important political matters. Pnyx Hill is located exactly one kilometer from Acropolis. There's a speaker's platform with carved steps facing a big auditorium. There are unrecognizable (but marked) remains of the Altar of Zeus, a sundial and some other things.

Photo: The speaker's platform on the Pnyx Hill

6. The Acropolis

The most famous Athens hill. It rises 156 meters above sea level and a pass for several archeological sites costs 12 euros. Considering that the Acropolis is quite impossible to miss, we won't give any special directions on how to get there. It is located right next to Aeropagus Hill and in a vicinity of Philopappos and Pnyx.

Photo: The Acropolis, the view from Pnyx

These photos were made during a 10-day search for the apartment for the Travel House project, along the route defined by the logic of newspaper ads.

PS
Apologies to anyone expecting an essay on the Greek referendum.

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The Travel House 2015 was particularly interesting because of the events outside the House (the controversial Greek referendum), but also because of the activities in the House. With traditional Greek dinners, city tours, lessons of Greek language, there were also occasional yoga and laughter yoga sessions and so on.

With almost five hundred travelers, this year's Travel House was by far the most visited in the history of the project. We collected enough money, but the costs were significantly higher than in previous years. In these four years, Travel House hosted a total of 1,269 passengers. 

Here are the statistics for this year (2015):

Number of visitors: 485
Number of countries: 57
Duration of the Travel House: 2 months
Youngest visitor: 8 years
Oldest visitor: 66 years
Maximum number of people for one night: 47

Finances:

Donations (comission fees deducted):
Indiegogo: € 840.37
Via website + on tour: € 1,133.93
In the House: € 1,937.52
=
Total collected donations: € 3,911.82

Costs: 

Direct costs of the house:
The rent for 2 months: 1200 €
Internet: 42 €
Building Maintenance: 150 €
Electricity for 2 months: € 614
Water for 2 months: € 325
Common things (initial equipment, food, hygiene): € 249
=
Total direct costs: € 2,580

Campaign Costs:
Magnets: 60 €
Badges: 50 €
Patches: 35 €
T shirts: 13 €
Postage: 27 €
=
Total indirect costs: € 185

Total project cost: € 2,765

This year we decided to rely more on the help of local volunteers. So for the first month we had free Greek language lessons (until the volunteer had to leave in early August), and during the entire duration of the Travel House, we had common Greek dinners and city walks. These joint activities helped the visitors to get to know each other better, but also to get to know and experience the city with the help of the people who live there.

Instead of the traditional blogging, this time we have written down short travel stories, which we published in live stream. We interviewed and photographed more than seventy people and wrote down what they told us.

While the first Travel house, the one in Istanbul, cost only 1,500 euros, the one in Athens had almost twice as many expenses, but the number of visitors was almost twice as high. If we look at the travel houses in Granada and Tbilisi, we see that costs of Travel houses grow proportionately to the number of visitors. The same goes for donations. Travel house in Athens hosted more visitors than the Travel houses in Istanbul and Granada together.

Travel House is becoming more popular and better known in the travel world. In addition, the Travel Club is also growing. It is no surprise that the number of visitors of the Travel Houses is growing from year to year. However, there is also a growing logistical challenge. To illustrate this, imagine that five hundred people pass through your apartment during two months - who all take showers, use the toilet, cook lunch, celebrate birthdays....

This year we decided for the first time to tell the truth to the apartment owners - a part of the truth that we believed they will be able to handle. During the first phone call, we would say to the owners there would be a lot of people in the apartment. This had eliminated 99% of the available options. While this made it dramatically difficult to find an apartment (it took us ten days of intense search), last year's experience from Tbilisi indicated that it is better to say the truth to reduce the risk. Thanks to the rules it is possible to hide two hundred people to some extent – no loitering in front of the buildinng, leaving the house in small groups, total silence at night – but it is not possible to hide five hundred people in a building.

We tried not refuse anyone, but we still had to turn down some travelers because physically there was no more room. At first we had had an agreement that, given the size of the apartment, not to take more than thirty people per night. If you looked at statistics, you noted that the maximum number of people for the night was the 47.

After the first month, we received a letter from the management of the water supply company: "Your apartment has an abnormal water consumption. Check the pipes for any possible leaks."

Neighbours complained several times despite the fact that we were silent. No one complained about the noise, but they complained about, say, frequent closing the door of the apartment. This door closed nothing louder than usual, but simply they were opened and closed so many times during the day, that it started to bother other tenants. Since the closing of the doors could not be lesser, we taped a thin layer of rubber on the door edges. If you have fifty people in the apartment, it is sufficient that they just walk - nothing else - and those who live under have the impression that they are listening to a stampede.

Therefore, the future of the Travel House is now being questioned. How long it can grow and still be feasible? Those who were on duty in the house this year, feel that this is the final frontier, and that all over it just would not be physically possible to realize. Even this was on the verge of possible, and we should probably find a new model, if we want to continue with this project.

To see updates about when and where it will happen, check fb.com/afreeplaceathens. If you would like to contribute, there is a fundraising campaign running: https://www.generosity.com/fundraising/a-free-place-to-stay-in-athens.

So, get ready to come to Athens to experience things yourself!

See you there!