ATHENS, Greece --- Athens is no longer a discount destination.

Cab fares, taverna meals and other costs have steadily crept up. Many Greeks blame the euro for higher prices after the demise of the unsteady drachma, Europe's oldest currency.

Athens, noisy and densely populated, still remains a place where outdoor enjoyment is a way of life: open-air cinemas, restaurants and bars with little care for closing time, and late-night walks made safe because so many people remain outside at all hours.

Of course, ancient sites abound, and not just the Acropolis that looks over Athens and is spectacularly lighted at night. You'll bump into marble monuments and centuries-old churches all over and even below ground: on the new subway system, antiquities are displayed where they were excavated.

Public transport is reasonable and subsidized. Once-shabby hotels have been smartened up since the 2004 Athens Olympics, and have kept their rates down because of the economic downturn.

Don't buy a guidebook that says Athens is heavily polluted. It hasn't been for more than a decade, since cleaner cars were introduced and factories were pushed out of urban areas.

GETTING AROUND: Crammed with apartment blocks, Athens offers residents little tranquility, but its compact city center is easily toured on foot.

A new walkway, sometimes called the grand promenade, was finished for the Olympics and takes you around the Acropolis Hill for a half-hour stroll through the ancient center to Thisseio, a district where main streets are lined with bars and cafes. The walk is a good starting point for a visit.

Public transport is integrated. A $1.50 (euro1) ticket gives you a 90-minute pass to hop on and off buses, trams and subways; www.oasa.gr/index.asp.

Yellow taxis are everywhere but no longer cheap, with daytime fares set to rise to $1.05 (euro0.72) per kilometer next year. Most but not all cab drivers are honest; they can occasionally be heard bragging about overcharging tourists.

The most common scam is to turn off the meter and quote an inflated price. Don't be surprised if taxi drivers pick up other passengers on a long fare -- technically illegal, but a common practice seen as a courtesy by stranded commuters.

The global franchise City Sightseeing runs tours with open-top double-decker buses. Tickets are $26.30 (euro18) for the tour that's ideal if you're short on time. Several mini-train rides, like Sunshine Express, priced at $7.30 (euro5), are popular with families; www.city-sightseeing.com or www.sunshine-express.gr.

THE SITES: The marble monuments on the Acropolis date from the height of Athens' power and influence, 2,500 years ago. The Parthenon is the main building, dedicated to the city's ancient protector, the goddess Athena, and is the iconic image most visitors simply call "the Acropolis" -- Greece's greatest monument.

Over centuries, it was turned into churches, then a mosque, and was more seriously damaged by wars than time. Sculptures were removed -- out of greed or for protection, depending on whom you believe -- and are now in the British Museum.

In June, Athens opened an enormous new museum to display and protect some 4,000 statues and ancient artwork from the Acropolis and to press Greece's standing demand for the return of the Parthenon sculptures from London. A ticket to the New Acropolis Museum is $1.50 (euro1), but the price goes up next year; http://theacropolismuseum.gr/. (Female visitors: don't go in a skirt. The museum has glass floors).

Other must-sees: the National Archaeological Museum, which has many of the most important ancient finds from all over Greece; the Herod Atticus Theater, restored in the 1950s and used for open-air concerts in summer; the ancient Agora or marketplace, a great place to view the sites while finding shade from the summer sun; and the marble Panathenian Stadium, restored for the first modern Olympics in 1896 and still used for important events. It's the finishing point for the annual classic 26-mile (42-kilometer) race from Marathon to Athens.

The best one-stop option is the excellent Benaki Museum, at Koumbari 1, $8.80 (euro6), free on Thursdays; www.benaki.gr/index.asp.

FOOD: Athens offers an abundance of dining options. Every neighborhood has a weekly street market for fruit and vegetables and good traditional restaurants, or tavernas, where tables remain stacked with side dishes and pint-size copper jugs with house wine, well past midnight. The meat is always well done.

For a cheap meal, sit outside Thanassis Kebab restaurant, off Monastiraki Square, or get a kebab to go for less than $3 (euro2). The souvlaki, a stout version of the eastern kebab, is meat, sliced tomatoes and onions rolled up in grilled flat bread, served in wax paper.

DRINK: Greece makes great white and red wine, often sold from the barrel, but quality varies greatly.

Amethystos and Domaine Vassiliou are good bottled brands, found at wine shops and good supermarkets. The national spirit, anise-flavored ouzo, turns cloudy with added water and is served with seafood. Try equally potent tsipouro for better odds at escaping a hangover.

Greeks don't rush their coffee, generally drunk strong and sweet, so cafes usually overcharge. Iced instant coffee -- or frappe -- is a national favorite, and competes with many sugary modern variants.

Greek coffee (known as Turkish coffee to the outside world) is made by boiling water, sugar and ground roasted coffee beans, leaving a layer of foam on top and sludge at the bottom of the plain white cup.

SHOPPING: Souvenirs run from elegant jewelry and fine carpets to the nasty Acropolis fridge magnet. Walk down the main streets of Monastiraki and car-free Plaka for the full experience. Leather goods and silverware are well-priced. Most store owners don't enjoy aggressive haggling but may respond to a polite request for a "better price" if possible.

LODGING: Athens is no longer just a stop en route to the islands, thanks in part to the overhaul of the hotel industry for the 2004 Olympics. There are many decent downtown hotels. If booking on the Internet, generally avoid the area around Omonia Square and around Patission and Athinas Streets unless you thoroughly check the reviews. Hotels there, billed as central, are often seedy.

FOR MORE INFORMATION: Check listings in the English language Athens News -- www.athensnews.gr/ but there's more in the print version -- and Athens Plus, which posts the entire newspaper online as a pdf -- www.ekathimerini.com.