Athens, Greece

With everything that's going on in the Euro zone at the moment, and particularly in Greece, you might be forgiven for thinking that Athens would be depressed, downbeat and generally a bit quiet. Having just returned from a 24 hour visit to the Greek capital, I have a few observations to report that may, or may not, be of interest.

Firstly, the flights, both out and return, were full. I'm sure this was the case on previous visits as well but, either way, there are still reasonable numbers of people travelling to and from Athens. Packed flights should indicate higher-level economic activity, since leisure travel is likely to be the first thing that gets cut when times are hard (although fewer flights using smaller planes might also explain the appearance of high levels of traffic).

The advertising billboards, of which there are an impressively large number along the route from the airport to the centre of the city, are almost all unused. Many are in a state of disrepair, which suggests long disuse. Lack of advertising, especially in a downturn, is a very bad sign indeed; successful firms often advertise aggressively to squeeze rivals during a downturn and grow their customer. Maybe the billboard owners have gone bust.

The hotel I stayed in, the Intercontinental, was busy (although not as busy as it was in May 2011 when I last visited). Anecdotal evidence suggests that a number of central 4 and 5 star hotels have closed in the last year so it may be that the strong international brands are benefitting from reduced local competition.

The restaurant we ate in, Travolta, has moved to larger premises since my last visit but it was very quiet. The food was again excellent but business seemed slow.

The trendy bars and restaurants in Gazi, like Dirty Ginger where I spent a few hours on a Thursday night, all appear to be busy. The streets were crowded and the bars were packed but not, from what I was told, as heavily as they had been a few months ago.

Another recent change, again anecdotally, is that restaurants are now issuing tax receipts, as they would in any other city in Europe. This doesn't sound like a big change but hopefully it signals that tax avoidance, once considered a national sport, is falling out of favour. Anything that helps the Government to gather its expected tax revenues is likely to be good for the country in the long-term.

I like Athens. It's warm, friendly and full of things to do. It has a few strange features (like the damn great motorway running through the middle of the city) but it's a great place to visit. I enjoyed my visit, brief though it was, and I really hope they can keep things together over the next few years. I'll be going back again as soon as I can to see the sights and to take advantage of the cheap hotels and restaurants. Highly recommended.