In Athens, you can swim in clear Aegean water in the morning and stand beneath the Parthenon by late afternoon. The Athens Riviera runs south from the city along a coastline of pine-fringed coves, quiet bays and open sea, close enough to the centre that the ancient world is never really out of reach.

Days naturally unfold in two halves. Swim from a lido, walk the coast, or sink into the mineral-rich thermal waters of Lake Vouliagmeni, where warm springs meet the sea inside a collapsed cave. Then turn inland for the Acropolis, the Agora, a long lunch in Plaka. Even the coast has its ruins: the small Temple of Apollo Zoster sits almost at the water’s edge, a reminder that around Athens the ancient world has a habit of appearing where you least expect it.

Beautiful coastal resorts, considered spas and elegant beach clubs run the length of the Riviera, most looking straight out to sea. There’s a magic in a city that lets you swim before breakfast and walk through antiquity before dinner. By evening, the city glitters behind you and the Riviera opens into something slower: a table by the sea, the last of the light on the water, salt still on your skin.