Temple of Poseidon

There’s a moment at Cape Sounion — right around 7:30 in the evening in summer — when the sun hits the marble columns of the Temple of Poseidon and the whole thing glows amber against a deep blue sea. Nobody talks. Everyone just watches. I’ve seen it three times now and I still get chills. A Cape Sounion day trip from Athens is one of the easiest and most rewarding half-day excursions you can make. It’s only 70 km from the city center, the coastal drive is stunning, and the payoff — an ancient temple on a cliff 60 meters above the Aegean — is the kind of thing that makes Greece feel like Greece.