The information provided here was correct at the time this site was updated, and the general conditions will most likely be as described. Individuals intent on seeing only specific events should check carefully with travel agents and the media before making their final plans and once in Athens should check immediately at the official Olympics visitors kiosks as to the schedules and venues for these events.

The ancient Olympics were revived in 1896 with a relatively modest set of events in Athens and it has taken over a century for the Olympics to return to the land of its origins. Athens has changed greatly since then, and finally, in 2004, the XXVIII Olympiad is being held in Athens -- and in fact in several other cities in Greece as well as around Athens -- between August 13 and 29. (Preliminary football [soccer] games will actually start on August 11.) For a nation of only about 11 million people, providing the necessary facilities has proven to be an incredible effort, but although there have been some touch-and-go moments, it appears that Greece will meet the challenge. As with every city or country that hosts the Olympics, there has had to be a great deal of construction -- not only of facilities for the games themselves but also of infrastructure to support the expected crowds. Some of these latter projects were "in the works" independent of the Olympics -- the new airport, its expressway link to Athens, a new subway system in Athens, several other expressways to relieve traffic congestion in and around Athens. Then, in addition to constructing an entire new "village" (some 2,290 units!) to house 17,300 athletes, there have been a number of new or thoroughly-renovated buildings -- including major hotels and a museum -- much landscaping, and a general "sprucing up" of Athens.

It is traditional for the Olympics year to start with the lighting of a torch by the sun's rays at the site of ancient Olympia, in western Greece; the flame is then passed from torch to torch carried by runners (who must occasionally take to the air or ship to cover major "gaps") to the site of that year's games. Because Olympia is only some 322km (200 miles) from downtown Athens, the organizers came up with a dramatic way to make something more of this tradition. Thirty-five days before the formal Opening Ceremony, the first runner will set out, and then the flame will be passed from torch to torch as runners go to all five continents and pass through every city around the world that has ever hosted a Summer Olympic Games, plus Beijing, host of the 2008 games, plus Cairo, Cape Town, Rio de Janeiro, New York City, Lausanne, and Nicosia (Cyprus). (Other cities may be added to the route, and the final route in Greece was not determined at press time.)

The Games will be formally opened with the Opening Ceremony in the Olympic Stadium, also to be the site of the Closing Ceremony on August 29. Between those two events there will be some 1,800 separate competitions (including preliminaries) with 301 medal events in 28 separate sports. Approximately 20,000 athletes from some 200 countries will vie for the coveted gold, silver, and bronze, and it can be assumed that both competitors and spectators will be feeling a special frisson when these medals are awarded in the land that gave birth to these games.

Security Concerns--Security has become a major concern of all recent Olympics, and the games in Athens in 2004 will undeniably heighten such concern. Greek authorities, working closely with international security experts and other national police forces, plan to install advanced security technology and to have a specially trained security force of 45,000 personnel working round the clock. Greece's homegrown November 17 terrorist organization, once potentially threatening, has apparently been stamped out, and Greece, which has been consistently supportive of Arab states in the Middle East, is not expected to be subjected to acts that would weaken that support. The world has learned that no place can be 100% absolutely secure, but the 2004 Olympics should be as safe as possible. For those who remain concerned, it should be noted that Cartan Tours, one of the two companies officially selling tickets to events to U.S. residents, has included a provision in all its travel/ticket packages that allows for cancellation in the event of terrorist acts.