Patra

Greece's third-largest city, Patra is named after King Patreas who ruled Achaïa around 1100 BC. Little is evident of this busy port's 3000 years of history, during which it was an important trade centre under the Mycenaeans and the Romans. Though there's a gritty side to the city, it has attractive squares and lively pedestrian streets, and a great bar and restaurant scene filled with the young and the trendy.

Though most travellers come here to hop on a ferry or cross the Rio–Andirio suspension bridge, an engineering feat that links the city with western continental Greece, it's well worth spending a day or two, visiting Patra's wonderful castle and archaeological museum and making the most of the diverse eating choices and nightlife, fuelled by the presence of Patra’s 20,000 university students.