Other beaches have redeveloped, but this one has undergone a total transformation. The well-known Glyfada beach had been deserted since the mid '80s until it was decided two years ago to turn it into the new summer hot spot.

Your first glance, as you come through the white (Caribbean style) wooden gate, assures you that the venture has been a total success.

Asteria Sea Side is the classiest organised beach in Attica. White recliners, white umbrellas, elegant low buildings, changing rooms straight from Miami Beach. Naturally, there is no need for a scrum at the bar to get a drink - waiters scurry to and from the sandy beach (which, by the way, was not always sandy: many tons of white sand were brought in to create its new image, and sand was added to the seabed as well). There are, of course, hot showers, and they have also have lockers for your valuables so you can swim unconcerned.

And then, right in the middle of this elegant tranquillity, there is a super water park in the sea, with imaginative inflatable constructions, providing the best possible proof that children are very welcome at Asteria Sea Side.

There is also a private area on the beach, with its own entrance, around the Balux all-day beach bar. The action here centres around the bar's swimming pool (settle in on one of the superb wooden canopied colonial beds) from morning till late into the night.