Take a look at the Internet for a Greek vacation

If you haven't already started, it's time to make plans for going to the 2004 Olympics in Athens. Even if you're not going to the Games, make plans anyway to visit the home of the Acropolis and the heart of Greek civilization.

Get an advance look at Athens on the Web with the city's official Athens Today --www.athens-today.gr/ -- and learn about history, food and major sights. The information is pretty basic and there are no Web links to museums or hotels, but Accommodations does have a guide to what you need to know about Greece's hotel classification system.

After that quick introduction, immerse yourself in Athens with one writer's Athens Survival Guide -- www.athensguide.com/ -- an encyclopedia of things to see and do, and of ways to enjoy them at your leisure. Want to eat? Author Matt Barrett tells you about restaurants, souvlaki, patsa and coffee. Looking for things to do besides visiting the Acropolis? Read his description of the Monastiraki Flea Market.

Barrett has a guide to selected hotels in the city. And keep going to the bottom of the page; he also provides guides to other places in Greece, and there's even Greece 4 Kids by his daughter.

Next, get a preview of the historical monuments of Athens and elsewhere from the Hellenic Ministry of Culture -- www.culture.gr/ -- where you can start by going to the menu on the left of the screen. Click on the arrow next to Museums, Monuments and Archaeological Sites for facts and photos on everything from the Abdera Archaeological Museum to the archaeological site of the Venetian Fortress of Zakynthos.

And check out the icons on the right of the screen at the Ministry of Culture, especially the interactive Cultural Map.

Take a look around Athens and the rest of Greece at Greek Landscapes -- www.greeklandscapes.com/ -- which provides photos and background on the Acropolis, Delphi and other historical spots.

There's more to see in the Photo Gallery at Greece for Visitors -- http://gogreece.tqn.com/ -- which also supplies tons of links to sights to see on mainland Greece and all around the islands, Greek folklore and mythology, beaches and hotels.

Stay with Greece for Visitor to read up on the 2004 Olympics. There's a collection of information, news and links, including Athens' official Olympics Web site -- www.athens2004.gr/.

Click on Maps at the Web site of Greece by Click -- www.greecebyclick.com/index.cfm -- to reach an interactive map that displays the country's major regions and let you click in for details on towns such as Mykonos in the Cyclades islands, or Kalamata in the Peloponnese.

There's another interactive map at Aegean -- www.agn.gr/main.htm -- where you can click on Attica to reach addresses of museums and archaeological sites in Athens, or click on regions such as Ipiros to learn about Greece's most mountainous area.

Pick out an island getaway with the help of Top 10 Greek Islands -- www.top10greekislands.com/ -- and try their links for hotels.