Athens: An Essential for any Greek Trip
Athens is both parts mesmerizing and chaotic. We visited Athens last year expecting it to be a short but necessary stop in between Greek Islands. What we found instead was completely different than we had anticipated. From the ancient Acropolis looming above the city, to the cute courtyard cafes spilling out onto alleyways, to the culture you can find at every turn, Athens is a true wonder. Believe me when I say that you don’t want to miss this fascinating city.
Last year we took our first trip to Greece and we loved it. This post will detail our third stop to the capital of Greece: Athens. In it, I will share highlights from our very brief visit to Athens. The first post in the series was about Santorini, followed by Milos and then Naxos. The final post of the series will be about our last stop to the Ionian Island of Corfu.
Trip Planning: Before
I spent a lot of time planning for my trip to Greece. My focus was on creating an itinerary that showed us various islands at a good pace. For Athens, I planned it as a stopover on our way from the Cycladic Islands to our last stop on the Ionian Island of Corfu.
Prior to arriving in Athens, I booked our two nights of lodging in a central location that was accessible via public transportation. I also booked our flight out of the city. Since there is good public transit in the city, we didn’t rent a car.
Getting There
We took a large ferry from Naxos to the Athens port, which was a smooth ride. I booked the ferry directly through Sea Jets. From the port, we took a subway to our hostel downtown. The subway was fairly easy to navigate once we figured out how to buy a subway ticket. Once at our hostel, we walked everywhere.
Aside from the many ferry options arriving into Athens, there is also a large airport with many daily flights to nearby islands and European cities.
Athens Basics
Athens is the capital of Greece and it’s largest city. The recorded history of the city spans over 3,400 years, with the earliest human presence between the 11th to 7th millennium BC. It’s size is around 15 square miles and there are more than 664,000 people living in the Athens metro area, with over 3 million inhabitants in the greater Athens area.
The city is fairly easy to navigate on foot, but also has a workable, while dated, subway system. ATMs are abundant and most places in the popular tourist districts offer English language information and menus.
Where to Stay
There are a lot of options for lodging in Athens. We stayed downtown in the Psirri neighborhood so that we were in walking distance to the main sights, including the Acropolis. I booked us a private room at the City Circus Hostel, which had a small, but clean room and some great common spaces. When you book directly through the website, they include breakfast in the price.
What to Do in Athens
Visit the Acropolis
With only one full day to explore Athens, we spent our time visiting the Acropolis site. We first took a run around the Acropolis, which was very impressive in the early morning. Later in the day we made a visit to enter the Acropolis. Even though it was an extremely hot visit, I am very happy that I got to see such an iconic piece of history.
This article outlines how best to visit the Acropolis and how you can buy your tickets in advance. To avoid the lines, I highly recommend getting your tickets ahead of time, as well as making your visit early in the day. Since we didn’t get our tickets beforehand, we were met with a long line. Luckily, we were able to figure out how to purchase our tickets online and got to skip the ticket line.
Inside the Acropolis it was very crowded and there were lots of people vying for good photo spots. There is also hardly any shade in the Acropolis complex, so dress appropriately if you go in summer. I also recommend bringing plenty of water with you.
Wander the Neighborhoods and Shops
The nearby neighborhoods around the Acropolis are filled with lots of shopping and food options. We meandered around the shops and got some gifts for family. Even though it was very crowded, we found it to be an interesting experience.
If you are able to spend more time in Athens, there are lots of other recommended places to visit. I have heard great things about the Acropolis Museum, as well as many of the other famous ancient structures around town. There are extensive articles about what to do in Athens. You can find some of them here or here.
What to Eat
We din’t get to fully explore Athen’s food scene due to our limited time, but there are A LOT of food options. I would recommend walking amongst the many sidewalk cafes and restaurants to see what looks good, as well as asking locals for advice.
On our second day, we tried food from TsiknaBoom, a small local restaurant that was recommended at our hostel. It had a very low-key feel and the souvlaki were amazing.
Here, here and here are a few articles for food suggestions in Athens.
Running in Athens
Running in Athens is a mesmerizing experience. As you run around, you are likely to bump into various ancient temples, artifacts or monuments. Our only run while in Athens allowed us to literally circle the Acropolis. That was definitely one of the more epic travel runs we have ever done! It was hilly and hot, but inspiring to run in the presence of such history.
Getting Away: Next Stop Corfu
We took a subway from our hostel to the Athens airport, which was fairly easy to navigate. We then boarded a short plane flight from Athens to the island of Corfu, which was our final stop in Greece. Once we arrived in Corfu, we were able to pick up our rental car right outside of the departure gates and head to our Airbnb.
