"Exploring the Best of Athens: A Three-Day Itinerary for an Unforgettable Trip"
- Amy Harris
- Apr 22, 2024
- 14 min read
Updated: Apr 2
We fell in love with Athens, there is so much to do and see, and the city is steeped in history. There are ancient ruins throughout Europe's oldest capital city, as well as several fascinating museums, you could spend days exploring all of the rich history and still not take it all in. In addition to exploring Athens and discovering why it is often considered the birthplace of Western civilization, you will be enamored by the picturesque landscapes, unbelievably good food, the unique shopping of the winding cobblestone streets of Plaka, and the beautiful beaches. We spent three days exploring the city and also took a day trip to Corinth, which was incredible. I am eager to return someday soon. Travelling to Greece? Check out our three-day Athens itinerary for an unforgettable trip!
Day One
Explore Plaka
Located just below the Acropolis hill, is one of the oldest neighborhoods in Athens. Plaka is beautiful and is filled with unique shops, delicious restaurants, and ancient ruins.
During the day, the neighborhood is bustling with people, especially tourists shopping at the many shops filled with Greek art, jewelry, clothing, unique gifts and souvenirs. The main shopping streets are Adrianou, Pandrosou and Hephaestou. You will find many great restaurants around the square of Philomouson and on the streets around the Bathe of the winds.
In addition to browsing through the shopping area, make your way up just below the steps of the Acropolis to a small Plaka neighborhood called Anafiotika. This is such a pretty area, you feel as if you are on a Greek Island instead of in the heart of the capital of Greece. We accidentally stumbled upon this area while just walking around. It is a bit strange to explore the winding streets through the little homes, because people live here, so be sure to be respectful and quiet, however do take a few pictures. The original settlers in Anafiotika were from the Cyclades island, Anafi. The settlement was established in the 19th century by workers who were homesick while in Athens working on the constructions of the palace of King Otto. They decided to build their homes to reflect the ones from their island which is why you may feel like you are on an island vs in the city.
You will find ancient ruins and historical landmarks throughout Plaka, it felt like every corner we turned was another interesting ancient monument, church or ruin to read about. Pay attention or you might walk right past or even over something of interest.
There are also many museums to visit in the area such as, The Museum of Greek Folk Musical Instruments, the Jewish Museum, The children's Museum, or the oldest house in Athens, the Benizelos Mansion, and of course there is the Acropolis Museum which is a must see.
After walking around all morning, stop for lunch at one of the many restaurants, some are very touristy and the waiters will work hard to get you to grab a table by sharing their menu with you. But many have great authentic Greek food.
We enjoyed several restaurants in Athens, in fact we really didn't have a bad meal our entire time in Greece. We stopped at Greek Stories, one of the street cafes and enjoyed traditional Greek Souvlaki and Moussaka.
Rated as one of the best museums in the world, it is filled with artifacts, sculptures and rich Greek history. You could spend hours walking through and reading everything. We found the best part of the experience was walking underneath the building where there is on-going excavation which shows where and how life was from 4th millennium BC to the 12th century AD.
After you tour the Museum, the most obvious next stop would be to visit the Acropolis. We did not do that, because we were going there the next day as part of a tour, so we instead decided to walk over to the Temple of Olympian Zeus, definitely recommend seeing it! If you are fascinated by all of the history, take the time to read the many informational plaques around the temple.
After a long amazing day of walking around Plaka, doing a little shopping and a lot of exploring we were hungry, ready to get changed for dinner so we headed back to our loft....which, by the way, was absolutely the best Airbnb we have ever rented! We felt so blessed to find this place and would highly recommend it and rent it again! It has the most amazing rooftop patio that is HUGE and it has spectacular views of the Acropolis. (I don't receive any commission for recommending this location, we just LOVED it so much, I want you to experience it too) Check out a few of our pictures from this, "Eclectic Acropolis Rooftop Loft"
Looking for an amazing market or dinner? Right downstairs and around the corner from our loft is the Ergon House We actually had this on our list of places to stay before we decided on renting an Airbnb instead. Our first night in Athens we discovered the market, and the amazing restaurant that is within it, and we loved it so much we went back two more times. It is a fantastic market featuring only the best and freshest products from, "bakers, butchers, fishmongers and greengrocers," with a 25-metre glass atrium, a large deli where you can purchase items to take with you or eat right there. You can sit at one of the tables surrounding the deli, at the bar watching them work, or in the atrium where you will find a 200-year old olive tree. The smell of fresh sourdough and pizzas being cooked in the woodfired grill right in front of you fills the air. After a long day we were hungry and ordered several items, we loved everything we tried! We fell in love with Peinirlis at Argon and my husband spent the rest of our time in Greece trying to find them. Check out the menu and if you are in Plaka in Athens, definitely stop by or even book a night and stay at the hotel!
Day 2
Book a tour
We booked a tour with Luxury Greek Tours and I would HIGHLY recommend them and use them again. We wanted to go to Corinth and they offer a full day Athens and Corinth tour.
We started our day at 8 am, Nicholas, our driver and tour guide, has lived his entire life in Athens and was so informative and fun to spend the day with. He booked our tickets for us to the Acropolis, which was our first stop.
Visit the Acropolis -
make sure you buy your tickets online ahead of time to avoid the line.
It can be quite busy so be prepared for crowds, go early in the morning or later in the evening when it is less crowded.
Wear comfortable shoes, you will be doing a lot of walking and not on the most even ground.
Also, if at all possible, visit on a clear day, the views are spectacular.
Standing in a place of such rich ancient history is magical. The Acropolis' flat top dates back as far as the Bronze age. You will learn of the goddess Athena's temple built for her in the sixth century B.C. It remained a place of religious festivals all the way up to 480 B.C. Unfortunately, the Persians destroyed much of the early structures of the Acropolis. However during the Golden Age of Athens from 460 B.C. to 430 B.C. under the rule of Pericles a massive building project that lasted 50 years created some the most iconic structures you can see today, or what remains of them. You will, of course, get up close to the Parthenon, an enormous temple that featured ornate sculptures and was the home of a glorious statue of goddess Athena. You will learn of the many attacks that the Acropolis endured from the Romans, Venetians and Turks. And if you have ever visited the British Museum, you might find it interesting to learn of the story of the great controversy of the Elgin Marbles.
After years of being under different rulers, finally in 1822 following the Greek War of Independence, the Acropolis was returned to the Greeks. And they began to excavate and restore it. In 1975, the Committee for the Conservation of Monuments was established, they work to conserve the history and restore the structures as closely as possible to their original state and work to protect it from environmental damage.
After leaving the Acropolis we went to see the Changing of the Guard ceremony which takes place at the Presidential Mansion and at the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier located off Syntagma Square just below the Hellenic Parliament. The changing of the guards takes place every hour daily, but if you can go on Sunday you will see the official changing of the guards at 11:00 am.
We were fascinated by how coordinated they are and how still they must remain for so long!
Our tour guide, told us that all male Greek nationals between the ages of 19-45 have to serve for 12 months in the military and most do so right when they turn 19. And, that it is of great honor to be chosen to join the Evzones, the guards you see performing these ceremonies.
Next we went to see the Panathenaic Stadium
Constructed in the 4th century B.C., primarily for the Panathenaic Games, it could hold 50,000 people. It is the only stadium in the world made completely of marble. The current stadium was rebuilt in 1895 and followed most of the specification of the original stadium, but was made to accommodate 80,000 people. In 1896 the Modern Summer Olympics were held there and did not return again until 2004! It was fun to see it and learn the history. Today it is used for concerts and sporting events and is the venue to which the Olympic flame is officially passed to the host country of each Olympic Game.
After our morning in Athens it was time to head to Corinth. It is about an hour and 15 minute drive along the coast, the views are breathtaking.
We stopped to see the Corinth Canal, a canal that links the Ionian and Aegean Seas. The Canal created over centuries of stalls and failed efforts was eventually completed in 1893. They had to cut through solid rock to create the 6km long and 23m wide canal. It only takes a few minutes to park and walk across the bridge for a beautiful view and picture, and then of course there are gift shops on both sides of the road if you need a souvenir.
Our next stop was the highlight of the day!
We first stopped to see this beautiful Monument with 1 Corinthian 13:1-8
Then went to visit Ancient Corinth and the Archaeological Museum of Corinth. The museum was very interesting with so much to see in a rather small space. There are huge displays of ancient Roman artifacts, as well as statues and the excavations from the archaeological site. We then walked through the ancient ruins of the baths, cistern, small Roman shops and saw the Temple of Apollo. The most exciting and moving experience for us was walking the steps that Apostle Paul walked and standing where he stood and spoke to the church of Corinth, we both felt emotional and a bit overwhelmed.
It was time for lunch, our guide took us to Marinos Restaurnt, a Greek restaurant overlooking the ocean. We enjoyed sitting on the patio, sharing a bottle of wine and a traditional Greek lunch while discussing the amazing day!
Our tour was coming to and end, but if you have more time to spend in this picturesque area of Greece, here are a few other things we considered doing while in Corinth, you may even want to stay a couple of days to truly enjoy and relax. There are several great hotels to choose from.
Akrokorinthos - This Hilltop Castle was on our list of things to do, and is a very popular tourist destination in Corinth. It dates back to 600 B.C. It is a bit of a rocky strenuous hike so it might not be for everyone. The panoramic views offer the coast on one side and vineyards on the other.
Lake Iraiou is located about 35 minutes from the center of Corinth, and the drive there is along the coast and beautiful. This is a salt water fed lake that offers plenty of beautiful relaxing places to hang out or you can even go for a hike
Visit a winery or go on a wine tour!
Giannikos Winery is a great place to start, they planted their first vines in 1896 and today are one of the leading organic wineries in Greece.
We had the best time and we were so happy with our tour, it is a full day and you see a lot, I definitely recommend doing this if you have the time while in Athens. When we returned to our loft, we were tired and ready for some rest before we walked around Plaka some more and found a place for dinner, live music and got to see Plaka come alive at night.
The Plaka neighborhood is beautiful lit up at night, and it doesn't get too crazy, there are more laid back bars and restaurants than there are clubs. If you are looking for a rowdy nightlife scene, check out the Gazi neighborhood for giant techno dj dance parties.
We stumbled upon this classy mezze eatery. The live music was perfect and we were able to snag a table on the patio and enjoy drinks and some delicious appetizers
There are lots of great sidewalk cafes around Plaka. During our stay in Early October, we didn't feel we needed a reservation most places we tried.
Looking for a Sweet Treat?
We had fun walking around and popping into a few places for a drink. And of course my husband needed something sweet. There are no shortages of places to find a treat, in fact just downstairs from the loft we were staying in is, Smyrni Baklava which offers traditional Turkish-Greek sweets and seemed to always be busy, they have several locations. We tried their specialty, decadent Baklava, it was rich, gooey and delicious! My husband also, "needed" some gelato. We found Cookie Land, on Ermou Street, which is one of Athens best shopping streets. Cookie land offers all kinds of delicious sweet treats, including the Gelato my husband was craving.
Day Three
Our last day in Athens was relaxing and included a lot of eating and some more exploring. I think we were trying to eat our way through the city, because we had really enjoyed every meal so far and were eager to try more.
We started our morning relaxing on our rooftop loft, enjoying coffee and the amazing view.
We were determined to get to Kostas Souvlaki as soon as they opened so we got moving mid morning to try what people claim is the best souvlaki in Athens. On our first day in Athens we stopped kind of late in the day and discovered we were too late, they had run out of food. That's what this little 65-year old family run hole in the wall restaurant does, they close when they have sold out for the day and that is usually before 3
They open at 10 am, I think we were there by 11:30 and stood in line for about 15 minutes. They were so friendly and welcoming.
You order and wait outside for them to call your name. There isn't really any place to sit, so people are standing around enjoying their Souvlaki looking very satisfied
After all of the hype and wait, I was wishing I ordered my own, but I was able to share a couple of bites with my husband, who admitted he could have eaten two. It was very good street food, we were happy we waited and definitely recommend you search it out and get there early. The meat is juicy, the homemade tomato sauce is full of flavor and the pita was perfect. Plus, it's only 3 euros!
After Kostas, I was obviously still hungry We had noticed this rooftop restaurant across from the loft so we decided to check it out. Turns out it was at the Elia Ermou Athens Hotel and had the same view as the rooftop loft we were staying in. Super cute boutique hotel located in the heart of where you want to be! And the 7 floor Roof Top Garden restaurant was very good!
Climb Lycabettus Hill, (Mount Lycabettus) the highest point in the center of Athens - after all of that eating, we were ready to explore again and get some exercise. I tried to convince my husband that we should and needed to make the climb up the hill, but he was not feeling it that day, especially after I read to him what our hike would be like. The climb on foot starts pretty easily, but then you will find yourself climbing, "zigzagging stairs," and it it is quite a long hike....277 meters! Good news is we could walk to the bottom of the hill from our loft and ride the Lycabettus Cable Car to the top. The cable car operates everyday of the year from 9 am to 1:30 am. It typically runs every 30 minutes, but during busy times they will sometimes operate more frequently. The entire journey to the top only takes 3 minutes. However you reach the top, you will not be disappointed you made the climb. The views are unbelievable from every direction. There is a beautiful 19th century Saint George Chapel at the top. There is also the Orizontes Lycabettus restaurant with beautiful views, especially at night when the city is lit up. Orizontes is a very romantic place to enjoy dinner. We were not eating, so the Sky Bar was a better, more casual option for us to sit and enjoy a drink before we headed back down...on the cable car. I did read that the hike down the hill is much easier
Walk through Syntagma Square down Ermou Street to Monastiraki Square
After leaving Mount Lycabettus, we headed back towards the loft and walked through the famous Syntagma Square and down Ermou Stree to Manstiraki Square.
Ermou Street is well known for offering popular brand name stores and is usually very busy with shoppers, it is a pedestrian only zone.
Monastiraki Square is a great place for souvenir shopping and is a bustling area day or night. You will find the 11 century Kapnikarea Church and the Tzisdarakis Mosque.
There are also often street peddlers selling snacks and local items. It is a fun area to explore and there are lots of restaurants.
We were ready to head back to relax and watch the sunset, but not before visiting the cutest little wine shop we discovered Located right across from Ergon Market, The Wine Tunnel has tons of great wines at pretty reasonable prices. They have wines from around the world, we were able to find some great options. The owner was very friendly and helpful.
Our last dinner in Athens was at Ovio, we were looking for something a little different from the Greek food we had enjoyed the past few days and this Italian Cucina was delicious! The menu offers many enticing options, we decided to share a Prosciutto e Tartufo pizza with black fresh truffle and Cacio e pepe with extra fresh black truffle...we love truffle!
We loved Athens and even though we were heading on a cruise to see several Greek isles we were sad to leave, and look forward to returning. I know there are several other neighborhoods and areas of the city we would like to explore. If you have been and have suggestions, I would love to hear them!
Before choosing to stay in an Airbnb, I researched several hotels.
Here were my top 5 choices
Luxury - The Grande Bretagne - 150 year old resort in the heart of the city in Syntagma Square - my parents had recently stayed here a few months before we were coming, and loved it. They especially liked the GB Roof Garden restaurant
Eclectic - The Foundry Urban Luxury Suites located in the neighborhood of Psiri, I loved this location as an option for us, it is within walking distance of everything we wanted to do, all rooms are suites and some even have kitchens
Artsy - Perianth - Located in Agias Irinis Square
Boutique - Ergon House - In the heart of Plaka with an amazing market that we ended up falling in love with. As mentioned, our Airbnb was just around the corner, and this area was a great location to stay
Ocean Views - Four Seasons - before we decided to stay city center, we considered staying near the ocean. I am so glad we chose to stay within walking distance to everything vs being on the beach and having to take a car everywhere, but this resort looks amazing!
Eis to epanidein, Athens! (until we see each other again, Athens)
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