Athens: So Hot Right Now

10 Reasons why Greece's capital should be on you city break list

As the jumping off point for the Greek islands, millions of Brits land in Athens every year. But with the lure of coastal coves and whitewashed villages beyond, many don’t linger. Big mistake.

While its reputation for littered and graffitied streets isn’t totally unfounded, Athens is one of the most exciting city break destinations at the moment. Especially now the intense summer heat has died down a little.

Here’s some reasons why Athens should be on your must-visit list…

1. The Acropolis

Let’s get an obvious one out of the way first. As the most important ancient site in the Western world, a visit to The Acropolis is bucket list territory. Its hilltop position means that its crowning glory, The Parthenon, is visible from almost everywhere in the city. But looking at it from below, or from an elevated rooftop bar or pool, doesn’t full prepare your for its sheer might and splendour.

Allow at least half day for your visit and ideally book a guided tour, even if (like us) you don’t consider yourself a guided tour type. You don’t want to miss a thing.

2. The Iced Coffee

Frappe & Freddo Cappucino

Iced coffees seem like a relatively new thing in the UK, but the Greeks have been at it for decades. In fact, they are central to their coffee culture. On almost every street in Athens you will find a kiosk or cafe serving Frappés (instant Nescafé coffee, sugar and water blended together until it’s frothy over ice, with milk added to taste) Freddo Espresso (shots of espresso shaken in a mixer served over ice) and Freddo Capuccino (like the Freddo Esspresso but topped with layer of frothy milk).

Heading out to get coffee from our local bustling kiosk each day made my morning.

3. The Anafiotika area

While much of downtown Athens is either very touristy or very rundown (if you’ve got whinging kids like mine prepare yourself for complaints about “bin juice”), the tiny scenic neighbourhood of Anafiotika is picture perfect.

Close to the Acropolis, it is a great place to walk through and grab a drink or some lunch in the shade afterwards (there’s little else to do there, but I loved it).

4. The Street Food

In Athens street food is less of a modern hipster thing, more a way to grab long-established greek favourites on the go.

There’s ample opportunity to casually grab Greek street food like gyros or souvlaki (not to be confused if you want to avoid being corrected - both wraps, but the first featuring meat sliced from a large kebab, the second individual small pieces of skewered and grilled meats), bougatsa (custard pie), spanakopita (spinach pie) and loukoumades (little deep fried doughnuts).

5. The Restaurants

There’s no doubt that the majority of restaurants in Athens are also a firmly Greek affair (as opposed to the international flavour of almost all of Europe’s other key cities), but the form their menus and settings take differ greatly, meaning there’s always something new to explore.

I loved the culture of late night dining al fresco - common in Athens while ever it is warm enough, which is much of the year.

Favourite places to do this were the amazing courtyard at Ama Lachi in the cool Exarchia neighbourhood, who serve Greek classics with a subtle modern tilt and O Atlantikos in central Psyrri, where they sling out simply served seafood each night until 1am as you sit at tables scattered through surrounding small streets.

6. The Ancient Agora

It’s easy to see why the Acropolis is Athens’ best known historic site, but for me The Ancient Agora was its most fascinating.

Credited with being the birthplace of democracy, this collection of buildings and temples surrounded by greenery was the centre of Athens in antiquity. An advanced community with grand architecture and sweeping streets, where political gatherings took place and juries were impartially selected while much of the rest of the world consisted of small farming settlements and tribal chiefdoms.

Most of the Agora’s buildings are ruins, other than the reconstructed Stoa of Attalos, originally constructed from 159 BC and somewhat unbelievably thought to be the world’s oldest department store/ shopping centre, which now houses the Ancient Agora Museum. And the Temple of Hephaestus, one of the best-preserved temples of Ancient Greece (built between 449 and 415 BCE).

Both are quite frankly stunning and you need at least a few hours to make the most of exploring the museum, temple and ruins - especially if you are visiting when it’s hot as you will want to factor in shade breaks.

7. The Sunsets

The dramatic landscape of Athens’ hilly surrounds ensures some pretty stunning sunset views.

There are plenty of rooftop bars to head to in time to catch the sun going down, but if you want to head even higher you can take a 15 minute walk up Philopappos Hill for incredible views of the Acropolis as the sun goes down and its buildings are lit up. Or you can opt for a hike or funicular ride up Lycabettus Hill, the highest point in Athens, boasting 360 views. But be warned, everyone else might have had the same idea…

8. The Open Air Cinemas

Cine Thision, Athens

For me, “outdoor cinema” usually conjures up the vision of a hastily-erected flimsy-looking screen appearing in a local park surrounded by people pretending to have a good time wrapped in blankets… but in Greece and Athens especially, it’s something almost entirely different.

Here, open air cinemas are long-standing professional affair, where the frontage is a building complete with film posters, box office and refreshments hatch, but when you go through the door or curtain to enter the screening room, you’re actually in a large walled garden-type space, furnished with chairs, sofas and a big screen. It’s a revelation.

There are 65 outdoor cinemas in Athens, but perhaps the most famous is Cine Thision, which delivers incredible views of the Acropolis along which your main feature.

9. The Treasure Hunting

It’s a challenge for hand luggage only types like us, but the treasure-hunting opportunities in Athens are hard to resist.

The flea market stalls and shops around Monastiraki Square are the place to pick up everything from charming old tat to genuine Greek Antiques, while the piled-high offerings of the vast bazaar shopfronts in the Central Municipal Market area lure you in with the promise of prices starting as low as £1.

Do you need that metal urn/religious artwork/old radio? Possibly not. Will you have fun looking? Absolutely (unless you are my children in which case you would say “absolutely not” or just “I wanna leaveeeee”).

10. The Bar-filled Squares

Nights at the beloved Blue Parrot

Finally, it’s one of my favourite things about holidaying anywhere hot - having a pre dinner drink sat outside people watching. Fortunately, Athens delivers big time on this front.

Sketchy streets all over the city open out into bar-filled squares, Psirri Square being one of the busiest/best known. But our favourite find had to be The Blue Parrot next to Avdi square in the Kerameikos/Metaxourgeio area. A green oasis with cocktails that live up to the setting.

Where to Stay & My Athens Map