Athens: the Acropolis and the neighbourhoods around it

3 days Greece 4 min read

Athens is a sprawling modern city with the ancient world rising through it: the Acropolis on its rock above everything, temples in the middle of traffic junctions, a flea market on the site of an ancient one. It is noisy and unpolished, and the more rewarding for it. Three days covers the classical sites, the main museums and the neighbourhoods where the city actually lives.

Almost everything ancient sits within a short walk of the Acropolis, linked by a pedestrian promenade around the rock. The two big museums are on either side of the centre. Mornings are for ruins before the heat, afternoons for museums and shade, and evenings for rooftop views and the long Athenian dinner.

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Top places to see

1
Acropolis
The sacred rock of ancient Athens, crowned by the Parthenon, the Erechtheion with its caryatid porch, the Propylaea gateway and the small Temple of Athena Nike. Buy a timed ticket online, enter from the quieter south-east gate near the Acropolis Museum, and go at opening time; by mid-morning in summer the marble reflects fierce heat and the paths are crowded. Wear shoes with grip, since the stone is worn smooth.
2
Acropolis Museum
A modern glass museum at the foot of the rock, built over excavations you can see through the floor, displaying the sculptures and finds from the Acropolis in natural light. The top floor is laid out in the exact orientation of the Parthenon, with the original frieze and metopes and the view to the real temple. Visit after climbing the rock so the pieces make sense. The café terrace faces the Parthenon.
3
Plaka and Anafiotika
The old neighbourhood on the northern and eastern slopes below the Acropolis, with neoclassical houses, tiny Byzantine churches and streets of souvenir shops that get quieter the higher you climb. At the top, Anafiotika is a cluster of whitewashed island-style cottages built by workers from Anafi in the nineteenth century, with cats, bougainvillea and views over the roofs. Go early morning or at dusk.
4
Ancient Agora
The marketplace and civic centre of classical Athens, where Socrates taught and citizens voted, now a green site of foundations and olive trees below the Acropolis. The Temple of Hephaestus on the rise is the best-preserved Greek temple anywhere, and the rebuilt Stoa of Attalos houses a small museum of everyday objects. The combined ticket with the Acropolis covers it. It is quieter and shadier than the rock.
5
Monastiraki Flea Market
The square at the foot of the Acropolis with a metro station, a mosque and a small church, and the streets off it crammed with antiques, records, old books, army surplus, leather and junk. Sunday morning is the real flea market along Ifestou and Avissinias square. The rooftop bars around the square face the Acropolis, and the covered Varvakios market for meat, fish and olives is a few blocks north on Athinas street.
6
Lycabettus Hill
The highest point in central Athens, a steep pine-covered cone north-east of Syntagma, topped by a small white chapel and a view that takes in the Acropolis, the whole city and the sea. A funicular climbs from the top of Ploutarchou street in Kolonaki, or a zigzag path takes about twenty-five minutes on foot. Sunset is the time to be there, as the Acropolis lights come on below.
7
National Archaeological Museum
The most important collection of ancient Greek art in the world, with the gold Mask of Agamemnon from Mycenae, the bronze Poseidon pulled from the sea, the Antikythera mechanism and room after room of statues and vases. It is north of the centre near Omonia, a short metro or walk from Victoria station, and quieter than the Acropolis Museum. Allow two to three hours and start with the Mycenaean and Cycladic rooms.
8
National Garden and the Panathenaic Stadium
The shady garden behind the Parliament on Syntagma Square, with palms, ponds and a small zoo, is the easiest escape from the heat in the centre. At its southern edge stand the arch and columns of the Temple of Olympian Zeus and the Zappeion hall, and across the road the Panathenaic Stadium, the marble horseshoe built for the first modern Olympics in 1896, which you can run around on the original track.

Good to know

The metro and tram use a single ticket system; buy a rechargeable Ath.ena card and load a multi-day pass, or use contactless bank cards at the gates. The airport metro needs a special fare and takes about forty minutes to Syntagma.
The combined archaeological ticket covers the Acropolis, Ancient Agora, Roman Agora, Kerameikos, Hadrian's Library and the Olympieion for five days, and lets you skip the queue at the smaller sites.
Pickpockets work the metro between the airport, Monastiraki and Omonia and the crowded Acropolis paths. Keep bags in front of you. Omonia and parts of Exarchia are scruffy rather than dangerous, but stay alert at night.
Athens has beaches on the metro and tram network: Glyfada, Vouliagmeni and the Athens Riviera are thirty to sixty minutes from the centre. Ferries from Piraeus reach Aegina or Hydra for a one-day island trip.

Best time to visit

April to early June and late September to October are ideal, with 20 to 28 degrees, wildflowers on the sites in spring and the sea still warm in autumn. July and August regularly exceed 35 degrees and the Acropolis sometimes closes at midday in heatwaves, so visit ruins at opening time. Winter is mild at around 12 to 15 degrees with some rain, and the sites are almost empty.

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