Attractions and Travel Guide in Athens

The heartland of Greece, mythological Athens, city of Athena! Athens offers history, culture, entertainment, food and beverage whatever you seek. Things to do in Athens especially, When to go to Athens, transportation in Athens, food and beverage in Athens You can find many useful information together such as Athens travel guide I put it together in this article. Happy reading!

Places to Visit in Athens

I read blog posts saying that Athens is such a place that it can be visited in one day, I couldn't believe it at first, but after I went and saw it, I was even more surprised. Although Athens is not a very big city, it definitely deserves more than 2 days with its many places to visit, museums, streets and squares. If you are coming in the summer, this period will be longer. There are many options such as Piraeus by the sea, islands from Piraeus.

We had 3 days in Athens, I tried to summarize in this article the suggestions of places to visit in Athens for 3 days and the places we could not go but remained in our minds.

Take a look at my Athens travel video where I tell about places to visit in Athens. Don't forget to subscribe to my channel too!

Monastraki Square

In my opinion, there are 2 squares where the heart of Athens beats, one is Monastraki and the other is Syntagma square. Since we started our trip to Athens from Monastraki Square, I will start to tell you from there first.

There is a direct train from Athens Airport to Monastraki Square. When you get off the train, you go straight to the heart of the square. When you come to the square, you feel as if you are in a square in Turkey, from a bagel seller to a chestnut seller. There is a mosque from the Ottoman period in the square, although it is not currently serving as a mosque, its appearance has been preserved.

You can walk to Acropolos, Syntagma Square and Archaeological Museum from Monastraki square. Moreover, all the streets you will pass during this walk are also very pleasant. One of the streets that cuts the square is where the Flea Market is set up. You can choose the market set up on Sundays for antiques and second-hand items.

Acropolis Museum

Before entering the Acropolis, I recommend that you first visit the Acropolis Museum. The museum was built with reference to the Pantheon Temple in the Acropolis, and the originals of the pieces or sculptures from many of the buildings you will see in the upper city are exhibited here. You need to spare at least 3 hours to visit the 3-storey building, we went a little fast so that we wouldn't miss the Acropolis entrance time. Even if you leave the building, you can enter and visit the area on the floor of the building, which is the ruins of the old city, with the same ticket.

The Acropolis Museum has a very nice cafeteria with Acropolis view. If you get tired of visiting the museum, you can take a break here.

Acropolis Museum Ticket Prices

Ticket prices for the Acropolis Museum change in summer and winter, in other words, the entrance prices to almost all museums and ruins in Athens change in summer and winter.

• 1 Euros from 31 November to 5 March
• 1 Euros from 30 April to 10 October

The ticket to the Acropolis Museum is not included in the combined ticket sold to enter the archaeological sites in Athens, you need to buy the ticket here separately.

Acropolis

When Athens is mentioned, the first image that comes to my mind is definitely the Acropolis, and when I went to Athens, I understood better how right I was. High-rise buildings are not built in accordance with the Athens zoning plan, because no building is desired to be higher than the Acropolis. That's what I call preserving and respecting history. Darı to the head of our ancient cities and cultural assets. Acropolis literally means upper city. In the past, cities were usually built on high places or hills for security purposes, and the most important temples were built on the highest place on that hill. So is the Acropolis in Athens, home to many buildings such as the Temple of Zeus, a theater and a music house.

You can go up from one side of the hill where the Acropolis is located and go down from the other side. We exited from the Plaka area and descended from the Agora side. Thus, you have made a complete tour around the hill. It is very pleasant to travel through beautiful streets and neighborhoods with 2-storey Greek houses both on the way up and down.

We set out for the Acropolis in the afternoon. Since the days started to get shorter in November, we visited the region close to sunset, the light is wonderful, I recommend it. However, the last entrance to the Acropolis closes at 16:30 and 17:00, so you better not be too late.

When you come out of the Acropolis, you will see a small hillock, from which there is a very beautiful view of the Acropolis. The name of the hill is Areopagus Hill, and when you climb it, it is impossible to miss the hill on which a lot of people gather.

Acropolis Ticket Prices

When you buy a ticket for the Acropolis entrance, you can enter the places I mentioned above within the Acropolis area.

• 1 Euros from 31 November to 10 March
• 1 Euros from 30 April to 20 October

MULTIPLIER NOTE: Between November 1st and March 31st, entrance to all museums and ruins in Athens is free on the first Sunday of every month. You can pay attention to this when planning your trip to Athens.

If you plan to go to Athens in the summer season, there is a combined ticket that includes 6 different archaeological sites, you can buy that ticket for 30 Euros. Since the entrance prices are not discounted in the summer months, it makes more sense to buy a combination. In winter, it is more economical to buy tickets separately. When necessary, I write the prices of the relevant places.

Ancient Agora

When you descend from the Acropolis, you will see many archaeological sites between Monastraki square and Plaka area. One of them is the Ancient Agora, the market place.

Hadrian's Library, Roman Agora, Tower of Winds are other archaeological sites that can be seen in close proximity to the Agora. We were content to look from the outside without going into these things, we needed at least a few more days to visit all of them in detail.

Plate District

Plaka Neighborhood is one of the most touristic spots in Athens. Covering a very large area between Monastraki Square and the Acropolis Museum, the neighborhood is very lively both day and night with its cafes, restaurants, souvenir shops and bars.

Lysiou street and Minissikleous street are the streets you must see in this area.

Anafiotika District

A smaller neighborhood between Plaka and the Acropolis is Anafiotika. In the 1800s, locals from Anafi Island settled in this area and built white stone houses like the Greek Islands.

Syntagma Square

I said that Athens has two hearts, one is Monastraki and the other is Syntagma square. We visited the places I mentioned above on the first day and started our second day from Syntagma Square. Although we came to Syntagma via Monastraki again, Ermou Street is a street that connects these two squares and is full of shops and cafes-restaurants. Ermou's parallel streets are just as busy as Ermou. It is similar to Istiklal Street in Istanbul, but the one that is open to traffic. Between Ermou and Syntagma, Athens Cathedral will also be on your way, you can have a look at it too.

Syntagma Square is a huge square and park. Therefore, there is not much to be said about the event. Generally, tourists stay in hotels around this square. The bus runs from the airport to this square.

Parliament Building and Soldiers of Enchantment

The Parliament Building faces the Syntagma square, you can think of it as a huge parliament building. It is the changing of the guard ceremony of the Enchantment Soldiers that made this place famous. Changing the guard is an important tourist activity in many countries. That's what happened here. There is a changing of the guard hourly, but on Sundays at 11:00, it is done in more traditional clothes.

National Park

National Park. There was also a zoo in it, but we did not enter the zoo. A very nice area for walking.

zappeio

A congress hall located within the borders of the National Park, Zappeio immediately draws attention with its traditional architecture. They let you go in and have a look at their courtyard.

Panthenic Stadium

Panathenic Stadium, one of the oldest stadiums in the world, also hosted the first Olympic games. The entrance fee to the stadium, which is made entirely of marble, is 5 euro. There is no difference between summer and winter tariffs here, it is not included in the combined ticket. When you pay 5 Euros and buy the ticket, they also give an audio guide, there is no Turkish voice-over, you can manage with English.

There is also a museum inside the stadium, you can enter with the same ticket. In this museum, there are many materials such as torches and promotional posters used in the Olympic games over the years. I definitely recommend you to see it.

Temple of Zeus

Our next stop after the stadium was the archaeological area where the Temple of Zeus is located, but we only looked at it from the outside. The entrance fee is 8 Euros, including here if you buy a combined ticket.

Hadrian's Gate

Just in front of the Temple of Zeus is Hadrian's Gate. Emperor Hadrian made very serious contributions to the development of Athens in the field of art and culture, and therefore he was very popular. The door is in the open area, there is nothing around it other than the door anyway. If you want to join a free walking tour in Athens, those tours usually start here.

Filopappou Hill

There are many hills in Athens where you can go out and watch the view of Athens. Mostly tourists take the cable car up to Lycabettus Hill and watch the view of Athens, Acropol and Piraeus port from there. We decided to try a different route and chose to go to Filopappou Hill, which you can reach by walking from Monastraki Square. Due to its proximity to the Acropolis, it is possible to see many archaeological remains on the way out. By following the walking path, you reach the Filopappou Monument on the hill. When you reach here, if you turn your face to the sea, the port of Piraeus is in front of you and the Acropolis is behind you.

Psyri Region

Psyri District, which is one of the newly active areas of Athens, is one of the areas you can prefer to eat, coffee and drink at night. If you come to Athens with its colorful streets and venues for all tastes, this is one of the places I would definitely recommend you to stop by.

Athens Central Market (Central Market)

If you like markets and markets like me, there is a covered market place very close to the Psyri area. In fact, this is a fish market, a colorful place with spice shops and fruit and vegetable sellers around it. We were able to go towards the closing, I'm sure it would be much more colorful if you could go earlier.

Archeology Museum

We started our 3rd day in Athens with the Archaeological Museum. I don't know if you are a museum lover, but when it comes to Greek civilization, I think you can't do without visiting the museum. There is a lot to be exhibited, a lot of material to be told. So is the Archeology Museum, a 2-storey building like a labyrinth, but there are too many artifacts in the halls. Again, this is a museum for at least 2-3 hours. We paid 6 euros for the entrance to the museum, which is not included in the combined ticket.

Exarchia Region

Exarhia, the neighborhood two streets away from the Archaeological Museum, is Athens' rebellious district. As soon as you enter the neighborhood, murals covering all the walls welcome you. It is an interesting area with the smell of grass on the streets, parks where marginal groups gather. A memorial wall was created by making murals for Berkin Elvan, together with Alexandros Grigoropoulos, a Greek boy killed by the police in this region.

Our three-day trip was completed by making this route. Since I will share the parts I ate and drank in another article, I did not include them for now.

Athens Tourist Map

I marked the places on our list of places to visit in Athens on the google map. You can see the marked places on the map below or List of places to visit in Athens You can access the map by clicking the link.

On the map below, you can see the places to visit in the form of Athens sightseeing route. You can visit these routes on foot or by bus.

Athens Travel Guide

Let's talk about the best time to go to Athens, transportation and accommodation.

Best Time to Go to Athens

If you want to take a cultural trip to Athens like us, I suggest you go between November 50st and March 1st, when many museums are 31% off. But if you want to go to the sea while you've been there, you can choose the spring or autumn period. It would be very difficult to visit the Acropolis due to the high temperatures in summer. It would be difficult not to go to the Acropolis when you went to Athens, I would not go during the summer months.

How to Get to Athens?

One of the things you need to pay attention to when going to Athens, or rather going to Greece, is that your passport does not have an entry-exit stamp in the Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus. If there is a stamp, they won't let you into the country, you can't even get on a plane from Turkey. You don't need a passport to go to the TRNC anyway, you can go with your identity card, there is no need to take such a risk by giving a passport.

The list of countries where Turkish citizens can go without a passport Check it out too.

There are many direct flights from Turkey to Athens.

Urban Transportation in Athens

There is a very widespread metro network in Athens, you can easily reach many points by using these lines. If you arrange an accommodation in the city center, you can reach almost anywhere on foot without even needing transportation.

There are bus, train and metro options to reach the city center from Athens airport. The metro goes to Monastraki and the bus to Syntagma Square.

By the way, the ruins of the ancient city are on display at the metro stops in the city center of Athens, so don't forget to take a look around when you get down to the metro.

What to Buy in Athens?

If you want to buy souvenirs from Athens, you will not have any difficulties. Many options such as jewelry, Greek style textiles, olive products, soaps are waiting for you in the souvenir shops in Monastraki and Plaka regions.

Where to Stay in Athens

We stayed at a friend's house in Athens. Therefore, I will not make a specific hotel recommendation. However, my suggestion would be to stay somewhere around Syntagma Square or Monastraki Square in order to be central to the region and to reach everywhere on foot.

The newly active areas of the city can be an alternative for you to find more economical and beautiful hotels. For example, Thissio Region, which is between Monastraki Square and the hill, can be a good alternative when climbing Filopappou Hill.

Click to find Athens hotels from Booking.com.

What to Eat in Athens?

Athens is a food and beverage paradise where you can find many options from both Greek and international cuisine at affordable prices compared to Europe. “What to eat in Athens, where to eat?The detailed article in which I share my suggestions will be of interest to you.

3-Day Athens Trip Cost

If you ask how much our trip to Athens, which lasted for 3 days, went on Friday morning and returned on Sunday evening, let's take a look.

• First of all, we do not have accommodation and breakfast costs because our friends hosted us. Thanks again for their wonderful hosts and friendships.
• We spent the most on food and drink. Surprised, of course not. We spent 2 euros per person for 3 evenings and 64 lunches. We ate lunch in the form of burritos + beer for around 5 euro. We paid around 15-20 euros per person for dinner, to be richer.
• We bought our plane ticket for 62 euros. We got it from a Pegasus campaign a few months ago.
• We paid 26 euros per person for the entrance to the museum and ruins. As of November, most of the museums and ruins entrances in Greece are half price. It's even free on the first Sunday of every month.
• We paid 3 euros for a 22-day metro ticket. Thus, we got unlimited transportation to and from the airport and within the city.
• We paid our international departure fee for approximately 8 euros.
• Since we have a 1-year Schengen visa, we did not have any special Schengen expenses here.
• We paid 182 euros per person in total.

Athens is a comfortable and beautiful city that you can visit many times and enjoy every time. If you have a Schengen visa, I would definitely say put it on your list.

Stay on track!