Beyond tourist traps and ruins: Athens’ coolest neighbourhoods

The Golden Age of Athens may have passed – historians widely agree that was about the fifth century BC – but the city is thriving as a global tourist magnet, on track to receive even more international visitors in 2024 than in pre-pandemic 2019.

This, and the fact that it is Western Europe’s most densely populated capital after Paris, means it can often feel rather crowded, particularly in the lanes of Plaka, Athens’ oldest continuously inhabited neighbourhood, where souvenir stores and restaurants touting multi-language menus proliferate below the almighty Acropolis.

Boho-chic: Psyri’s cafes and bars are popular with visitors and locals.Credit: Y Skoulas

Yet there are alternative Athenian districts to explore, some with local life and buzz on virtually every corner, others with sleepy hidden pockets that I’ve discovered on city breaks (and more recently on overnight stopovers before boarding cruises at the nearby port of Piraeus).

Greeks and travellers alike mingle in the boho-chic cafes and bars of Psyri (or Psiri), an enclave north of Plaka between Monastiraki and Omonoia squares, two of Athens’ major rendezvous points.

Vintage fashion shops, artisan studios and humorous murals draw your attention and Psyri promises a lively night out, too, with DJ-stoked clubs and street buskers strumming guitars and bouzoukis long after sunset.

Edgier, but compelling, Exarcheia is just north-east of Omonoia Square, and despite a reputation for rebellion and protests, is a largely chilled-out district for a wander, especially by day.

Mural in the Exarcheia district.Credit: Alamy

Browse the politically charged street art and bookstores and stop for a drink at one of the alfresco watering holes, where you may hear philosophical discussions in Greek, English and other tongues, with students and professors from the nearby Athens Polytechnic among those indulging their inner Socrates and Aristotle.

Topics for debate include the rising rents and creeping gentrification in Exarcheia, where residents have been rallying against the construction of a new Metro station on the district’s tree-shaded plaza.

So far things haven’t quite bubbled over as they did here after the 2008 financial crisis, when there were riots against the austerity measures foisted on the Greek people.

The National Archaeological Museum.Credit: iStock

If you’re in the area, don’t miss the National Archaeological Museum, which boasts a stunning collection of antiquities from across Greece, notably the Mask of Agamemnon, a dazzling gold relic from the Bronze Age city of Mycenae.

Sleek and polished addresses can be found south-east of Exarcheia in Kolonaki, an affluent neighbourhood with upscale design stores, wine bars and eateries that attract the Michelin inspectors.

Enjoy fish and seafood – think grouper carpaccio, octopus with honey – at Papadakis, or take the cable car up Lycabettus Hill, central Athens’ highest point (277 metres), where the Orizontes restaurant serves elevated modern Greek cuisine with spectacular views of the Acropolis.

If you’d like amazing Athenian panoramas pretty much all to yourself, hike instead the scrubby, ruin-dotted slopes of Philopappos Hill, also known as the Hill of the Muses, which lords over Koukaki, a district south-west of Plaka.

The Acropolis from Philopappos Hill.

Part trendy, part traditional, Koukaki has bougainvillaea-flecked streets with neoclassical mansions and low-rise apartments, laundrettes and antique shops, classic Greek tavernas and hip sushi and taco joints.

Here, and in other enclaves, you can people-watch a cast of Athenian characters going about their business: grandmothers sweeping doorsteps, grandfathers chatting and smoking on benches, youngsters flirting, skating and TikTokking.

Pleasant surprises are sometimes sprung on you. On my latest visit to Athens, I’m strolling through the pine-shaded park of Nea Smyrni, a desirable suburb a 15-minute tram ride south of the centre, when drumbeats catch my ear.

The volume increases as I exit the park, beside joggers and power walkers, onto the neighbourhood’s huge square, nicely landscaped, spanning several levels and flanked by apartments, cafes, bars and boutiques.

The central squares of Nea Smyrini are a popular gathering spot for locals.

Bunched together are hundreds of children in uniforms, some armed with drums, others blue and white Greece flags.

They’re gearing up for a parade. I later learn it’s staged annually across the country to celebrate Ohi Day, which marks the anniversary of October 28, 1940, when Prime Minister Ioannis Metaxas said “no” to Benito Mussolini, after the Italian dictator had demanded his troops be allowed on Greek soil.

Rubbing shoulders with at least four generations of Athenians, I watch the parade play out, happy to have stumbled across this noisy, joyous slice of Greek culture.

THE DETAILS

Fly
Etihad flies to Athens from Sydney and Melbourne via Abu Dhabi.

Cruise
Celestyal offers itineraries around the eastern Mediterranean from Piraeus, including to Greek islands like Rhodes and Crete and ports in Egypt, Turkey and Cyprus. Fares from $959 for seven-night cruises. See celestyal.com/au

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The writer was a guest of Celestyal Cruises.