Athens is known for archaeological sites and history. If you want a break from history, Athens has much more to offer travellers.
You’ve seen the Acropolis, you’ve hit the museums and you’re trying to figure out if it is time to head to the islands. Wait! You’re missing much of the modern charm of Athens.
There is a conundrum with many historically significant cities. Guidebooks tend to send you off to every site with any potential historical significance, but leave out any mention of the modern attractions of the city. In the case of Athens, slavishly following your guidebook is a very bad choice and you’ll be the worse for it.
As with any city, there are two good ways to see the charms of modern day Athens. The first is to get out and just start walking. The second is to befriend some local residents and let them show you the city. Either way, you’ll do fine in Athens.
Charming Athens
The Plaka area is great for people-watching, a coffee break or why not shopping?
The charm of Athens is found in the hubbub of daily life on the streets. The city and residents exude energy and character. If you get off the tourist tracks, you’ll find little neighbourhoods with outdoor cafés and no tourists. This is where the action is in true Athens. Just plop yourself down at a café and start people watching.
The charming neighbourhood of Plaka in Athens.
One particularly good spot is in the Plaka neighbourhood. A nineteenth century quarter, Plaka has a mix of Turkish and Greek influences. From Plaka, you can head to the shopping bazaars found throughout the city. The bazaars in Athinas and Eolou are a bit touristy, but no excessively. With a mid eastern feel, you can sit down and drink tea with local shop owners while they hock their wares.
From there, the city is wide open. If you dare, grab a taxi and tell the driver you just want to see the real city. It will be the ride of your life.
Classical Athens
Classical Athens was a powerful city-state. A centre for the arts, learning and philosophy, home of Plato’s Academy and Aristotle’s Lyceum, it is widely referred to as the cradle of Western civilization and the birthplace of democracy, largely due to the impact of its cultural and political achievements during the 5th and 4th centuries BC on the rest of the then known European continent.
The heritage of the classical era is still evident in the city, represented by a number of ancient monuments and works of art, the most famous of all being the Parthenon, widely considered a key landmark of early Western civilization.
The city also retains a vast variety of Roman and Byzantine monuments, as well as a smaller number of remaining Ottoman monuments projecting the city’s long history across the centuries. Landmarks of the modern era are also present, dating back to 1830 (the establishment of the independent Greek state), and taking in the Hellenic Parliament (19th century) and the Athens Trilogy consisting of the National Library of Greece, the Athens University and the Academy of Athens. Athens was the host city of the first modern-day Olympic Games in 1896, and 108 years later it welcomed home the 2004 Summer Olympics.
Athens is home to the National Archaeological Museum, featuring the world’s largest collection of ancient Greek antiquities, as well as the new Acropolis Museum.
Excrchia
Exarcheia, is an area located north of Kolonaki in Athens, it has a mixed reputation due to the recent anarchist scene but also as a culturally active student quarter with many cosy cafés, bars and bookshops.
Exarcheia is home to the Athens Polytechnic and the National Archaeological Museum; it also contains numerous important buildings of several 20th-century styles: Neoclassicism, Art Deco and Early Modernism (including Bauhaus influences).
Omonia Square in Athens.
Omonia Square
Omonoia Square, the oldest square in Athens is surrounded by budget hotels and fast food outlets. If you visit Athens, you should not miss Omonia Square. Beneath the square is the metro, so you don’t have far to walk. Omonia square was at one time a beautiful centre piece for Athens. Go down into the metro station and you will see old photos of the square from it’s glory days.
The square often becomes the focus for celebration of sporting victories, as seen after the country’s winning of the Euro 2004 and the Eurobasket 2005 tournaments.
Monastiraki
Monastiraki, for its part, is well-known for its string of small shops and markets, as well as its crowded market and tavernas specialising in souvlaki. Another district notably famous for its student-crammed, stylish cafés is Theseum or Thission, west of Monastiraki.
Thission is home to the ancient Temple of Hephaestus, standing atop a small hill. This area also has a picturesque 11th Century Byzantine church, as well as a 15th Century Ottoman mosque.
You will meet many street vendors during your walks around Athens.
Psiri and Gazi
The reviving Psiri neighbourhood – is dotted with renovated former mansions, artists’ spaces,and small gallery areas. A number of its renovated buildings also now host a wide variety of fashionable bars, making it a hotspot for the city in the last decade, while a number of live music restaurants known as “rebetadika”, after rebetiko, a unique form of music that blossomed in Syros and Athens from the 1920s until the 1960s, are also to be found.
Psiri is the area in Athens that offers some of the best restaurants and a vibrant nightlife.
Gazi
The Gazi area, one of the latest in full redevelopment, is located around a historic gas factory, now converted into the Technopolis cultural multiplex, and also includes artists’ areas, a number of small clubs, bars and restaurants, as well as Athens’ “Gay Village”. The metro’s system recent expansion to the western suburbs of the city has brought easier access to the area since spring 2007, as the blue line now stops at Gazi (Kerameikos station).
Syntagma Square
Syntagma Square -Constitution Square, is the capital’s central and largest square, found adjacent to the Greek Parliament (the former Royal Palace) and the city’s most noted hotels.
Ermou Street, an approximately one kilometres long pedestrian road connecting Syntagma Square to Monastiraki and further down to Gazi area, has traditionally been a consumer paradise for both Athenians and tourists. Complete with fashion shops and shopping centres promoting most international brands, it now finds itself in the top 5 most expensive shopping streets in Europe, and the tenth most expensive retail street in the world.
Nearby, the renovated Army Fund building in Panepistimiou Street includes the “Attica” department store and several upmarket designer stores.
