34 Best things to see & do in Athens

You can’t visit Athens without visiting the Acropolis. It is the city’s iconic citadel and world-famous landmark that won’t fail to amaze even the most jaded traveller.  

‘Acropolis’ translates broadly from the Greek words ‘highest point’ or ‘extremity’. The site contains half-a-dozen buildings, mostly built from 500 BC to 450 BC on the orders of the powerful statesman Pericles, during the so-called ‘Golden age of Athens’. Pericles wanted to beautify, glorify and protect the city. 

The Pathenon 

A marble jigsaw made of 70,000 pieces, this 2,500-year-old temple dating back to 438 BC was dedicated to the goddess Athena. It dazzles with perfect symmetry and awe-inspires with its ancient grandeur, even when it’s crawling with tourists. It’s the most important surviving building of Classical Greece and a symbol of the nation. 

The Erechtheion 

On the north side of the complex, this Temple of was also dedicated to the goddess Athena, and was built to house the statue of Athena Polias. More famously today, it’s home to the ‘Porch of the Maidens’, featuring six sculpted female figures. 

Decades in the works, the Acropolis Museum opened in 2009. The clunky concrete and glass building has many detractors, but few dispute the magnificence of the collection.

For the first time, all the treasures unearthed on and around the Acropolis are displayed under one roof – except, of course, the ‘Elgin marbles’, a large section of the famous Parthenon frieze that’s in the British Museum. Should they be repatriated? Visit the top-floor gallery and decide for yourself.

The museum restaurant matches a great view with great food. Try inventive Greek dishes on a terrace jutting out towards the Parthenon. The glass-walled dining hall also offers stupendous views.

If you have only a day to spend in Athens, you can cover most of the city’s ‘greatest hits’ by wandering through the Grand Promenade that rings the Acropolis.

Designed to link all the main sights of ancient Athens in a single pedestrian zone, beautifully landscaped walkways are punctuated by exceptional monuments. There are contemporary attractions, too: al fresco cafés, street art, and friendly stray dogs.

Start at Hadrian’s Arch. Wander along Dionysiou Areopagitou, pausing to take in the ancient amphitheatres Herod Atticus and the Theatre of Dionysus, and the modern Acropolis Museum.

Continue on Apostolou Pavlou passing the rock of Pnyx on your left where the Athenian citizens used to gather listening to orators from Themistocles to St Paul.

A longer, signposted diversion at the junction of Dionysio Areopagitou and Apostolou Pavlou leads you to the alleged ‘Socrates’ Prison’, and to the top of Philopappou hill with bird’s eye views of the ancient sites below.

Back on Apostolou Pavlou and in about 500 yards you’ll spot the ‘Thission’ (a misnomer as it was a temple to the god Hephaestus), one of the best-preserved Doric temples anywhere in Greece.

Here you can divert into the Agora, the ancient Greeks’ shopping mall and civic hall as well as its fine museum where you can see ceramic voting slips, reminders of the city’s democratic past.

Backtrack to Thission and finish at the overlooked cemetery of Kerameikos, which has an amazing collection of tombstones and statues.

Though recently overshadowed by the newer, flashier Acropolis Museum, this treasure trove of antiquities is equally impressive. The display may be a bit dowdy, but the collection itself is world-class. From intricate, terracotta urns to delicate gold funeral masks, the craftsmanship of the ancient Greeks is astonishing.

Hugging the eastern and northern slopes of the Acropolis is the neighbourhood of ‘Plaka’, the city’s old town heart. This maze of jasmine-scented alleys and colourful neoclassical houses – now protected by a preservation order – has been continuously populated since antiquity.

Strolling through Plaka feels like strolling through a 19th-century film set. Though the area’s tacky souvenir shops and terrible tavernas teem with tourists, the winding lanes and shaded squares, dotted with Byzantine churches and ancient ruins, have retained their charm.

The northern reaches of Plaka are the prettiest. This maze of whitewashed alleys is called Anafiotika, after the islanders from Anafi who built the capital of newly-independent Greece in 1841.

Athens is famous for the diversity of its culinary offerings; from simple ouzerias, where meze are served with glasses of ouzo, to Michelin-starred restaurants showcasing the New Greek Creative Cuisine, which serves traditional dishes with a contemporary twist.

One of the most evocative and intriguing archaeological sites in Greece, Delphi was the site of the Oracle – a pythia (priestess), who would channel the god Apollo whilst in a trance. Some of her vague prophesies appear in Greek historical texts, others are still proverbs today.

The extensive site, considered by the ancients to be the Earth’s nave, is full of ‘treasuries’ built to thank the Oracle. The excavated, superbly fashioned artefacts can be visited in its must-see museum.

Alongside the Temple of Apollo and treasuries, the site’s other main draw is the spectacular theatre, dating back to the 4th century BC, with a capacity of over 5,000. Delphi was the location of the Pythian Games, rivals to the Olympics in antiquity, which took place in the amphitheatre.

This world-class performing arts festival, a summer highlight since 1955, is staged in several venues – most notably the Herod of Atticus amphitheatre in Athens and the Epidaurus amphitheatre in the Peloponnese.

Expect to see ancient Greek drama, contemporary dance, world music, and experimental theatre performed by an eclectic line-up of international stars, such as Willem Dafoe, Mikhail Baryshnikov, Foo Fighters and Sting.

This Roman-era Odeon was built by a wealthy private citizen Herod Atticus in memory of his wife in 161 AD and originally served as an indoor venue for 5,000 people. It was restored in the 1950s and is used for music and theatre performances throughout the summer.

The tallest of the capital’s seven hills, Mount Lycabettus towers over Athens, offering 360-degree views all the way to the encircling mountains and the Saronic Gulf, plus, of course, the Acropolis and the centre of Athens.

Rising to 909 feet, it’s possible to reach the summit by cable car, driving or walking (if you’re up for a challenge). The 19th-century Chapel of St George crowns the top of the hill, a neat whitewashed building that’s impossible to miss from below.

Next to the chapel, the upmarket Orizontes restaurant makes a great place for a long, view-filled lunch.