explore it yourself:
The journey and accommodations:
We arrived by plane into Athens International Airport from Turkey on the night of July 1st and stayed until the morning of July 3rd. We took the X95 bus from Athens airport towards our hotel which dropped us roughly a mile away and was about a 45 minute ride, given it was late at night and other buses were no longer running we had to hail a taxi which was 8 EUR to take us the rest of the way.
When leaving Athens to board our ferry to Paros which departed from Piraeus, we took an taxi there which was a ~15 minute ride for 10 EUR. Make sure you tell the driver what gate your boat leaves from because there are many and if you get dropped off at the wrong one it’s not very walkable.
Below is what AI recommended for accommodations:
1. Bedbox Hostel
2. Athens Studios
3. Mosaikon Glostel
4. Pella Inn Hostel
5. Phidias Hotel
We ended up staying at Athens Studios which was a better price and location than the other options offered by AI. The room felt like your typical run-of-the-mill hotel with all of the basics provided. The hotel breakfast was pretty standard with breads, scrambled eggs, assorted fruits, and some pastry options. On a positive note, the hotel owned a restaurant, laundromat, and sports bar all on the same block so we were able to do a load of laundry (8 EUR per washer and 2 EUR per dryer) while sitting next door at the sports bar enjoying a few drinks. In the end, this hotel gave us what we needed, a place to lay our heads at night, for a reasonable price in a good location near shopping streets in Plaka.
Note: * our additions to ai itinerary and exclusions are crossed out, also see our summary at the bottom.
morning
The Classics
- Pnyx Hill* – Incredible views of the Acropolis & Parthenon and also has a lot of history itself. Beginning as early as 507 BC, the Athenians gathered on the Pnyx to host their popular assemblies, making the hill one of the earliest and most important sites in the creation of democracy
- Sycophant* – Vanilla iced lattes and warm croissants (the best we’ve had so far).
- Acropolis & Parthenon – Beat the heat by arriving early to explore the iconic hilltop temple.
- When purchasing tickets, you select a one-hour time slot which is your dedicated time to enter, after entering you can stay as long as you would like. Tickets were 30 EUR per person.
- We tend to skip attractions that cost this much but when in Athens, this felt like a must-do that certainly lived up to the hype!
- When purchasing tickets, you select a one-hour time slot which is your dedicated time to enter, after entering you can stay as long as you would like. Tickets were 30 EUR per person.
Acropolis Museum– Just a short walk downhill; amazing artifacts and modern architecture.Tip: Buy a combo ticket online for multiple archaeological sites to save time and money.
- AI recommended this, but we just did the basic acropolis ticket for 30 EUR a person.
late morning
Anafiotika & Plaka
- Wander through Anafiotika, a hidden Cycladic-style neighborhood beneath the Acropolis with whitewashed houses and narrow alleys.
- We ended up doing a lot of walking from neighborhood to neighborhood, it is good to note that there are several public transit options if you prefer to skip walking.
- Stroll in Plaka – Athens’ old town full of colorful shops, cafés, and neoclassical buildings.
- This was our favorite neighborhood in Athens, it was so lively and populated with numerous shops and restaurants of all different ethnicities.
- Lunch at
Ermou 18 Beyond the Horizon*– Rooftop dining with Acropolis views; great mix of traditional and modern Greek cuisine.- OR Granello Pizza* – We highly recommend this spot, the wood-fired pizza is so tasty and also very light!
afternoon
Exarchia, Lycabettus Hill & Kolonaki
- Explore Exarchia, a bohemian area with street art, indie cafés, and bookshops — a local favorite less visited by tourists.
- We walked through and honestly would not recommend unless you are really into street art. Many posters are hung around stating “Tourists go home!” so we didn’t feel particularly welcome in the area.
- Take the funicular or hike up Lycabettus Hill for the best panoramic city views.
- We went to the base of the hill and walked around as we had already seen several panoramic views of the city and it was very hot out.
- Wander around Kolonaki – upscale area with boutiques, galleries, and cafés.
- This neighborhood had the exact opposite feel of its neighbor Exarchia, we much preferred this area between the two.
Evening
Dinner and night cap
- For dinner we grabbed a gyro to go (when in Greece) from O Gyros pou Girevis*, for just 4 EUR you get a nice size pita sandwich packed with meat, fries, and veggies!
- Night cap: Cine Paris – open-air cinema located in Plaka neighborhood with unobstructed views of the Acropolis.
- We cannot recommend this enough, This was a 10/10 experience sitting under the stars with the Acropolis lit up at night was absolutely amazing.
- Note: Tickets were sold out online but the box office opens at 5:30PM to sell a limited number of remaining tickets (10 EUR per ticket). Doors open at 7:30PM (for the 9PM movie) and seating is first-come-first-served so we rushed to get in early and grab one of the few balcony seats. We were told you needed to get there right at 7:30PM for any chance at these seats but it turned out that we could have arrived almost a full hour later and still snagged the coveted balcony spot we sat in.
- We cannot recommend this enough, This was a 10/10 experience sitting under the stars with the Acropolis lit up at night was absolutely amazing.
final thoughts:
How did ai do?
Overall Rating: 9/10 (we gave it a high rating because we had a great day, but not sure if we would have rated it this high had we stayed more days)
Would we go again? Yes, definitely. Hopefully in the future we can go back to the islands and enjoy another day here!
Favorite moment:
Bailey’s favorite: Cine Paris!! Honestly one of my favorite experiences ever. It was incredible being able to watch a movie (Eternal Sunshine, in english) with the sun setting behind the Acropolis.
Parker’s favorite: Visiting the Parthenon was a surreal experience. It is hard to imagine that it was built almost 500 years before Christ and still stands to this day!
Any surprises? Palm trees and orange trees line the streets giving the city a coastal feel.
Anything we missed? It would have been fun to stop into some of the shops in Plaka, but with the lack of space in our luggage we had to skip so we didn’t get attached to anything we wouldn’t be able to purchase.
Food spots AI recommended, but we didn’t have a chance to go: Ermou 18 Beyond the Horizon
Average step count per day: 22,540 steps
Nailed it: We were thrilled that AI recommended Cine Paris to us as this felt like a hidden gem within a busy neighborhood that could easily be overlooked but ended up being one of our favorite evenings of the trip so far!
Needs work: It felt to us that AI was vague in recommending several neighborhoods to simply stroll around in with little to no direction on specific places within the neighborhoods to check out. We were surprised it suggested to walk through the Exarchia neighborhood which clearly was not very welcoming to tourists like ourselves.