Where to stay in Athens: an insider’s guide to the city’s best neighbourhoods in 2025

Best for: Getting into history (and taking very nice photos)

This picturesque neighbourhood is the oldest and most visited part of Athens. Its tangle of narrow bougainvillaea-bright alleys and paved pedestrian streets wind to the Acropolis high above, taking in neoclassical mansions, ancient sites and souvenir shops along the way. Plaka still manages to maintain a small-village ambience, with the added bonus of being within easy hiking distance of the city’s most iconic monument.

Avoid the crowds and visit the less-frequented Canellopoulos Museum, which houses one of the country’s largest private collections of ancient Greek artefacts. Feeling hungry? Grab a snack at the traditional kafenio Glykis, or later at night sit yourself down on the wine barrel seats at Brettos and take your pick from their selection of liqueurs lined up along the colourful bar. 

Stay here: Lap up those Acropolis vistas at AthensWas, a chic boutique beauty where highlights include cosy suites with Parthenon-view balconies and a lofty rooftop restaurant. 

Best for: Bar hopping and our favourite restaurants

Psirri is a hip hood with a taste of old-style Athens, where you’ll find everything from cane chair repair shops and art galleries to street art and live-music bars. An easy hop from Monastiraki’s tat-filled flea market and nightlife district Gazi, Psirri is party HQ for young Athenians who come here to hang out at the string of nightlife venues dotted around the main square, Iroon.

Go to the brand new all day spot Tragos, a modern kafenio for a brunch or a light meal based on Mediterranean cuisine, try to choose only one dessert from the huge menu at the all time favorite To Serbetospito tis Nancy or soak in the boho vibes at Cantina Social, a hard-to-find backstreet bar tucked away beneath a stoa (arcade). The Islamic art collection at the Benaki Museum of Islamic Art is one of the best in the world.

Stay here: City Circus, a hip hostel in a beautifully converted nineteenth-century building is a good and cheap choice for your stay. Don’t miss the free wine at happy hour.

Best for: architecture and young creatives

We once voted this neighbourhood one of the coolest neighbourhoods in the world, and it’s easy to see why. This diverse, multicultural neighbourhood has long attracted young, artsy creatives (the first-ever artist residency in the whole city, Snehta, was founded here), and you can feel it: this area is alive with galleries, bars and all sorts. 

This isn’t really the spot for tourist-friendly Greek tavernas. Here, the streets are lined with Kurdish kebab houses and shisha bars, Ethiopian restaurants and more, with a mix of modern and old-school Athens (you’ll still see old men playing dominos outside traditional ouzeries). 

Stay here: If you fancy an apartment you can make your own, try the Porto Giardino Apartments, with your own terrace to look out over nearby beaches. 

Best for: Shopping with class

Elbow-to-elbow with Syntagma Square and standing in the shadow of Lycabettus Hill’s pine-forested slopes, Kolonaki might be the city’s most elegant neighbourhood, but it’s no snob. Between the ritzy designer boutiques and high-end restaurants, you’ll find plenty of down-to-earth bars and tavernas, along with a raft of cool cafés. Spend a few absorbing hours admiring fourth-millennium BC figurines at the Museum of Cycladic Art; shop for handmade leather shoes and other Greek designer goodies along Skoufa, Pindarou and surrounding streets.

For street food goodies, follow locals to Kalamaki Kolonaki, a hole-in-the-wall joint famed for its feather-tender grilled pork skewer souvlaki. Later hop on the funicular and whizz to the summit of Lycabettus Hill at sunset to watch the lights come on one by one over Athens and when the night comes sip on classic cocktails at Ippopotamos, a grungy bar that’s been open since the ’70s, where a boho crowd hang out in cramped-but-cosy rooms patchworked with old film posters.

Stay here: Monsieur Didot is housed at a renovated neoclassical building transformed into a guesthouse-hotel, where the old blends beautifully with the contemporary and the luxury with the comfort.

Best for: A stroll by the seaside

Located in the southern suburbs of Athens in the stunning Athenian Riviera, the summer heart of the city beats in Glyfada. Restaurants with great views, luxury resorts and traditional tavernas stand against a surprisingly wild nightlife scene – and with the constantly increasing investment development of the area, it’s expected the metro line will be running out here in the next years.

Enjoy a stroll by the sea, and a swim at the free or private parts of the beach. Then head to all-day café-bar-restaurant Ark, owned by one of Greece’s most respected chefs Yiannis Baxevanis. Or try the Bungalow 7, an elegant spot where chef Ntinos Foteinakis combines Greek ingredients with Asian techniques. Later at night continue to Esperidon Square for plenty of bars, clubs and general good vibes – we’d recommend Mosaiko and Holy Spirit in particular. 

Stay here: The 91 Athens Riviera resort hotel is a luxury resort of 28 cabanas by the sea. Drink by the pool and head to its fine dining restaurant Barbarossa. 

Best for: Cool vibes

Exarcheia is Athens’s hotbed of alternative culture. Here, you’ll find some of the city’s best bars, vintage shops, world cuisine as well as the best-value accommodation – just don’t expect a quiet night’s sleep.

In Athens’s one of the most multicultural neighbourhoods, you can try food from all over the world at Steki Metanaston, a café and community centre for migrants and refugees; enjoy a fine dining experience at Pharaoh, a restaurant of traditional Greek cuisine, or listen to rebetiko, the music of passion and protest at Navaggio ton Aggelon, a cosy meze joint that’s been hosting rebetiko nights since the ’50s.

Check out Greek and international art at cutting-edge galleries Cheap Art and Polixoros Metaixmio; browse stores selling comic books and vintage vinyl around Botassi Street; and do not miss Navarino park, a communal green space created and run by locals.

Stay here: If you just need a place to crash at 5am (and want to make some new friends), the centrally-situated Quinta Hostel – which overlooks the neighbourhood’s lively Exarcheia Square – is your perfect pad.

Best for: Art and culture

Although fiercely independent Piraeus likes to see itself as a separate city, it’s more connected to the rest of Athens than it has ever been before. A new metro link whizzes Athenians from Syntagma Square to Piraeus Port in 16 minutes. And with a shedload of hip restaurants and cutting-edge art galleries opening their doors, this seaside ferry hub is now one of Athens’s most exciting neighbourhoods.

If you can get a seat, it’s well worth splurging for delicious seafood at the Michelin-starred restaurant Varoulko Seaside, by celebrity chef Lefteris Lazarou. Head to Paleo Wine Store, in a revamped tobacco warehouse, and check out the world-class art galleries, including London’s Rodeo and Beirut’s Carwan, that have taken over the warehouse buildings along cobbled Polidefkou Street. Admire the over 2,000 exhibits at the fascinating Electric Railways Museum; and then join locals beneath the stars at open-air cinema Cine Votsalakia. Shop for bric-à-brac, antiques and retro clothing at Piraeus’s bustling Sunday morning flea market.

Stay here: Tucked into one of the pretty paved streets of Piraeus’s high-flung Kastella enclave, The Alex is a perfect perch. At its rooftop restaurant, gorge on gourmet grub and take in sweeping views over the Saronic Gulf.