An expert guide to the perfect weekend in Athens
An expert guide to the perfect weekend in Athens
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How to spend 48 hours exploring southern Europe’s most happening cultural capital, from rooftop cocktails to ancient ruins. Copy link. twitter. facebook. whatsapp. For a city with so much mythical and cultural baggage, Athens is surprisingly modern. Sure, there are Byzantine churches tucked among the tightly knit apartments and the Parthenon looms into view around nearly every corner. But come expecting a living postcard and you’ll be in for a shock. More than three million people are crammed into this hectic, 24-hour city. Yet there’s an intimacy to the way life is lived outdoors in neighbourhood squares, rooftop bars, and balconies where neighbours gossip in their nighties. And there’s an irrepressible energy that has propelled Athens through a decade of austerity to become southern Europe’s most happening cultural capital.
Explore this edgy new energy in off-centre neighbourhoods like Kypseli, Neos Kosmos and Keramikos, where abandoned, graffiti-covered buildings are being converted into galleries, enterprising newcomers are enlivening the food scene, and digital nomads ensure the cafés are constantly full. If you need to escape the urban hustle, there’s no need to hit the islands: Athens has a sparkling coastline of beach resorts where you can swim at least six months of the year.
