5-day itinerary
Athens
Five days in Athens is enough to see the city the tourist maps don't show — Exarchia, the anarchist quarter between the Polytechnic and Strefi Hill, where the bookshops and coffee are excellent and the crowd is entirely local; Kerameikos, the ancient cemetery almost always empty; and the Benaki Museum, the finest general history collection in Greece. This 5-day Athens itinerary also includes two day trips that reward the effort: Cape Sounion (1.5 hours by KTEL coastal bus, the Temple of Poseidon on a cliff above the Aegean) and Delphi (2.5 hours, the oracle site on the slopes of Parnassus, stay for the museum). Buy Acropolis tickets online before you arrive — the walk-up queue is a 45-minute gift to nobody.
Day 1
The Acropolis and Plaka
Arrive at the Acropolis at 8am when it opens. The Parthenon in morning light with almost no one there is the finest experience Athens offers. Book tickets online. The Acropolis Museum in the afternoon is essential — it reframes everything you saw on the hill.
Acropolis
EstablishedThe Parthenon, the Erechtheion, the Propylaia, and the Theatre of Dionysus. Arrive at 8am. Allow 2 hours on the rock. The south slope with the Theatre of Dionysus and the Odeon of Herodes Atticus is included in the ticket.
View on mapAcropolis Museum
EstablishedThe finest archaeological museum in Greece — the Parthenon frieze displayed at eye level, originals and casts shown together to illustrate the missing sections held in London. The Archaic sculpture rooms are the most beautiful. Book timed entry online.
View on mapPlaka and Monastiraki
EstablishedThe lanes below the Acropolis — Byzantine churches, the Tower of the Winds (Roman water clock), and the Monastiraki flea market. Walk slowly from Plaka into Monastiraki in the late afternoon.
Explore areaDinner in Monastiraki
EstablishedSouvlaki at Kostas (cash only, the original Athens souvlaki since 1950) or a taverna dinner in the surrounding streets. Monastiraki Square at night — lit by the Acropolis above — is one of the best scenes in Europe.
View on mapDays 2–5
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