Your Guide to Athens 2023 — Destination Dreamer Diaries

Honestly, before visiting Athens – I had heard a lot of mixed things: such as it was known for petty crime, graffiti everywhere, and was overall a rough city.

Wandering the streets of Athens; April 2023

After visiting with both my parents, I can confirm that it’s actually the opposite. Athens is a cute, small, hospitable city with warm people and amazing food.

Walking towards the Acropolis in Athens in Thiseio

Here’s what we did during our full two days in Athens (two full days is plenty, you won’t need more to see everything this city has to offer)

1. Old Agora

This was one of my favorite parts of Athens: it’s like the old town, with great family restaurants and shopping to wander around before heading up to the Acropolis.

Center of Old Agora; Athens in April 2023

2. The Acropolis

We started going up the Acropolis around 3:30PM. There’s a side road you can take, which gives you a gradual incline before you start hiking up the stairs. Beware if you try to go up the Acropolis in the rain – the pavement is slippery and can be rocky up at the top of the Acropolis.

View of the Acropolis from afar; April 2023

View from the top of the Acropolis in Athens; April 2023

3. Syntagma Square

We started here on Rick Steve’s walking tour of Athens – which I couldn’t recommend more. It helps you see much of the city within a few hours. Some areas are steep though, so beware of walking up hill.

4. Hellenic Parliament

Nice view, here!

View of Greek Parliament, or Hellenic Parliament, in Athens; April 2023

5. Ermou Street

A street with a lot of shopping, and it’s bustling on a Saturday. This is where you’ll find a lot of locals hanging out on the weekend.

Near Ermou Street at night in Athens; April 2023

6. Plaka District

Another really cute area of Athens – many tourists are around here but for good reason. Very precious area with cute places to eat and shops to peruse.

Souvenir shopping in Plaka District; Athens 2023

7. Arch of Hadrian

Nothing super special here, but if you’re interested in going to the Temple of Olympian Zeus – it’s right here.

8. Temple of Olympian Zeus

We were more interested in walking around the town itself, but if you buy the pass for multiple museums and attractions in Athens (i.e., when you buy your Acropolis ticket – it should be around 30 euros) you’ll have access to go in here.

However, you’ll pretty much get the gist of it from the outside. I would suggest you keep wandering around because there’s more we did this day.

9. Anafiotika

This was our last (and my favorite) thing we did in Athens – it’s like the Mykonos of Athens as in you have the white and colorful houses and stairways leading to who-knows-where.

Anafiotika is perfect if you want a photographer experience, with also great views of Lycabettus Hill.

View of Lycabettus Hill from Anafiotika in Athens; April 2023

Anafiotika is the Santorini or Mykonos of Athens in terms of photo opportunities!

In between all that photo taking, you’re going to want to eat in Athens, too.

Where to eat in Athens 2023:

Greece has incredible, simple, but good food everywhere you go – but of everywhere we went in Greece: Athens was our favorite and also the cheapest.

Here are some places we ate at in Athens:

Dupios

This was our first meal in Greece, and it didn’t disappoint. Dupios has Greek food with a fusion twist – everything was intense in a good way: strong olive oil dolmades, sweet balsamic in the Greek salad, and cumin-heavy hummus.

Amazing meal, and would definitely come back if I went to Athens.

Avissinia Square

I can’t remember the name of this place, but it was a family owned place in this square with amazing, home-cooked – traditional Greek food and excellent prices.

Gemista – or stuffed bell peppers with rice (like the rice in dolmas, but with tomato sauce)

We actually ate there twice: once before the Acropolis, and again after – they brought us dessert liquor on the house since we came back twice.

How to get around Athens:

Athens is a walkable city, meaning – everywhere you want to visit is probably within walking distance. However, there is also a public metro system. Remember that there is no

Uber in Athens, it is a taxi that you are calling if you choose to use the Uber app in Athens.

Want to see more of Athens in action?

Watch my YouTube video below!

I hope this helps you plan your trip to Athens. Click here for more info on Greece to plan the Greek vacation of your dreams.