If you’re heading to Athens for one day to fight off some jet lag before jetting off to the Greek islands, keep reading!
Dalton and I went to Greece for our honeymoon in August and had about 24 hours in the capital of this beautiful country before heading to Santorini. Though we were exhausted, we couldn’t pass up the chance to see a little bit of what Athens had to offer!
If you have time, the number one thing you should see is the Acropolis! It is home to many sites, but the most popular is the Parthenon. Made of marble and dedicated to the Greek goddess Athena, it has withstood centuries and continues to stand as a powerful symbol of ancient Greece. It is believed to have been built in 447 B.C. by Pericles. The country continues to try to keep it in good shape and restore it where needed while keeping as much of it’s original glory intact as possible. Nobody is permitted to touch it or go inside, so please be respectful of that!
Other things you can see here are the Odeon of Herodes Atticus (a theater that they still have live performances at), Monument of Agrippa, the Propylaia, the Temple of Athena Nike, Porch of the Caryatids at the Erechteion, the legendary Olive Tree of the Pandroseion (according to legend, Athena presented the tree after a victory over Poseidon), the Theater of Dionysus, and of course the Acropolis Museum.
Sometimes it can get pretty busy, so I always recommend booking in advance. I bought skip-the-line tickets here. I believe some sites requires different tickets, such as the Theater of Dionysus and the museum, so those need purchased separately.
Keep in mind the Acropolis is up on a hill with LOTS of stairs with next to zero shade (though there is normally a breeze), and Athens is known to be excruciatingly hot. I recommend trying to go first thing in the morning or waiting until late afternoon/evening to visit. We went right before supper and it was more bearable than it would’ve been in the middle of the day. Remember to wear decent shoes as most of the ground is slick marble, bring sunglasses, and pack plenty of water.
Another thing you should try to see in Athens in the Panathenaic Stadium. This is where the very first modern Olympics were held in 1896! The original was built in 330 B.C. and excavated in 1869 and refurbished. We didn’t do a tour but it is very open and we were able to take decent pictures from the sidewalk. It was interesting to imagine athletes here so long ago. The Olympics have come a long way!
For dinner, you should definitely try to find a rooftop restaurant with a view of the Acropolis at sunset. We ate at Thea Terrace and it was so pretty and had a great vibe! It is located in the Central hotel. Ya’ll should know by now I have to find a good cheeseburger on every trip, haha!
As for where to stay, we are big fans of Airbnb. We actually initially booked this place but while waiting for one of our flights, the host messaged me stating they had electrical issues and offered to help us find somewhere else to stay. Being such late notice and not wanting to be stressed trying to figure it out, we agreed and ended up at Piathans. I will say the room was really tiny and the air conditioner was TERRIBLE (Dalton keeps our house at 66 degrees + we sleep with two fans…this air conditioner only went to 77 degrees and there were zero fans!), but it was a clean bed and a shower so we decided we could tolerate it for one night. Looking back I kinda wish I would’ve hurried up and found somewhere else to stay because I couldn’t hardly sleep at all due to how hot it was and it made traveling to Santorini the next day miserable, but oh well! However the host of where we were originally supposed to stay was absolutely wonderful and picked us up & took us back to the airport and also texted me tons of recommendations.
To get around, I personally would not suggest renting a car here. Many of the side streets are extremely narrow and there were a lot of crazy drivers. Try to set up transport to and from the airport with wherever you are staying and use taxis the rest of the time. They don’t have “Uber” here BUT you can still use the app to request a taxi, which made it a lot easier than flagging one down. They were also extremely affordable and only costed around 3-5 euros each.
English was spoken by nearly everybody we encountered and we didn’t have any major issues during our short visit. For safety, do a little research about the area where you are staying and keep your valuables close to you and secure as pickpocketing can be an issue.
Overall, we liked Athens! Dalton and I are both big fans of Greek history & mythology (where are my Percy Jackson fans at?!) so it was really neat to visit and explore a bit. Personally, it was not a place I would spend more than 1-2 days, but still definitely someplace you should see. I hope this blog helped you plan your trip and please feel free to ask any questions or add any other tips you may have in the comments! My green dress & sandals can be found by hitting the “Liketoknowit” tab at the top, make sure you’re following me in the app to see all my outfits from my trips!
WHAT I WANT TO DO/SEE NEXT TIME IN ATHENS…
- Visit the Plaka neighborhood
- Visit the Ancient Agora & Temple of Hephaestus
- Visit the Temple of Zeus
- Climb Mount Lycabettus
- Day trip to Delphi