Athens travel guide — where to stay, what to do, and where to eat in Athens, Attica, Greece.
Top attractions
The most popular and significant attractions in Athens.
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Acropolis of Athens
The Acropolis is the fortified limestone hill above Athens where the Parthenon and its surrounding temples were built in the 5th century BC under Pericles. It is the single most visited ancient site in Greece, and the reason to come is not one building but the whole complex laid out together: the Propylaea gateway, the Erechtheion, and the Parthenon in sequence as you climb. The surface underfoot is worn, sloped marble, so the walk up takes longer and is more slippery than photos suggest.
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Parthenon
The Parthenon is the Doric temple to Athena that dominates the Acropolis, built between 447 and 432 BC and still partly under visible restoration scaffolding and cranes. You view it from a roped perimeter rather than entering it, since the interior has been closed to visitors for decades. Its fame rests on the building's proportions and the history of its sculptures, many of which were removed to museums, most controversially the Parthenon Marbles now in the British Museum.
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Acropolis Museum
This modern glass-and-concrete museum near the base of the Acropolis holds the sculptures and everyday objects excavated from the hill itself, displayed in the same relative arrangement they held on the buildings. The top-floor gallery is built at the same orientation and dimensions as the Parthenon, with glass walls giving a direct sightline back up to the temple it once decorated. Part of the ground floor is glass, exposing an excavated ancient neighborhood beneath the building.
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Ancient Agora of Athens
The Agora was the civic and commercial heart of ancient Athens, the open square where Socrates debated and citizens voted, now a sprawling excavated park below the Acropolis' north slope. Unlike the Acropolis, it's low-density and shaded by trees, so it reads more as a walk through ruins than a single monument visit. The site's best-preserved structure, the Temple of Hephaestus, sits on a low rise at its western edge and is one of the most intact Doric temples anywhere in Greece.
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National Archaeological Museum
This is Greece's largest archaeological museum, holding artifacts from across the country rather than just Athens, including Mycenaean gold, Cycladic figurines, and classical bronzes. The collection is large enough that a full walk-through takes hours, so most visitors focus on a handful of rooms rather than attempting all of it. It's a different kind of visit from the Acropolis Museum: fewer crowds, more depth, and less tied to a single view or building.
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Temple of Olympian Zeus
Once the largest temple in Greece, this sanctuary took centuries to complete and was finally finished under the Roman emperor Hadrian in the 2nd century AD. Only a fraction of its columns still stand, but their scale, among the tallest Corinthian columns from antiquity, gives a sense of how outsized the original building was compared to other Athenian temples. The site is compact and can be seen in well under an hour, making it an easy add-on to a day near Plaka.
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Monastiraki Square & Flea Market
Monastiraki is the square and surrounding market streets where central Athens' main metro interchange meets a dense cluster of shops selling secondhand goods, antiques, souvenirs, and clothing. The Sunday flea market spilling out along Ifestou Street is the older, more genuinely secondhand version of the area, while the rest of the week leans more toward tourist stalls. The square itself gives a direct view up to the Acropolis, and the Tzistarakis Mosque on one side now houses a ceramics collection.
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Plaka Neighborhood
Plaka is the old district at the northeastern foot of the Acropolis, built over the layout of Athens' 19th-century town and largely spared from the concrete redevelopment that reshaped the rest of the city center. Its narrow, stepped streets are closed to most car traffic, lined with neoclassical houses, tavernas, and small shops, and it functions as the connective walking route between the Acropolis, the Agora, and Syntagma. Anafiotika, a small pocket of whitewashed houses built into the hillside, sits within it and looks distinctly different from the rest of the district.
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Lycabettus Hill (Lykavittos)
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Syntagma Square & Changing of the Guard
Attractions by category
Explore by your interests.
Items
Practical information
What you need to know before you go.
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- Combined Acropolis ticket: €30 (~$33), covers 7 sites, valid 5 days, Acropolis Museum admission: €10 (~$11), free first Sunday of month Oct–Mar, National Archaeological Museum: €12 (~$13), Metro to Acropolis station: €1.40 (~$1.52) single trip, Comfortable walking shoes are essential — marble surfaces are slippery when wet
Tips for visiting attractions
Make the most of your sightseeing time.
Visit popular attractions early in the morning or late in the afternoon to avoid crowds and harsh midday light.
Book tickets online in advance for major attractions to skip long queues and sometimes save money.
Many cities offer multi-attraction passes that include public transport. Calculate whether they save you money based on your itinerary.
Frequently asked questions
What is the best time to visit the Acropolis?
Arrive at opening (08:00 in summer) to avoid tour groups and heat. Evening visits are also pleasant in summer (closing time varies by season).
Is the combined Acropolis ticket worth buying?
Yes. At €30 (~$33) it covers 7 sites including the Acropolis, Ancient Agora, Temple of Olympian Zeus, Roman Agora, Kerameikos, Hadrian's Library, and the Lyceum — valid for 5 days.
Can I walk between the main attractions?
Most ancient sites are within a 20-minute walk of each other around the Acropolis area. The National Archaeological Museum is 2 km north — about 25 minutes on foot or 10 minutes by metro.