WHAT TO EAT IN ATHENS
3 euro souvlaki, the flakiest bougatsa and the softest kok.
I spent last weekend in a cabin out in the English countryside with my friend Gitai. We roasted chestnuts and cooked whole pumpkins over fire, drank pots of chrysanthemum tea (and not a drop of alcohol), we toasted marshmallows, played cards and talked a lot. It was a chill, wholesome time and I was completely in my element.
The thing is, I know myself - after a few nights in the countryside, I start to miss the city. Do I love London because it’s home, because it’s all I’ve ever known? Or is it something deeper, something in the way my brain’s wired? Us neurodivergent types tend to function better in chaos. It’s probably both. I’ve been thinking about this since I got back from Athens, which, by the way, I loved. Have you been?
I’m fascinated by cities. If I hadn’t studied architecture, I think I’d have gone for town planning or maybe cultural anthropology. Cities are reflections of the people who choose to live in them - who’s hustling, who’s chilling, whose routines are stitched into the urban fabric? My camera roll is full of snaps like the one below: a fishmonger on his break, sharing fish and bread with a friend beside a perfectly stacked tower of polystyrene boxes - a missing classical order? lol. Cities have a way of pushing private life into public view. With space so tight, life spills outward, onto balconies, into courtyards, across the street. There’s no hiding, everyone’s daily rituals are out on display, and it’s what makes city life feel so alive.
I love waking up, wandering around, finding my feet, and piecing together what might have been. Athens is perfect for that. Beyond the obvious ruins, there are these neoclassical mansions - beautiful, derelict things, standing stubbornly among the concrete blocks. What was that about? My friend George, who joined me on the trip, would look things up as we walked. We learned Athens by walking it, shaping it in conversation, block by block, with lots of beer and snack stops. More history here, if you’re so inclined.
I fell a little bit in love with the place. If you haven’t been, I’m excited for you to go! It feels like one of the few major European cities that’s still feels seriously underrated for its food, which is a blessing. It’s affordable, ridiculously walkable, and even with a list of recommendations from our friends, we still felt like we were discovering places by accident. I began to love the sprawling concrete - walls plastered with political posters and graffiti, courtyards hidden just out of sight, shops and bars you stumble on by accident, whole markets humming behind unmarked doors. Athens is wonderfully unbothered, it’s not performing for anyone, it just is, and that’s the charm.
Oh, and the people are pretty great too. We ended up at Dimitri’s deli after a desperate Google map search for “cheese shop near me”, prompted by a taxi driver who told us to forget feta and try the real stuff while we were here. We were on a mission to find Graviera cheese from the island of Naxos.
Dimitri couldn’t believe the one cheese we came in asking for was the only one he’d just run out of. He laughed and said his wife (who happens to be from Naxos) would kill him if she found out. He still took us through a mini cheese tasting, proudly slicing and explaining each one, and I was so glad we stumbled in. I’d take his care and enthusiasm over a bigger, crowded deli in the centre any day.
How to get there
We took the train straight into the centre of town from Athens International Airport. You can use contactless (your phone or bank card - €9) on the barriers, so no worrying about what tickets to buy. It took us about 45 minutes to get to Monastiraki square which is on one line and takes you right to the centre. You can also hop in a taxi, there are plenty outside and it’ll cost around €40.
We didn’t want to waste anytime checking in with luggage so we found a luggage locker which I highly recommend. We used bounce which is a service that will store your bags all day for about €5 and have over 70 spots. We left ours in an electrical shop and came to pick them up later in the day. So convenient.
Where to stay/ Neighbourhoods
Hotels are really affordable in Athens, we did one night in a hotel (arrived at an antisocial hour) and the rest in a rental.
It is hard for me to recommend where to stay because we may have different ideas of where we’d like to be. I am always a fan of staying in a local neighbourhood on the outskirts to get a taste of what life is like for locals. We stayed in Kallithea, about a ten-minute walk from a train station, and Ubers were super cheap into town, under 10 euros.
If you’d rather be in the thick of it, there are plenty of districts to choose from, though I’ll warn you, the online neighbourhood guides are misleading. When I read that Plaka was “the most picturesque quarter,” I imagined enchanting, cobbled streets and local cafés. In reality, it’s tourist central, full of souvenir shops and cafes selling pancakes and matcha. Pretty, yes, but not serene, so I feel to appreciate its beauty it’s best to walk through early before it gets swarmed.
If you still want to be in the mix but slightly removed from the chaos, try Thiseio it’s got charm, good views, and a little more breathing room. If you walk up the footpath behind the Church of St. Marina and carry on past the National Observatory you’ll find Pnyx Hill which is a much greener view of the Parthenon.
Exarchia, Gazi, Metaxourgeio, and Psiri are central neighbourhoods too, and were my personal favourite spots. Exarchia is a district with an anarchist history so lots of politically charged street art. Gazi is a former industrial area turned modern cultural district with great nightlife, Metaxourgeio is a post-industrial neighbourhood with a growing art scene, and Psiri has a more bohemian feel (and also good night life). If I were to stay in any of these areas I would choose Exarchia.
At the foot of the Acropolis, Anafiotika is a cluster of whitewashed houses and blue doors built by craftsmen from the island Anafi. It’s an Aegean village dropped into the centre of Athens, you’ll forget you’re in a capital city.
Monastiraki is a lively hub of a place. From Monastiraki Square you’ll see a jumble of architecture styles and eras from the 2nd century CE Hadrian’s Library, Ottoman era mosque, Greek Orthodox Church of Virgin Mary Pantanassa and the Monastiraki Metro Station in the Neoclassical style. It’s also where you’ll wanna be on Sunday if you fancy the flea market (more on that below)
What to do (other than eat)
Visit the Acropolis
This is the reason I wanted to go to Athens, it’s been long overdue. I have a PUBLIC SERVICE ANNOUNCEMENT first. Please buy your tickets ahead of when you want to go and I would suggest buying it through the official website and not a third party. On your ticket it will give you your admission time. We (and many other upset visitors) assumed this was a window for entry. The closing times change and are not necessarily what’s stated on the internet. The site closes earlier and earlier everyday coming out of the Summer. There is a baggage drop so anything like a rucksack, pop it in there before you queue, it’s free and you will only be asked to leave the front of the queue to store your bag there anyway.
We bought new tickets and returned the next day. I was emotional visiting the Parthenon. It was my history of art teacher, Ms. Lewis (RIP), whose enthusiasm for Ancient Greece first sparked my fascination with architecture and ruins. Standing there, up close, it hits you, the scale, the detail, the sheer impossibility of it all. If you haven’t been, now is the time, the scaffolding has only just come down! There are plenty of other ancient sites to visit but this is a food newsletter so let’s keep it moving.
The Markets!
You can tell a lot about a place from its markets. What’s local, what’s in season, what’s prized, what’s plentiful and popular. If I had closed my eyes and wriggled my nose and dreamt up my dream market it would have been this one. This is Kallidromiou Market in the Exarcheia neighbourhood running down the length of Kallidromiou street. A sea of orange umbrellas, every stall so neat, produce so beautifully presented. It’s a locals market, quiet and understated but so abundant and buzzy. I would take this over the central market any day but you don’t have to choose! Every district in Athens runs its own market once a week so you can visit a different market every day you’re there if that’s your thing.
Central Food Market (Varvokias Agora)
Sandwiched between the ancient city and the new city sits Central Food Market, open every day except for Sundays.
As much as I would love to upload all my pics here of the butchers alley (because I’ve never seen anything like it) it’s not for the vegetarians or faint hearted. We wandered though the meat kiosks to discover tucked away tavernas and cafes. We’d just come from a coffee stop and were on our way to lunch but here is where we should have held out for, Mokka Speciality Coffee, where traditional Greek coffee is brewed on hot sand. There are several places to stop and eat in and around the market from Souvlaki to seafood. We popped out heads into Oinomageireio H Epirus (also known as just Epirus) which is a mageirion - a traditional kitchen serving simple and affordable homely food. These open kitchens are really great for those of us not familiar with all the traditional dishes as you can walk up front and look at the pots and pans on display and see what you like the look of. This place is known for its ladera “with oil” dishes, soups and casseroles. If you’re a hardcore meat lover try patsa soupa or mageiritsa soup. They cook only with what they’ve bought at the market that day and it’s open from breakfast. I’m going to share some snaps of the fish market though, and I encourage you to walk through each section, it’s really impressive.
Sunday - Flea market
I’ll be honest, I had built this flee market up in my mind to be quite something. It’s actually pretty chill but if you love antique bits or just a nosey it’s a nice market to mooch around. It’s located just off Monastiraki Square called the Abyssinia Square Flea market.
Green Spaces!
I was surprised at how many beautiful and clean green space there were in the city. Leafy squares and tree lined avenues providing much needed shade in the Summer months. There is of course the National Garden which you should definitely walk around but perhaps my favourite for a stroll was the Pedion tou Areos Park.
It’s quiet, manicured but full of character, has some interesting monuments, statues and a café. You can walk through this green oasis in the city centre and come out into a charming neighbourhood and theatre district of Kypseli.
I wouldn’t miss Agios Georgios Kypseli Square which my friend Louise had said was her favourite spot when she lived here for a bit. It is really charming and a few minutes walk from the park. We sat and ate chips and had a drink, but before you do that, walk the whole way around the square. There’s an old fashioned butcher, a good gelato spot, good gyros and a beautiful church.
You can walk to Kypseli Municipal Market from here where there were lots of young creatives selling their wares (I bought a cute ring), you’ve also got Kick en route if you fancy a less trad coffee/brunch/snack. If you’re visiting in the Summer, there’s an open air cinema opposite.
From here you’ll find yourself on a pedestrianised boulevard built over a stream called Fokionos Negri it’s buzzy around here and nice place to stroll before your next stop.
Museums and Art Galleries
There are more museums than you could shake a stick at. You could spend weeks making your way around the galleries and sites of Athens. I would pick a few you’re interested in before you go, so you aren’t overwhelmed by choice. Heads up, we found that some galleries close before times stated online or they have last entry a fair bit of time before closing so it’s always worth giving them a call before you make the trip. Or just don’t be a last-minute-mill, like me.
Syntagma Square
On the hour every hour you can watch the changing of the guards (the Evzones) in front of the Parliament building. It’s quite an understated affair with just four guards moving in a way I’ve never seen before (I won’t spoil the surprise), but the uniforms, absolutely beautiful. Then on a Sunday they come out again for a grander ceremony at 11am. We even saw them at 8am on the Sunday at the Acropolis which was really magical, just after sunrise. The embroidery! The pom-pom shoes!
The sea!
I visited Athens from a trip to one of the Greek islands (let’s cover that in a later substack) but if you’re coming just for Athens and fancy some sea air, it’s right there.
You can either admire the sea and all of Athens from Lycabettus Hill, the highest peak in the city. Or you can make your way down to the sea within the hour and be eating your lunch on the beach, a marina or on Lake Vouliagmeni.
Ok, you’re in Athens. WHERE ARE WE EATING?!
When I tell you George and I put in the work on this one. Armed with so many recs from friends who have grown up here/stayed for a season/ passed through. I’ll only share the places we genuinely LOVED and would happily send you to.
We’ll start with bakeries and ice cream (because priorities), move into lunch and dinner, detour for late-night snacks, and roll up at where to drink. Are you ready?
Bakeries
