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Athens neighborhoods

You know what how many euros you want to shell out for a night at a hotel. But where should you stay? Our Athens listings will help you sort it all out.

Exarchia

Once the hub of radical student culture, Exarchia has nonetheless been deeply permeated by the languid café culture so popular in Athens. It’s just that there’s radical left-wing graffiti everywhere, not to mention underground music shops, and a few dazed wandering souls. The lively Platia Exarchia forms the nucleus of Exarchia, which sits to the northeast of Omonia Square. Other Exarchia landmarks include the National Archaeological Museum and Athens Polytechnic. Exarchia is closest to the Omonia and Viktoria metro stations. Exarchia is also referred to as Moussio.


Koukaki & Makrygianni

Quiet Koukaki, to the south of Filopappou Hill, is a residential neighborhood of quiet hillside avenues. Leafy pedestrian street Drakou, lined with restaurants, cafés, internet cafés, and gelaterias, forms the core of Koukaki. Syngrou-Fix is the metro station closest to Koukaki. Makriyianni, adjacent to Koukaki, is right at the foot of the Acropolis. It’s a more touristy area than Koukaki, with streets of shops bulging with tschochkes and restaurants groaning with tourists. Despite this, pedestrian street Dionysiou Areopagitou is pretty charming in places. Akropoli is the metro station closest to Makriyianni.


Metaxourgio

Metaxourgio is a centrally-located neighborhood slightly west of Omonia. Though there's not much in this immediate neighborhood of interest to tourists, it is conveniently served by the Metaxourgio metro station. It's also located close to Psyrri. While the train station-proximate parts of Metaxourgio are neither scenic nor interesting, the part of Metaxourgio closest to Omonia does have a budding arts scene, with lots of indie theatres and live music spots cropping up.


Monastiraki

Surrounding Monastiraki Square, the neighborhood of Monastiraki ranks next to Plaka as a top tourist neighborhood. It spans the gamut from high-end international retail chains on Ermou to low-tech individual entrepreneurs selling their wares on Monastiraki Square. Monastiraki includes the last remaining mosque in Athens from Turkish times, Hadrian's Library, the bottom of Ermou Street, the Roman Agora, and Tower of the Winds. Charming alleyways cut across Monastiraki as well, providing a nice escape from the steady tourist traffic. Some of the best gyro and souvlaki joints in all of Athens can be found here. The neighborhood is served by the eponymous Monastiraki metro station.


Omonia

The gritty transit and commercial hub of Omonia Square is not Athens at its most quaint and ancient. In architectural terms, Omonia is other than charming. But there are plenty of quirky, even inspiring aspects of the area around Omonia Square. For one, there are oodles of ethnic restaurants and immigrant retail shops, giving the area a bit of an international vibe. There's also the mindblowing Central Market, featuring stall upon stall of a dizzying range of goods.


Patission

Patission is one of the least expensive parts of very-central Athens, north of Omonia and west of Exarchia. Most residents are hard-working, lower-income immigrants. In addition to shops catering to immigrant communities, Patission is stuffed to the gills with bargain retail deals. Patission revolves around the Victoria metro station.


Plaka

Plaka is the heart of tourist Athens. Its dense, atmospheric alleys are packed with tavernas, tourist traps, and gorgeous ancient structures. Adrianou is the main strip, but the highly touristed nature of Plaka permeates most corners of the neighborhood. While its main characteristic is its tourist-oriented nature, those committed to hunting around will find a comfortable few blocks of stylish cafés, specialty shops, and government buildings tucked in between the tourist shops, churches, and ancient sites. Plaka is closest to the Syntagma metro station, which is located beneath Syntagma Square.


Psyrri

Like Omonia, Psyrri is a strikingly diverse commercial district, with countless stores and restaurants catering to various groups of immigrants. In the evening, Psyrri morphs into nightlife central, with a very high density of bars, clubs, and cafés. You’ll find both huge dance clubs and intimate hipster-filled holes-in-the-wall in Psyrri. The Thisio and Monastiraki metro stations are most convenient to Psyrri.



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