Visit Athens walking: Choose a walk. Add leyers for context

Walk choices and the map’s operation explanation follow the map. Hit either side-end of the top bar to go full screen (works in mobile and desktop)

Athens Walks: Choose Your Route

A series of self-guided walks through Athens, each with its own focus; from ancient landmarks and the city center to the Athenian coastline and Hydra. Pick the ones that match your time and interests; see the table below for guidance.

Walk 1: Introduction to Athens

A first look at the city’s main landmarks, seen without entering any site. This walk will give you a chance to get your bearings and feel the city’s layout before exploring it in depth. You can easily do it just after dusk, particularly during the hot summer months.

Walk 2: Acropolis & Main Sites

This walk covers Athens’s essential sites: the Ancient Agora, the Acropolis Museum, and the Acropolis citadel (including the Parthenon, Erechtheion, and Propylaea).

The order is worth following closely. Visit the Temple of Hephaestus, in the Ancient Agora, before the Acropolis — it was built around the same time and in the same style as the Parthenon. It is smaller in size, but has survived in far better condition, giving you a clear sense of what the Parthenon once looked like. Next visit the Acropolis Museum; its top floor is built at a 1:1 scale with the Parthenon and is aligned with it, so it gives you the context before you see the ruins themselves.

Particularly in the summer, go early to Ancient Agora, so that by the time it gets hot you will already be in the air-conditioned Acropolis Museum. After the museum visit, the walk leads to Plaka, where you can wander around and take a break. Try to book an afternoon entrance to the Acropolis citadel (around 18:00 in summer). At the end of the visit, you will find yourself back in the Plaka neighborhood.

Walk 3: Lycabettus Hill & Central Athens

This route climbs Lycabettus Hill, then winds back down through the upscale Kolonaki neighborhood, along Akadimias Avenue, past the Central Market, and through Monastiraki and Plaka. If you only have time for one museum, make it the Museum of Cycladic Art — the others along the way are optional, worth a stop only if you have extra time or a particular interest.

Walk 4: The Museum Route

This walk passes through the central boulevard of central Athens, Psyri, the edge of the Kerameikos archaeological site, and Thissio. Pick one museum to anchor your day — the National Gallery or the National Archaeological Museum, depending on your taste. Across the National Gallery look for the Dromeas (The Runner) glass sculpture and the modernist facade of The Ilisian hotel (the landmark known as the Hilton).

Walk 5: EMST — National Museum of Contemporary Art

This walk runs through the Mets neighborhood and past the 1st Cemetery of Athens, known for its elaborate 19th-century sculpture, before reaching the National Museum of Contemporary Art (EMST), housed in a converted 1950s brewery. From there it continues through Koukaki and returns though the Makrigianni area passing on the side of the Acropolis Museum before returning home.

Walk 6: SNFCC & the Athens Riviera

To fully understand Athens, you need to get a feel of its connection to the sea. This walk starts at the Stavros Niarchos Foundation Cultural Center (SNFCC) and follows the city’s seaside promenade along the Athens Riviera including the closest beaches to the city, and one of the biggest sailing boat marinas in the Balkans.

Walk 7: Piraeus, the Port City

This walk turns to Piraeus, Athens’s historic port and industrial waterfront. You will walk through the commercial center and along the south promenades.

Walk 8: Ardittos Hill

A short walk from home that offers a view of Athens from a different angle. You will be entering the back of the Panathenaic Stadium; the area is open to the public for recreation, and closes after sunset, though if you’re already inside, you can still leave — the doors open automatically as you approach.

How to Use the Interactive Map

Each walk has its own interactive map to help you follow the route, see what’s nearby, and get details on every stop along the way.

Map Controls

• Choosing a walk: Tap the menu icon in the top-right corner to show or hide individual walks on the map. You can choose more than one map to coexist but it will be more difficult to follow. Also note that when multiple maps coexist, overlapping points will not show (only one will appear so you will loose continuity of the numbering of the other maps that have the same point).
• Your location: Tap the location button in the bottom-right corner to turn on GPS, so you can see exactly where you are as you walk.
• Points of Interest along the route: Each walk is made up of a series of numbered pins, shown in order along the path. (A few are at a distance; they serve as additional info or as reference to the larger picture)
• Must-see stops (white ring): A handful of stops on each walk — usually around ten, fewer on shorter routes — are marked with a white ring. These are the highlights worth making time for.
• Other stops (plain marker): Everything else along the way: smaller sights worth a look if you have time, but easy to skip if you’re in a hurry.
• Stop details: Tap any stop to open a short description. Where relevant, it includes links to official sites for tickets, and Wikipedia for more background.
• Directions to a stop: Tap the stop’s name at the top of its description to open that exact location in Google Maps — handy if you get confused of your location and need directions back to a specific point.

Suggested Way to Use It

Other destinations (that are not yet incorporated in the interactice map)

Glyfada

Glyfada is a southern district that was frequented by American military personnel stationed in a nearby base camp until the late 1970s. It is an affluent southern suburb with a sizable foreign community (Lebanese, Arabs, and Russians). Here you will come mostly for the vibe and the shopping. Some call it the Monaco of Greece because you frequently see extravagant cars in the area.

There are small beach formations, and several restaurants (& coffee shops) along the coast. Look for Ark for an upscale on the beach experience.

Voula & Vouliagmeni

Vouliagmeni (sunk in Greek) is one of the most luxurious southern suburbs of Athens. Its name derives from an area that collapsed (sunk) to form a lagoon. The formed Vouliagmeni lake is supplied by fresh “filtered” water from the nearby sea and from a constant flow of hot spring water coming from system of caves that extend deep into mount Hymettus, a mountain that runs along the east side of Athens. The water supplied from within the mountain is enriched with several minerals that give it a dark color and a smell. Its temperature never falls below 18 decrees Celsius and the lake is frequented even during the winter. The location is beautiful and worth a visit. To complement there is a spa operation running throughout the year. Particularly during the summer months you may want to book to be sure you enter (even just to swim). 

During the summer months there are two organized beaches. Both are privately operated and a ticket is required to enter. Although expensive, booking is frequently mandatory in order to secure a spot (usually an umbrella and two sunbeds). The least expensive option is Akti Vouliagmeni and the luxurious one is Astir beach. (Paralia Asteras). The other alternative is Voula beach.

For free beach access, head to Kavouri beach or anywhere in the area between Voula and Kavouri.

The map below shows the locations suggested above. Note that each beach is in a different bay. You could walk from one end to the other. The most interesting stretch to walk is the Voula to Kavouri. Most is along the coast along small beach formations that are free to enter. Beware that for about 1/4 of the distance you are walking on a wide pavement on the side of the avenue with cars passing by at high speed. The Kavouri to Vouliagmeni stretch is basically going over the other side of the hill. Not much to see. The Vouliagmeni to the lake stretch is not too bad. It’s a beautiful area close to the sea but for the most part with no access to it. Again you will be walking on the side of the avenue. The lake itself is worth a visit.