Two days in Athens: Accommodation and whereabouts
A hilly city overlooking the sea!
For most Athens visitors, all paths inevitably lead to the Acropolis, a monument towering above the city like a watchful guardian. While the Parthenon captures your gaze, the cilty lying below its rocky pedestal, although looks ugly takes aim at your heart – the arrows are ready to make you fall hopelessly in love with this city of gods. This article aims to assist with Athens accommodation, and help you make your way in the its buzzling streets.
Today, Athens is a city that still embraces the scattered monuments of classical antiquity, along with historical traces of a cultural crossroad. Yet, it’s also a capital in the midst of a gastronomic and artistic renaissance, riding the wave of an economic rejuvenation. There are countless things here to fall in love with, and like the elusive love archer’s figure of Eros, the mythical god of Love standing in the Zappeion Gardens, many of them seem to appear when you least expect it. Still, a little nudge can help serendipity along, so I’ve put together a list of some of the places where the city’s hidden treasures await.
A green labyrinth right in the middle.
Just a few steps away of the little statue of Eros in the Zappeion Gardens lie the National Gardens, an oasis in the heart of the city, home to numerous of plant species, along with ducks, turtles, rabbits, and solemn busts of prominent figures from modern Greek history. Once reserved for the royal family alone, these verdant paths were planted in 1842. More than eighty years ago, the author Henry Miller wrote: “This park remains in my memory as no other park I have visited in my life,” and as you will discover, its magic has not dimmed with time.
The Quarter of the Gods
A five-minute walk from the National Gardens brings you to a neighborhood inhabited since antiquity – the heart of ancient Athens. Today, in the “quarter of the gods,” as Plaka is called, flower-filled courtyards and pastel-colored 19th-century houses, preserved for their historical significance and draped in fuchsia bougainvillea, transport you back to an older Athens. Here, stray cats play hide-and-seek among archaeological sites like the Roman Agora and Hadrian’s Library, or lounge on the steps of historic spots as the bohemian artists of the ’60s.
World Class museums
That mischievous god Eros isn’t done with you yet; he makes another appearance at the beautiful Acropolis Museum, which is a real must. His likenesses are displayed alongside treasures such as the Caryatids, a section of the Parthenon marbles, the statue of Athena the Virgin, and the magnificent Calf-Bearer, a statue dating back to around 560 BC. For a rendezvous with the gods on the most beautiful rooftop in Athens, head up to the museum’s café, where stunning views of the Parthenon accompany your coffee or meal – every Friday and Saturday, the menu features Greek PDO products.
You’ll encounter Eros at another must-see museum in the city as well: the National Archaeological Museum. Here, a famous marble sculpture group depicts the god Eros struggling with the god Pan, pulling him away from Aphrodite. The museum is home to many other impressive artifacts, including the Mask of Agamemnon, a masterpiece of Mycenaean craftsmanship from the 16th century BC, and the Antikythera Mechanism, believed to be the world’s first analog computer.
Past and present in Athens
In just a few hundred meters, you leave behind the marble-carved remnants of ancient Athens and enter a world of wrought metal and vibrant spray paint. In the alleys of Psyrri, artisans labor in their workshops alongside themed restaurants and trendy bars, while the merchants of Abyssinia Square, just across Ermou Street, raise their blinds each morning to display stalls brimming with vintage treasures – from paintings and statuettes to clocks and old coins. In this edgier part of town, graffiti and murals color the streets as a new generation of Greeks experiments with creative ventures. Dance schools, t-shirt shops, bike shops, skate shops, and tattoo parlors coexist in a lively city that never sleeps.
Stay like and Athenian
Like hotels in Athens, our listing, Atenéo, is elegant and convenient. You can book directly via Triptelia or email your enquiry. Atenéo lists also on major platforms such as Airbnb, VRBO. Enjoy your stay at Atenéo and experience chic Athenian living at its finest!