So I went to Greece for the frist time! I went with my father to Athens for a city trip. We went on a couple of city trips before and we always want to get the most out of our time! We are not that into a vacation only looking for the best places for food or drinks but we want to look for the best vieuws, be most culture and history. Just to see the city and get to know its past.

I have to say, we also looked at the Pinterest posts for the most hidden gems and the best 4-day trip to Athens. Most of the post were all the same! All the touristy spots and all the same food locations. We didn’t want that! We wanted to walk more, see more and experience more! That is why I am writing this post. This post will also have some more touristy places of course! But it is Athens we are talking about, of course you have to visit some  of them.

For an instance, the Acropolis. We were lucky enough to visit at an early hour so there where almost none people, what also helped was the fact that we visited in January, low season. We did have al little bit of rain but it never ruined any day! The themp was also still very comfortable. Anyways I will now tell you about some of the places we visited and tell you why you should go there.

Oh another tip for if you go 4 days to Athens. We could.’t find online any good info about public transport from and to the airport, we have seen cards for 3 days with return to the airport and 5 days without the return to the airport but unlimited travel inside Athens. 

Once we got at the train station at the airport we asked the lady at the counter and she gave us different passed which were 20 euro with return trip to the airport and 4 days of free travel inside Athens.

Start with: Acropolis/Parthenon

Like I said we went here early in the morning, around 9 9.30. It was on a friday and a little bit of rain.The entree price is 10 euro but you can also buy a ticket for 30 if you want to visit other musuems of places. ( we actually should have done that… but didn’t) While we were walking up the mountain it started to rain really heavy but once we got on top it was dry and even some blue sky! I call it perfect circumstances. If you are a lover for history and greek mythology, this is your thing! Did you know the term “acropolis” means “high city” in Greek? The Parthenon is a marble temple built between 447 and 432 B.C. and dedicated to the Greek goddess Athena.
If you want to know more about the history, click here.

This is something I did not found on any of the other ” hidden gem” posts and it is a hidden gem! For sure. It is a bit of hike to reach the cable car, the fee of the car will be 10 euro. It is so much worth it. once you get on top of the hill you get the best view of the entire city! Enjoy, relax and take it in. The breathtaking view will blast you away and make you speachless. Only from the top I realized how big Athens really is and how much of the city is in white! If you are on top also take a little peek inside the church, burn a candle if you want. You can also get a cold drink at the cafe or a good lunch!

Close to Monastiraki you will find the ancient Agora. I put this into the hidden gems post because of the temple of Hephaestus. Same as the Parthenon but smaller and a lot more intact! This you give you a nice feeling of how the temple of Athena should look like. I loved it to walk around here and visit the stoa of Attalos. A stoa like this (I believe) used to be at the Acropolis as well. This one is turned into a museum and you will find many found items from the park in there! Enjoy your time here and take your time!

Located about 500m to the west of the Acropolis, the Pnyx is a rocky hill surrounded by parks. It has a special place in world history as one of the most important historic sites. Artificially carved out of the hillside is a stone platform or Bema (which literally means step in Greek).Pnyx is the place where the Athenians used to gather to talk on political issues and to take decisions on the future of their town. This was the first form of democracy in the world. It was the first time when all the citizens of a town, male citizens actually, were declared equal and had the right to vote and take part in decision-making. 

If you walk a little bit further from Pnyx hill you will reach Nymphs Hill. In my opinion, this is where you have the best view from the Acropolis. There is no entree fee and it had nice paths to walk around on. If you like hiking walking and nature, this is your place to be.

Next to Monestiraki you will find a alley with the sign ”flea market”, once you get in the street you will notice that it is not a flea market but just regular shops! All the same shops as all the other tourist shops. Nevertheless, it is still a lot of fun to walk around in the little streets and take a look at all the stuff they sell. Maybe even score yourself a little statue of Zeus, a nature sponge or a spatula made from olive wood! The thing I want to talk about is the real flea market. If you walk a bit further down the street you can take a right turn and end up at an actual flea market. Where you can find some real treasures (Most of the time more expensive too) Take a stroll around the nooks and cranny’s from the square and take you time to look around all the items on display.

If you have enough time, take the Tram T6 from Syntagma to Edem beach. We got here just before the sun did set and we got to enjoy a little evening stroll around the beach and marina. Soak up some sun before returning to the busy city. (Note, we were here in January, low season. please keep in mind that if you go here in other seasons it might be a lot busier because of the easy reach from the city)