Travel guide Athènes
The best time to go à ATHÈNES
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Practical information for travel à ATHÈNES
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Get your travel guide: ATHÈNES - ATTIQUE
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Edition 2025/2026
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What to see what to do à ATHÈNES?
Where to go à ATHÈNES?
The most beautiful tourist sites
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Petit Futé's best addresses à ATHÈNES
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Featured articles d'ATHÈNES
Visit the Acropolis of Athens in 2025: what you need to know to prepare your visit
Published on 23/09/2025 Activities and experiences
In the early morning, the hill stands out in a golden light. The stone is still fresh, and the city is just waking up. You climb slowly, the marble crunching under your feet, then the horizon opens...
Top 15 of the world's most beautiful museums in 2025
Published on 17/07/2025 Activities and experiences
Art and architecture lovers, wherever you are in the world, there's sure to be a museum to please you. From Paris to Taipei, New York to Mexico City, Petit Futé offers you its selection of the world's...
Where to go in November in the sun? The best destinations in 2025
Updated on 06/02/2025 Ideas for holidays & weekend
With winter fast approaching and the coats out, are you dreaming of getting away from it all? There's nothing like a trip to recharge your batteries. But where to go in November? Here are a few ideas...
How to travel à ATHÈNES
How to go alone
Athens is a destination that lends itself to individual travel. You have very affordable flights with several low cost companies. On the spot, no problem to find an accommodation, nor to move from one point to another, except if you take into account the traffic jams. In summer, you will suffer like everyone else from the heat and the tourist crowds. So if you want to organize your trip yourself, avoid the most touristic periods.
How to go on a tour
Athens is one of the most popular tourist destinations offered by tour operators. There are many weekend or week packages, some of them affordable, combining flight, hotel, half-board, guided tours with a guide. The assurance of not missing anything! Regular promotions in the off-seasons.
How to get around
In Athens, the cabs are yellow and the drivers are not necessarily friendly. Buses are slow. It is possible to rent motorcycles or scooters but driving in Athens is not an easy task. It is possible to rent bicycles in the city center, but pedaling is not very pleasant in Athens: it is hot, traffic is dense, bike paths are rare and the hills are steep. The city center is often pedestrianized. However, the recent metro system is efficient.
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Discover ATHÈNES
The discovery of Athens goes beyond the exploration of its ancient past. Modern and trendy, it offers itself as an open-air canvas to street artists and is covered with colors that reveal its past. With 3,000 years of history, each museum and archaeological site is a testament to its tumultuous evolution. Surrounded by mountains, close to the sea, it strives against winds and tides to breathe clean air. Mixture of architectures, from the predominance of pentelic marble to concrete, its charm is not limited to the Parthenon. Crossroads of civilizations, it is a patron of the arts without hiding its weakness for the theater and open-air shows. Gastronomic, the art of dining here is based on the pleasure of sharing. Nocturnal, nonchalant but united in spite of its urban rhythm, one can stroll around, cultivate oneself, have fun and discover a surprising and endearing capital.
The 12 keywords à ATHÈNES
#Acropolis
The rock of the Acropolis stands proudly above Athens. Surmounted by the Parthenon, the site sees thousands of visitors eager to walk on this emblematic place, considered as the cradle of democracy. Over the centuries, the city developed around this rock, between its slopes and the foot of the neighboring mountains.
#Concrete
Known as tsimentopoli - "the city of concrete" - by its inhabitants, Athens is made up of anarchically stacked blocks of random heights. However, the National Garden, a stone's throw from Syntagma, is a veritable oasis, as is the recently redeveloped Pedion tou Areos (Field of Mars), near the Archaeological Museum.
#Greek Coffee
You will be amazed by the diversity in the way coffee is prepared and drunk in Greece. There is of course the Greek coffee, which is similar to the Turkish coffee. In summer, there is nothing like an iced coffee: frappé (made with Nescafé) or freddo (made with espresso). Specify the amount of sugar you want, as it is added directly to the coffee.
#Olympic Games
The organization of the Olympic Games in Greece in 2004 symbolized the return of this global sporting event to its country of origin. At the dawn of the third millennium, Athens hosted the Games, offering the world a breathtaking opening ceremony and excellent organization of the event.
#Komboloi
It looks like a rosary, but it is not, because a komboloi is used just to keep your hands busy. It is said to have genuine anti-stress properties. Kombos means "knot" and loï comes from logia, "the words"... You can find them in any tourist store, while the authentic one must be a beautiful object and made of amber.
#Marathon
Every year, Athens turns over a few pages in its history when it hosts the marathon race. A worldwide sporting competition, the event commemorates the strategic victory of Greek cities united at last against their common enemy, the Persians, and is a true symbol of the victory of democracy over totalitarianism.
#Mezzedes
Comparable to Spanish tapas, mezzedes (plural of mezze) are more a Mediterranean gastronomic habit than a culinary specialty. It's a very convivial type of meal: various dishes, such as the famous tzatziki or tarama, are cooked and laid out in the center of the table, leaving everyone to choose what they like.
#Ouzo
An aniseed flavored aperitif, ouzo accompanies the sunny days of the Greeks and makes their everyday life festive! It is drunk dry, with ice cubes or by adding a few drops of water to the glass. All over Athens, there are ouzeries, small taverns where you can enjoy ouzo while tasting delicious mezzedes.
#Periptero
A place not to be missed, the periptero is the Greek word for newsagent, often open late at night and on public holidays. In addition to newspapers, you'll find cigarettes, cold drinks, chewing gum, candy, tissues, playing cards, condoms, combs, souvenirs and even aspirin!
#Syntagma
Syntagma is the name on Athens' identity card. Between the Parliament and the commercial district of Athens, the bustling Syntagma square, a landmark for meetings, demonstrations and the senseless comings and goings of people, is right in the heart of the city and rhymes with the vitality and dynamism of the Greek capital.
#Street art
Athens is the city of street art. Sometimes it seems that every square inch of the walls is trying to be covered or you get distracted by trying to recognize the signature of an artist. But the best thing to do is to go and admire the most impressive works in the neighborhoods of Exarchia, Psiri, Gazi or Monastiraki.
#Thalassa
I thalassa or "the sea" in Greek is a living element very present in the landscape and in the daily life. Take advantage of the fact that the riviera of the Greek capital is bordered by all these beaches with such a different character. Not far from the center of Athens, they are incomparable for a swim between two visits or long moments of relaxation.
You are from here, if...
You ignore crosswalks and weave in and out of cars stopped at traffic lights just as they're about to start!
You honk your horn non-stop when you're stopped at a red light!
You take the time to stroll around, sipping a cup of coffee or a glass of wine on a terrace, without ever reordering!
You're playing beach rackets by the sea, preventing everyone else from relaxing!
You rush to pay the bill for everyone else, or you let yourself be invited. It's vexing to want to pay only your share!
You mix with the locals at a public party, a concert, a religious ceremony... Conviviality is the key to getting into the Greek mood and spirit!
You defend your independence! That's why you single-handedly occupy a four-person table for hours on end, especially at peak times!
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