Cheap and budget places to sleep in Athens
Athens city guide (Greece)
"Freedom consists in owning one's life." This phrase of the famous Greek philosopher, Plato, is only one of those that have marked the course of the history of human beings. This and many others that have emerged in the Greek capital, are the ones that, today, follow attracting thousands of curious and philosophy lovers, for knowing the cradle of this discipline.
However Athens is much more than history and monuments. It is a modern city, which has a gastronomic richness, worthy of the Mediterranean culture. Worth walk its streets on foot and live life of this city both day and night, while discovering its culture or stop to talk to one of its citizens, very friendly people willing to serve the visitor.
A city with a very pleasant climate throughout the year, with somewhat lower minimums in the coldest times, but during the day they rise 16 degrees in winter or until 20 in spring, reaching, even, 28, in autumn.
Walking through its streets is to know in situ some of the most famous monuments in the world; It is saying goodbye to the day with dawns difficult to forget and, above all, is to enjoy unique moments in a perfect city to travel as a couple, alone or as a family, because the tourist is always well received.
What are you going to find in this article?
- 1 I'm going on a trip to ATHENS in 2025
- 1.1 Cheap and budget places to sleep in Athens
- 1.2 Athens city guide (Greece)
- 1.3 Best areas to sleep in Athens
- 1.4 How to get to the city of Athens by plane
- 1.5 How can you move around the city of Athens
- 1.6 The best what you can see and do during your stay in Athens
- 1.7 The best time to travel to Athens
- 1.8 Transport cards and tourist passes
- 1.9 Best excursions around Athens
Best areas to sleep in Athens
When we travel, we always look for accommodation that suits our needs, tastes and pocket. One of the main advantages of visiting Athens is that it has a wide variety of accommodations, from the most luxurious hotels, through other more modest or apartments of different styles and capacities, all of them scattered around the different corners of this historic city.
Do not forget, by the way, that Since 2018 you have to pay the tourist tax to sleep in Greece, The rate varies per day depending on the category of the hotel or accommodation you have chosen to sleep. Below we tell you what are the best areas to find accommodation and the characteristics of each of them.
Syntagma Square
Without leaving it, in addition, you find the building of Parliament or the tomb of the unknown soldier, who is guarded, 24 hours a day, by two guards dressed in a suit, curious to say the least. Many tourists take a photo with them, as do those who visit Buckingham Palace in London.
Also found in this square is the luxurious hotel Grande Bretagne, preferred by great personalities. And if you are one of those who likes to explore the shops of the towns you visit, without a doubt this is the best area to do so, since the commercial lung and some of the most important stores are around this square.
Plaka neighborhood
It is a very lively area, very popular with tourists and it is striking how well some neoclassical houses of the nineteenth century are preserved. All this makes traveling through its streets like doing it through a time museum. In fact, it is one of the most photographed.
It's the place property to buy souvenirs, but also to enjoy the famous gastronomy Athenian, because there are numerous food outlets or to go out for a snack or a drink at night and enjoy the terraces and nights rather warm, especially in summer and early fall.
Monastiraki neighborhood
Furthermore, in the Monastiraki market you can put your haggling skills into practice, since this is a very widespread practice in Athens, at least in this type of market. A very well connected area, in which you we recommend the visit to the subway, because it is the oldest station in the city and has managed to preserve very well the touches of other times.
As the day falls, you can enjoy a typical greek appetizer or a drink to celebrate that you are on vacation. And, of course, you can also have monuments or places of cultural interest close at hand, such as the Museum of Popular Art or the Adriano Library.
Kolonaki's luxury
You know: you gain height and everything looks much better. Kolonaki is a very safe and pleasant neighborhood to walk quietly both day and night. In it are the shops of the most luxurious firms in the city, as well as those of prestigious designers.
If you are one of those who like to stay in areas where in addition to daytime leisure, you can also enjoy a restaurant and cocktail bars at night, this neighborhood is ideal because there is a wide variety of terraces and businesses of hospitality that offer you different options, depending on your tastes.
The hipster neighborhood of Psiri
Located in the center of Athens, next to Monastiraki Square, in Psiri you will always find artists, tattoo workshops; craft businesses, both food and decorative objects or jewelry. A neighborhood where the locals mix, with tourists who appreciate that contrast from other nearby streets where you can breathe a more classic atmosphere.
Es ideal to be well connected, meet local artists, enjoy Athenian cuisine in one of its many terraces, an impromptu concert of alternative music or, why not, know the house where Lord Bayron lived.
How to get to the city of Athens by plane
20 kilometers from the city center, To the east is Athens Airport. Once you get there, the most comfortable option to get to the city itself is by public transportation. And here to move you have 3 options: the train, which is connected to the city's central station, Larissis and the Port of Piraeus; the bus, with different lines that take you either to the city center or to other neighborhoods, located to the north and south, as well as to the Port of Piraeus.
It is interesting that you know the main bus lines:
- X95: The destination station It's Syntagma, right in the center of Athens. It is the most practical line for travelers.
- X93: Take to the intercity bus station from Kifisos, northwest of the city.
- X97: Your destiny is the Eliniko metro station, South of the city.
- X96: Connect the airport with the Piraeus Port.
Finally, you can also access the center of Athens from the airport in metro, which is considered the fastest and most comfortable option (the first subway leaves the airport at 6:35 and the last one at 23:35 hours. The estimated duration to reach Sintagma Square is 40 minutes.). Furthermore, with the same ticket with which you travel from the airport and within a margin of 90 minutes, you can do transhipments with the rest of means of transport.
How can you move around the city of Athens
Although if you stay in the center of Athens, you probably don't have to take any transport Nothing more than to get to the airport, it is always interesting to know the main options for getting around. Without a doubt, the best option to move around the city and know all the details of it is to do so walking.
However, if you want to get to the most remote neighborhoods or return to the accommodation you have chosen in a more comfortable way, you should know that the bus line Athens public transport is a real luxury.
Move in Metro
It has a metro which helps you reach the points of greatest tourist interest in the city, with a very long schedule both during the week and on the weekend. The best? That you can continue enjoying the art pieces of this city, also underground, because in several stations you can find small art museums. The Athens Metro has three lines that they connect the city center with most of the places of interest, including the airport. The three lines are identified by different colors:
- Line 1 (Green): allows access to the ports of Piraeus, Peace and Friendship Stadium and Georgios Karaiskakis Stadium, headquarters of Olimpiakos. In the center of Athens it stops at Omonia and Monastiraki.
- Line 2 (Red): communicates the Larissis Train Station with Omonia Square, Syntagma Square and the Acropolis.
- Line 3 (Blue): connects the Athens Airport with the city center, making stops at Syntagma Square and Monastiraki.
Move by Tram
You can also move in trolley car and reach those tourist points of interest farther from the city center. The tram network is composed of 48 stations arranged along the three lines, superimposed in part of its extension:
- Line 3 (blue): Communicate the Stadium of Peace and Friendship with Voula.
- Line 4 (red): Reaches from Syntagma to the Peace and Friendship Stadium.
- Line 5 (green): Communicate Syntagma with Voula.
Move us by bus
Or do it in bus, if what you want is to get away from the most touristy areas and get to know other parts of Athens. Buses and trolleybuses are a good alternative to the subway. They turn out especially interesting intercity buses, as they reach places like Cape Sounion. Its stops are orange and are marked as "KTEL". Unlike city buses, these have special rates and tickets are purchased directly from the driver.
General notes
You have to know that the tickets are valid for any of the transports that make up the network. The service is efficient as long as there are no strikes or demonstrations.
The best what you can see and do during your stay in Athens
With the big cities it happens that you have so much to see, that you don't always know which ones to prioritize, especially if you don't have much time to enjoy them. Therefore, at this point we tell you which you don't have to miss out on the city of Athens, the top 5 are:
The best time to travel to Athens
Athens owns a temperate mediterranean climate characteristic for its hot and dry summers and mild and rainy winters. The best seasons to travel to Athens they are spring and autumn. In these you can enjoy pleasant temperatures and the days have more hours of light than during the winter.
Athens in summer
Summers in Athens are usually characterized by high temperatures during the day and cool nights. During the months of July and August, the maximum average temperature in Athens is 33,5ºC and the minimum is below 21ºC.
During the summer, unlike the colder months, the chance of rain is almost nil, with an average of less than two days of rain during the months of July and August.
Athens in winter
The winters in Athens are temperate and the probability of rain is quite high. The minimum average temperatures during the coldest months are usually not below 5ºC, reaching maximum averages of 18º during the month of November.
From November to March rains are very frequent, with an average of more than twelve days of rain during some months, although they usually occur in the form of short and intermittent rains.
Transport cards and tourist passes
If the transport options are wide, clean and comfortable, do not forget to take into account the tourist passes of the city of Athens that are the following:
- I Venture Card Athens: You can choose from 1 day and up to 7. In addition to having discounts on transportation, you also have free access to certain monuments, just by buying this card, such as the Acropolis and the Parthenon.
- Athens Museum Pass: As its name implies, it is especially indicated to avoid queues at the main monuments of the city and have free access to some of them.
You can buy both cards before arriving in Athens, through their corresponding web pages or decide if you want to buy them, once in the city, also through this medium.
Best excursions around Athens
The monasteries of Meteora
(c) Can Stock Photo / whitewizzard
Un Magic place look where you look and really unique, because it is a historical complex located on top of some cliffs.
In it there was a total of 23 monasteries. Today there are 13 of them, but you can only visit 6. If you want to do this excursion we recommend that you book 2 days, since you will have to spend one night.
From Athens, it takes about 5 hours and you can sleep in the accommodation of the towns of Katraski or Kalambaka. Municipalities with a lot of life.
A field trip ideal to enjoy of the tranquility of the place and for those who like to meditate or need to disconnect from the daily hustle and bustle.
Nafplio, the beautiful mythological city
(c) Can Stock Photo / KisaMarkiza
Located in the Gulf of Argos, about 135 kilometers from Athens, this coastal town is ideal to meet the medieval constructions of this area of Europe, as well as the Greek legends and mythologies more traditional
Quiet and very touristy, special mention deserves the Palamidi fortress from which you can observe the entire city, as well as the building of the first Hellenic parliament. The hotel offer and bars, terraces or restaurants is really wide.
It has a special charm to have a coffee in one of the terraces that overlook the sea. From them you can contemplate the islet of Bourtzi, a castle that seems to float on the waters.
Following the promenade from the port, heading east, we will enjoy the views offered by the Gulf of Argolis, whose waters look like silver melted by the sun at sunset. At the end of the road, we will arrive at a small secluded beach in the village, where we can enjoy a good bath in Aegean waters.
Mycenae, the tourist destination in ancient Greece
On the way to Nafplio, do not forget to visit the Ancient City of Mycenae, built between the years 1600 and 1100 BC The buses that make the route Athens-Nafplio make a stop in the current Mycenae. Depending on the season, from this point you can take another bus or walk to the archaeological site.
Mycenae is one of the most important historical places of ancient Greece. The relevance of the city gave its name to the Mycenaean period.
Mycenae is currently a important archaeological site located 120 kilometers southwest of Athens. It is said that during the Roman Empire Mycenae was already an important tourist destination.
To get there you can do it in bus or renting a car (the fastest and most comfortable option).
Once in Mycenae, don't miss the Gate of the lions, that is, the main entrance to this ancient city; Treasury of Atreo, an ancient grave, as well as royal tombs.
