A Walk around
Kolonaki
This walk around the Kolonaki neighbourhood of Athens starts and ends
in Syntagma Square and takes you to several museums, Kolonaki Square and Mount
Lykabettos.
The Kolonaki Neighbourhood in Athens
Start/end point: Syntagma Square
Distance: 3 kms (1.9 miles)
Time: 90 minutes without stops, 2–3 hours with stops, or all day if you
also visit any of the museums.
Walk Around Kolonaki:
Directions
From Syntagma Square walk up Vasilissis Sofias, the main
road to the left of the imposing National Parliament Building. If you're here on the hour you might want to watch the Changing of the Guard, which takes place at the top end of Syntagma Square every hour, on the hour, every day of the year.
The Benaki Museum
Photo by Dimboukas
This file is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution 3.0 Unported license.
At the fifth junction on your left, along Vasilissis Sofias, on the corner with Koumbari, stands the Benaki Museum. The museum houses the art collection of a wealthy Greek merchant, Antoine Benaki. See our full page about the Benaki Museum.
Our Pick of the Athens Guides
To Kolonaki Square
Turn left by the museum, up Koumbari to Kolonáki Square. Kolonáki
is one of the most fashionable districts of Athens, the kind of place where
well-to-do Greek ladies walk their dogs. Kolonáki Square is surrounded by
designer stores, cafés, and smart gift shops.
Mount Lykabettos as seen from the Acropolis
To Mount Lykabettos
Cross the square and leave it at the far right corner along
the main road, Patriarchou Ioakim. Cross two junctions; at the third, at the
first set of traffic lights, turn left up Plutarchou. This steep street leads towards Mount Lykabettos, visible at
the top.
At the end of Plutarchou you may appreciate taking the funicular to the top of Mount Lykabettos. Enjoy the views over Athens: on a clear day you can see as far as the island of Aegina. See our full page all about Mount Lykabettos.
To the Byzantine and
Christian Museum
Take the zigzag path to the left, going down again through
the lightly wooded slopes of the hill. If you ignore minor paths to left and
right, you emerge on Aristippou, about 100m down from the funicular station.
Head straight down Loukianou, another steep stepped Kolonáki Street, back down
to Vasilissis Sofias, to emerge almost opposite the Byzantine and Christian Museum.
Syntagma Square
Photo credit: puthoOr photOgraphy on Visualhunt
Back to Syntagma
Square
Turning left here and crossing the road would take you to the War Museum and, a
little further on, the National Gallery. If you have had enough walking for one
day, turn right to go back down Vasilissis Sofias and return to Syntagma
Square.
Some other Athens pages
Athens International Airport is east of Athens city centre with its own Metro train station, buses to Athens and Piraeus, taxis and car rental offices.
The National Archaeological Museum is one of the best things to see in Athens, and the best museum in the world for seeing Greece's archaeological treasures.
Greece Travel Secrets chooses its top ten Athens restaurants with Acropolis views, perfect for dining by day or by night, including places with Michelin stars.
This beginner's guide to Greek architecture explains how to tell your Ionic from your Doric columns, and what to look for in temples and Byzantine churches.
In My Athens on Greece Travel Secrets travel writer Mike Gerrard describes what he loves about Athens including the Acropolis and eating!
Syntagma Square or Constitution Square is the main square in Athens and has a metro station, the Greek Parliament building, hotels, cafes, and a post office.
Athens, an Eater's Guide to the City, is published by Culinary Backstreets, who do walking food tours in Athens and the book recommends the best places to eat.
There are lots of flights from Athens to Santorini as well as a ferry service from Piraeus, with flights to Santorini leaving from Athens International Airport.
Athens' Benaki Museum is one of the city’s top museums with an outstanding collection, especially of Greek and Egyptian artefacts, in a beautiful mansion.
The Athens Acropolis has the city's most iconic building, the Parthenon, along with other historic buildings and is where the Elgin Marbles were taken from.
The beach resorts of Athens are easily reached from the city and also close are Cape Sounion with the Temple of Poseidon, ancient Marathon and Rafina's port.
The best things to do in Athens, Greece, include top archaeological sites like the Acropolis and must-see attractions such as the National Archaeological Museum
Greekality is a Greek company offering food tours in Athens including street food tours, wine and nightlife tours, vegan tours and cooking classes.
The Athens War Museum is a fascinating look at Greek history through the lens of warfare from ancient battles to the Greek War of Independence and World War II.
This drive around Attica offers visitors high hills, beach resorts, small villages and classical sites like Marathon and the Temple of Poseidon at Cape Sounion.
Pictures of Athens from the Greece Travel Secrets website
Greece Travel Secrets visits the Monastiraki Flea Market, followed by Sunday lunch at Sigalas on Monastiraki Square
This extract of Artistic Athens in the Lonely Planet book Culture Trails takes visitors on a journey through the artistic side of Athens..
Mount Lykabettos is the highest hill in Athens and provides some of the best views of the city, with a funicular cable car the easiest way to get to the top.
Two of the best cocktail bars in Athens, MoMix Kerameikos and The Clumsies, are making creative cocktails using that most Greek of Greek spirits, Metaxa.
Around Monastiraki is the flea market, Athens cathedral, Kerameikos Cemetery, the Benaki Museum of Islamic Art and the Psirri and Gazi nightlife districts.
The Athens Byzantine and Christian Museum is housed in a beautiful villa with an underground wing and lovely gardens too.
Greece Travel Secrets lists the ten best museums in Athens, with the top two being the National Archaeological Museum and the Acropolis Museum.
If you're wondering where to eat in Athens and Piraeus we have a few suggestions including some favorites around the Acropolis, Omonia Square, and Syntagma.
Amusing children in Athens is easy as there is lots to do including a children’s museum, planetarium, beaches, and easy excursions to the nearest islands.
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