Ahhhh, I have been looking forward to writing this post for soooo long! I remember booking my flight back in December and thinking, “I wonder if I will like Athens enough to write a blog post about it!” UMMMM Athens killed it by the way, so here I am writing a blog post about what to do when you have 48 hours in this awesome city. The city has so much to offer and you could easily spend a full week here, but we had too much we wanted to experience in Greece, so 48 hours is plenty for your first time visiting Athens.
I loved our time in Athens because it was the perfect mix of exploring the city, learning about the history, and experiencing the incredible food and drink scene. Keep in mind, I did this trip with my girlfriend as a girls getaway, but it can also be done as a couples getaway, solo trip or even as a family trip!
A Little Summary of Athens
Athens is an amazing city and the capital of Greece. Their population is just over 3 million (that’s bigger than Chicago!) and this city has so many awesome neighborhoods that all offer something fun and unique. I love this city because anyone and everyone can enjoy it. History buffs will go gaga for the 5th-century BC landmarks and museums, fashionistas will love the shopping, and foodies will eat their weight in deliciousness. To top it all off, Athens is insanely gorgeous as it is surrounded by the Aegean Sea.
What to do in Athens, Greece in 48 hours?
Of course this itinerary will change depending on when you arrive in Athens, but we arrived around lunch time so I will start there. Arriving at the Athen’s airport was a bit chaotic because we were here around Easter and it was super busy. Aside from it being a bit hectic, the Athens airport is quite easy to get around and pretty small for an international airport. We went straight from the airport to check in to our Airbnb.
Where to stay in Athens, Greece
We did a ton of research on where to stay in Athens because as I said earlier, there are so many neighborhoods to choose from. We decided to stay in Plaka and we couldn’t have loved it more. It’s the perfect location. It’s a 20 minute walk to the city center and located right next to the Acropolis. Our Airbnb was a dream and if you’re planning a trip to Athens you simply need to book it now!
Our Airbnb in Plaka, Athens, Greece
The Airbnb was called, “Breathtaking Acropolis View Penthouse Suite Plaka” and seriously breathtaking is the perfect word to describe it. Just as the reviews stated, “The photos don’t do it justice.” We walked in and our jaws hit the floor. You have a view of the Acropolis from every place in the apartment except the shower and we couldn’t believe it was only $100 a night to stay here. Remember we were here in April, so it will be more expensive during high season. Here are some photos of the Airbnb! The first two are from the host, as I was so stunned by the view I forgot to take some of my own.
The balcony was so perfect to enjoy gorgeous views of the Acropolis and to reminisce on the wonderful day we had in Athens.
And it was obviously the perfect spot for a photo…
My only complaint about this rental was that it was bit cold at night. Athens in April can get to 80 degrees during the day but then drop to 40’s 50’s at night. Ask the host to have the building turn on the heat if you feel chilly. Other than this small issue, it was an absolute dream to stay here!
Explore Plaka
I read so many blogs before I visited Athens and almost every single one said to either stay in Plaka or at least walk around it for a few hours. I am so glad we chose to stay here. We also chose to take new ways of getting to the city center so we could explore adorable side streets like this.
Plaka is the perfect place to stay if you are wanting to be close to the city center, but still experience a quainter and in my opinion, cuter side of Athens. There are still a ton of awesome restaurants and shops in Plaka, so if you’re looking for a more relaxing vacation in Athens it’s the perfect spot for that.
Head to Monastiraki Square
We decided to hit the touristy spot first and get it out of the way. Monastiraki is a flea market neighborhood in the old town of Athens. Let me be clear, the Monastiraki Square is awesome. It is filled with tourists from all over the world, has amazing restaurants, bars and rooftops, and is overall a cool place to see. With that being said, I don’t really love those places when I travel. I love to check them out and experience the excitement, but then I typically wander off to lesser known neighborhoods and those are really what my heart seeks. But, you do need to visit Monastiraki Square during your first time in Athens just to experience it! I especially loved it for the hundreds of gelato shops it had!
Lunch at O Thanasis
We chose to have our first lunch at O Thanasis as we read it has one of the most authentic Greek restaurants and it had the most famous kebab. O Thanasis is located right in the Monastiraki so there is awesome ambiance and people watching. We quickly learned that many restaurants advertise that they have the most famous or authentic kebab or gyro so the fun part is to try them all and decide for yourself! I also learned at my first lunch in Greece that American’s do “Greek Salad” much differently lol, there is no lettuce just a shit ton of vegetables and a yum block of feta!
What is the difference between a gyro, souvlaki and a kebab?
You’ll want to know this when traveling to Greece. When you order a kebab, the meat you will normally find in it is ground lamb, chicken, or beef. But in a gyro dish, the meat is typically stacked lamb or chicken. Souvlaki, is small pieces of pork, chicken, beef, or lamb and sometimes vegetables grilled on a skewer. It is usually eaten straight off the skewer while still hot and sometimes served in a warm pita with vegetables. In my experience, all the kebabs had a mayo-like sauce and most of the gyros had a tzatziki sauce. But, then there were a few that were switched so seriously just be open to surprises!
Drinks at Anglais Athens for Sunset
I am so glad Lotti found this little hidden gem. Although it’s in the Monastiraki, it’s much lesser known as the other rooftop bars and has an amazing view of the Acropolis. For your first rooftop in Athens I couldn’t recommend Anglais Athens more!
You can order food here but we just ordered a bottle of wine. Our server was so kind and gave us great tips for our next stop, Santorini, and recommended an awesome bottle of Assyrtiko (white Greek wine grape indigenous to the island of Santorini). The sunset from this rooftop was absolutely gorgeous and you also have an awesome 360 view of Athens. I love that the city offers mountain views, city views and sea views!
The only downside of this being a lesser known rooftop is that it doesn’t have heaters. As I mentioned earlier, it gets a bit chilly once the sun goes down in April so we had to bundle up after sunset. Aside from that, this bar was awesome.
Dinner at Lyra
After a few too many glasses of wine, we made our way to Lyra. Lyra wasn’t part of our plan but it looked adorable and we were on a mission to try every tzatziki and pita we could!
You guys, I’m telling you right now this was the best dip of my life. Now, did the drinks before and during help? Of course, but I will be dreaming about this dip until the day I die. It was a tzatziki made with a bit of a unique twist as they added black garlic and wowza mama it was so creamy and perfect. We also loved our cocktails here.
Start Your Morning at the Acropolis
Grab yourself a yummy treat at one of the many bakeries in Plaka (they are all amazing) and head to the famous Acropolis! *No food is allowed so make sure you finish before you get in line.* If you take one thing from this blog post please take this: GET TO THE ACROPOLIS EARLY. I mean right when it opens at 8. Be the first in line. We got there at 8 and the first hour was so peaceful and beautiful with small crowds. By 9 am it was quite busy and by 9:30 it was wild with field trips and big groups galore. Now, if you can only go in the afternoon, I still recommend visiting, just be prepared for crowds.
We got so many awesome photos because we got here early.
See those two people behind me? And hour later it was a stampede in this same spot.
We spent an hour here but you could easily spend a half of a day if you are really interested in the history of the Acropolis and surrounding landmarks. There is a ton of information posted and I learned so much about the history of Athens in the short time we were there.
If you are wanting more history definitely check out the Benaki Museum and Acropolis Museum after walking around the Acropolis.
Explore Anafiotika
The neighborhood hidden between Plaka and the Acropolis is the neighborhood of Anafiotika. It was built by construction workers from Anafi in the traditional architectural style of their home island. It’s so cute and feels a world away from the chaos of the city. It only takes about 20 minutes to walk through it so it can be a quick stop on either your way to the Acropolis or the city center.
*Please be considerate of the local homes as you walk through the neighborhood of Anafiotika.*
Brunch at Beauty Killed the Beast
We worked up an appetite and decided to walk to Beauty Killed the Beast for brunch. We had no idea it was such a long walk from Plaka (about 40 minutes) but we are so glad we made the trek because this place is so cute! Keep in mind this spot doesn’t open until 11 am.
Apparently brunch just became popular a few years ago in Athens and now the brunch scene has exploded. There so are many great options to choose from. We literally started with 5-6 choices and finally landed on this one and I’m so glad we did!
We ordered a traditional and popular breakfast that consists of scrambled eggs and tomatoes topped with feta cheese. So yum! Notice my coke I had to order to nurse my hangover…thank you white wine.
Coffee and Drinks at Urban Garden
Speaking of a hangover, why not move on to the hair of the dog! After brunch we started our own little pub crawl and just stopped at whichever place caught our eye. As two planners we were pretty proud of ourselves for just taking a day to explore and not have a plan.
Urban Garden was adorable and had awesome cocktails and we overheard that their coffee was delicious as well.
Souvlaki at Kostas (Best Souvlaki in Athens)
I read countless times that the best Souvlaki (considered fast food in Greece) is at a little place called Kostas just outside the Monastiraki. So, we made our way there and it did not disappoint! They opened 65 years and have gained the title of “Best Souvlaki in Athens.” Although many restaurants seemed to share the title for gyros and kebabs, it’s very clear that Kostas wins for best souvlaki.
The sauce that they use was some sort of rich zesty tomato sauce along with the grilled meat and warm pita. For under 3€ this souvlaki rocked my world. Keep in mind they close at 6, so either get here for lunch, enjoy it as a snack, or have it for an early dinner.
Enjoy the sunset over the city from Lycabettus Hill or at 360 Cocktail Bar
We decided against Lycabettus Hill for sunset and decided to keep our bar crawl going, but we heard wonderful things about watching the sunset from here. Lycabettus Hill (sometimes spelt Lykavitos) is the highest point of Athens and offers a gorgeous view of the city and surrounding areas at sunset. Keep in mind in the summer months this hike up can get quite difficult with the heat.
If you want to see the view without the walk up, there is a railway that can take you to up. Keep in mind this is a closed tunnel though so you’ll only have a view once you arrive. Also, this hill gets very busy around sunset so don’t expect it to be private.
360 Cocktail Bar for Sunset in Athens
If you’re more interested in climbing the three flights of stairs to a rooftop bar, than 360 Cocktail Bar is the place for you. This rooftop bar is much more popular than the one we visited the night before. It was off season so we got a table right away, but if you are visiting in the summer, make sure you make a reservation. The only reason this rooftop is better for sunset is because they have heaters and a larger food menu.
We actually preferred the laid back feel at Angalis better but they were both awesome. The ambiance here is incredible and our servers were so kind.
Dinner at Thespis in Plaka
On our way to brunch on our second day we walked by Thespis and knew we had to enjoy our last dinner in Athens here. We walked up and this is what we saw…
After a long day of exploring we had such a great last night in Athens. The food wasn’t out of this world, but it was good and the ambiance was so magical they could have served me a single carrot and I would have been happy.
Absolutely magical…
Breakfast at Zampano
For your last breakfast in Athens head to Zampano. Located in the city center- Zampano offers a great brunch, cocktails and an extensive local wine list.
I loved the interior here and the servers were so nice and helpful. It’s the perfect spot to enjoy great food, drinks, and visit a trendy restaurant before leaving Athens.
Wow! That might be one of my longest blog posts ever. It was impossible to make it any shorter though, because we packed our 48 hours in Athens with so much and it was all worth writing about! Have you been to Athens? Did you love it? What was your favorite thing to do when visiting this amazing city? Thanks so much for reading along and keep an eye out for my future blog posts about Santorini and Mykonos!
Cute!