Exploring Athens, Greece: The Acropolis, Ancient Ruins, Plaka and the Flavors of Greece
Updated: Aug 27
There are some cities you visit.
Then there are cities you feel.
Athens is one of those cities.
My trip to Athens, Greece, took me into a place where the past is not tucked away behind museum glass. It is everywhere. Ancient stones sit beside busy streets. Ruins appear between modern buildings. Cafés spill onto sidewalks. The Acropolis watches over the city while people below shop, eat, drink and go about their daily lives.
I walked through ancient streets. I climbed hills for the views. I explored the Acropolis and wandered through Plaka and Monastiraki. I stood beneath monuments built nearly two thousand years ago.
And, of course, I ate Greek food.
Authentic moussaka
A lot of it.
That may be one of the best ways to experience Athens.
Arriving in Athens
Athens has a different rhythm than many European cities.
It can be busy. Loud. Crowded. Energetic.
But underneath all of that is an incredible sense of history.
You can be walking down a modern street and suddenly find yourself looking at something that was built thousands of years ago.
That happened repeatedly during my visit.
I stayed at the Adrian Hotel, which put me in an excellent location for exploring the historic heart of Athens. From there, many of the places I wanted to see were within walking distance.
That turned out to be important.
I walked a lot.
And when I say a lot, I mean a lot.
The Acropolis is a climb. Philopappos Hill is a climb. The streets around the historic center can make your legs remind you that they exist.
temple of hephaestus 
Temple of Athena Nike 
temple of zeus 
Acropolis
But walking is also one of the best ways to experience Athens.
You see things from street level that you would miss from a tour bus.
The highlight of any trip to Athens has to be the Acropolis.
For me, walking toward it was almost as memorable as reaching the top.
The Acropolis rises above Athens on a rocky hill. It has been an important site for thousands of years. The first fortifications date back more than 3,000 years, while the great monuments that most visitors recognize today were constructed during Athens' Golden Age in the fifth century BC.
Then you finally reach the top.
And there it is.
The Parthenon.
Even after seeing countless photographs, standing there in person is different.
The scale is impressive. The age is difficult to comprehend.
This is not an old building in the normal sense of the word.
It is ancient.
The Acropolis includes several major monuments, including the Parthenon, the Erechtheion, the Propylaea and the Temple of Athena Nike. UNESCO describes the entire complex as one of the most important architectural and artistic achievements inherited from ancient Greece.
As I walked around the site, I found myself thinking about what this place must have looked like in its prime.
That thought followed me throughout Athens.
The ruins are fascinating.
But the missing pieces may be even more fascinating.
You have to use your imagination.
Walking the Panathenaic Way
One of the places that really brought that feeling home for me was the Panathenaic Way.
My first impression was simple.
It was a nice way to approach the Acropolis.
But the more I walked, the more I thought about what this route must have looked like when ancient Athens was at its height.
There are preserved ruins along the way. Stones remain where buildings once stood.
I found myself imagining ancient Athenians walking the same route.
People going to market.
People heading toward religious festivals.
People talking about politics.
People simply going about their lives.
That is one of the things I enjoyed most about Athens.
The ruins don't feel completely disconnected from the modern city.
They are woven into it.
Philopappos Hill: The View Was Worth the Climb
After walking around Athens and climbing toward the Acropolis, I decided to tackle Philopappos Hill.
Philopappos Hill 
Philopappos Hill
It was a beautiful hike.
Scenic.
And definitely worth the effort.
The hill rises southwest of the Acropolis and is topped by the Monument of Philopappos, a marble funerary monument built around AD 114-116 for Julius Antiochus Philopappos, a prominent benefactor of Athens.
But the monument wasn't the only reason to make the climb.
The view was spectacular.
From the top, Athens spreads out in almost every direction.
You can look back toward the Acropolis and see it from a completely different perspective.
This was one of my favorite photo opportunities in Athens.
I remember thinking that the walk had been worth every step.
My legs may not have agreed.
Plaka: Wandering Through the Old Neighborhood
If the Acropolis is the symbol of ancient Athens, Plaka is where the city's historic character comes alive at street level.
Plaka sits beneath the Acropolis and stretches down toward Monastiraki. Its narrow lanes are filled with neoclassical buildings, cafés, restaurants, churches and shops. The official Athens guide describes it as the "Neighbourhood of the Gods."
I loved simply walking around.
There are tourist shops everywhere.
Some streets are busy.
Some are quieter.
And around almost every corner there is another view of the Acropolis.
That is part of the fun.
You don't necessarily need a plan.
Just start walking.
Adrianou Street and Pandrossou
Pandrossou Street Market 
Pandrossou Street Market 
Adrianou Street
Adrianou Street and Pandrossou are part of the busy tourist heart of Athens.
There are shops, cafés, restaurants and plenty of people.
Pandrossou reminded me of Adrianou Street. Both have plenty of tourist-oriented stores and places selling souvenirs.
They are fun to explore.
But there is one thing I noticed and mentioned in my Tripadvisor review at the time.
Keep an eye on your wallet.
Crowded tourist areas can provide opportunities for pickpockets. I found it was best simply to stay aware of my surroundings and enjoy the experience.
That doesn't mean you should avoid these areas.
Quite the opposite.
Just don't let the excitement make you forget where your wallet is.
Monastiraki was one of my favorite parts of Athens.
The square is lively.
Very lively.
There are cafés around the perimeter, shops everywhere, street vendors, restaurants and rooftop bars with views toward the Acropolis.
Today, Monastiraki remains one of the city's busiest historic areas, where ancient, Roman, Ottoman and modern layers of Athens meet. Adrianou Street runs through the area and serves as a major artery for the flea-market district.
For me, one of the best things about Monastiraki wasn't necessarily shopping.
It was people watching.
Sit down.
Order something.
Watch Athens move around you.
That can tell you a lot about a city.
And Monastiraki certainly moves.
Again, though, keep an eye on your belongings.
Crowded places are prime territory for pickpockets.
Greek Cuisine: The Best Part of Exploring Athens
You cannot visit Greece without talking about food.
Greek cuisine is one of the great pleasures of traveling through the country.
And after spending hours walking around Athens, food becomes even better.
By the end of some days, I was ready to eat whatever appeared in front of me.
Fortunately, Athens gave me plenty of choices.
Bairaktaris Taverna 
Bairaktaris Taverna 
Bairaktaris Taverna
One of my favorite meals was at Bairaktaris Taverna in Monastiraki Square.
I went there after spending the day wandering around Athens.
By that point I had walked all over the city, climbed toward the Acropolis and made my way up Philopappos Hill.
I was tired.
Hungry.
And ready for dinner.
Bairaktaris was a godsend.
The restaurant had a great location right on Monastiraki Square. Sitting there gave me the perfect opportunity to eat while watching the activity around the square.
The food was authentic Greek food.
The meat was excellent.
The kebabs were cooked perfectly.
And the portions were huge.
That last part was especially welcome after all the walking.
Then came a nice surprise.
The waitress brought out a free dessert for us to try.
That kind of unexpected gesture sticks with you.
I had also eaten at Bairaktaris during an earlier visit in 2014. My impression was much the same. The food was good, the service was fine and the house wine was excellent.
But the best part?
The location.
There are only so many ways to make gyros and kebabs.
But eating them while watching Monastiraki Square come alive is something else entirely.
Karyatis
I also stopped at Karyatis on Adrianou Street.
This was more of a sidewalk café experience.
The outdoor area around Adrianou Square was beautiful, and it was another excellent place for people watching.
I had a cappuccino there and enjoyed simply sitting back and taking in the atmosphere.
Sometimes travel isn't about rushing from one landmark to the next.
Sometimes the best memories come from sitting at a sidewalk café with a coffee and watching the city pass by.
Karyatis gave me one of those moments.
Yiasemi was another place I visited while exploring Plaka.
It fits perfectly into the character of the neighborhood.
Small streets.
Old buildings.
Cafés.
People wandering around.
The kind of place where stopping for food or coffee feels like part of the sightseeing.
That is one of the things I enjoyed about Athens.
Eating wasn't something I had to stop sightseeing to do.
Eating was sightseeing.
Eventually I made my way toward Hadrian's Arch.
The monument dates to around AD 131-134 and was constructed from Pentelic marble. It was built in honor of Emperor Hadrian, whose influence on Athens was enormous.
What makes the arch particularly interesting are the inscriptions on its two sides.
One side essentially declares:
This is Athens, the ancient city of Theseus.
The other identifies the city with Hadrian.
The inscriptions are thought to mark the relationship between the old Greek city and the expanded Roman city, although their exact meaning has been interpreted in different ways.
Standing there, you get a very tangible reminder that Athens wasn't simply a Greek city that disappeared after classical Greece.
It continued.
It changed.
It became part of the Roman world.
And Hadrian left his mark all over the city.
Not far away stands another reminder of Hadrian's influence.
The Temple of Olympian Zeus.
Or, more accurately, what remains of it.
The scale of the original temple is difficult to imagine today.
Construction began in the sixth century BC and continued, stopped and restarted across more than seven centuries. The project was finally completed under Emperor Hadrian in the second century AD.
The finished temple was enormous.
Almost 100 meters long.
Nearly 50 meters wide.
Its columns rose about 17 meters into the air. It was ultimately the largest ancient temple on the Greek mainland.
Today only a fraction of the original structure survives.
But those massive columns still make an impression.
You stand there and look up.
Then you try to imagine the entire temple surrounding you.
It must have been extraordinary.
Athens Is a City You Have to Walk
One of the biggest lessons I took away from my trip was that Athens is best experienced on foot.
You walk.
Then you walk some more.
You climb a hill.
You stop for coffee.
You look at a ruin.
You turn down a side street.
You find a restaurant.
You look up and see the Acropolis again.
Then you realize you've been walking for hours.
Athens rewards curiosity.
There is something around almost every corner.
And because so much of the ancient city remains integrated into the modern city, you don't always know what you are going to find next.
That was part of the adventure.
What I Remember Most About Athens
When I think back on my trip to Athens, I don't remember just one monument.
I remember the combination.
The Acropolis.
The view from Philopappos Hill.
The narrow streets of Plaka.
The crowds of Monastiraki.
The ancient stones along the Panathenaic Way.
The columns of the Temple of Olympian Zeus.
Hadrian's Arch.
A cappuccino at a sidewalk café.
A plate of Greek food after a long day of walking.
And sitting in Monastiraki Square watching Athens move around me.
That is what makes Athens special.
It isn't simply an ancient city.
It is an ancient city that is still alive.
The past is everywhere, but so is the present.
People live here.
They work here.
They eat here.
They argue, laugh, shop and drink coffee here.
And right in the middle of it all stand monuments that were already ancient before most of the modern world existed.
Final Thoughts: Why Athens Stayed With Me
Athens can be crowded.
It can be hot.
It can be tiring.
And your feet may eventually file a formal complaint.
But it is worth it.
The city gives you history on a scale that is difficult to find anywhere else.
You can stand on the Acropolis and look across a modern European capital.
You can climb Philopappos Hill and see the city spread below you.
You can wander through Plaka.
You can sit in Monastiraki Square with a plate of gyros and watch the world go by.
Then you can walk a few minutes and find yourself standing beside a monument that was built nearly two thousand years ago.
That contrast is Athens.
Ancient and modern.
Quiet ruins and noisy streets.
History and everyday life.
And somewhere between the Acropolis, the hills, the cafés, the ruins and the food, I found exactly what I had hoped to find.
A city that makes you stop walking for a moment.
Look around.
And wonder what happened here long before you arrived.
That is Athens.
And it is a city I will not soon forget.
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