Luxury things to do in Athens
Fine-dining tables, grand hotel bars, and the Acropolis with nothing held back.
This is Athens for someone who wants the city's best table on every given night and the most storied views in between. Days move from ancient ruins and rooftop coffee to tasting menus and seaside dinners, ending each evening with the kind of drink that takes a bartender seriously. If you have the budget to say yes to everything, this is what you say yes to.
Day 1: Monastiraki, the Acropolis, Syntagma
Start with rooftop coffee facing the Acropolis, walk Roman ruins before the heat builds, and end the night at Athens' most ambitious tasting menu followed by its best cocktail bar.
- 9:30 AM
Couleur Locale
Rooftop terrace café with a jaw-dropping Acropolis view, the perfect first coffee in Athens.
Map - 10:30 AM
Hadrian's Library
Hadrian's 2nd-century library walls and courtyard, a short walk from your coffee.
Map - 12:30 PM
Ovio
Contemporary Italian cooking with Greek produce near Syntagma, a polished lunch before the climb.
Map - 2:30 PM
Acropolis of Athens
Go up after lunch as tour groups thin; the Parthenon and the Erechtheion's caryatids are the payoff.
Map - 7:30 PM
Soil restaurant
Tasos Mantis's Greek tasting menu, built around vegetables and herbs, in a quiet Pangrati house.
Map - 9:30 PM
Baba au Rum
Small cocktail bar in the old centre built around rum; tell the bartenders what you like and let them pour.
Map
Day 2: Acropolis Museum to Mikrolimano
The Acropolis Museum in the morning, a rooftop lunch at Point A, Philopappos Hill, sunset from Kastella Hill and a long seafood dinner at Varoulko Seaside.
- 9:30 AM
Acropolis Museum
See the Parthenon marbles that stayed in Athens, hung in the order they ran round the temple.
Map - 12:30 PM
POINT A (Acropolis Point)
Rooftop lunch at the Herodion hotel, a few steps from the museum, with the Acropolis filling the view.
Map - 2:30 PM
Philopappos Hill
Walk the pine-shaded paths to the Philopappos monument for the Acropolis and the sea in one view.
Map - 5:30 PM
Kastella Hill
Taxi to Kastella for sunset over the Saronic Gulf, then walk down to Mikrolimano's fishing harbour.
Map - 8:30 PM
Varoulko Seaside
Lefteris Lazarou's seafood tasting menu on the Mikrolimano quay; reserve a table at the water's edge.
Map
Day 3: Vouliagmeni: Coast, Lunch and Pelagos
A day on the Vouliagmeni coast, with lunch at Patio, swims at Limanakia and Apollonia, and seafood at Pelagos.
- 10:30 AM
Vouliagmeni Coast
Start with a walk along the Vouliagmeni shore, past the marina and the coves on the cape.
Map - 12:30 PM
- 2:30 PM
Second Limanakia Β' Λιμανακια
Rocky coves below the coast road with clear, deep water; bring shoes for the rocks.
Map - 4:30 PM
Apollonia Beach Vouliagmeni A Paralia Apollonies Voulas Α
Voula's organised beach for a last swim and a sunbed before dinner; small entry fee.
Map - 7:30 PM
Pelagos
Seafood tasting menu at the Four Seasons Astir Palace on the Vouliagmeni cape; ask for a terrace table.
Map
Where to stay
King George, a Luxury Collection Hotel, Athens
The grandest address on Syntagma Square, squarely placed for days one and two and with a rooftop bar worth lingering at.
One&Only Aesthesis
The only true luxury resort property on the Athenian Riviera, ideal if you want to base yourself near Vouliagmeni for day three and stay there.
Make Athens your trip
Swearby drafts the days from places people swear by. Swap any stop, then invite the crew by text, even friends without the app. Vote on dates, track costs as you go, and everyone gets one number at the end.
Get Swearby on the App StoreBefore you go
Book ahead
- Acropolis of Athens: weeks ahead
- Acropolis Museum: weeks ahead
- Acropolis and Acropolis Museum private guided tour: weeks ahead
- Temple of Poseidon: a few days ahead
- Archaeological Site of Delphi: a few days ahead
- Hydra: a few days ahead
Skip these
- Plaka and Adrianou view restaurants with a tout and photo menu: you pay for the view in food quality. Eat in Koukaki, Psyrri or Pangrati.
- Three island in a day mega cruises to Hydra, Poros and Aegina: hours in transit for an hour ashore per island.
- Temple of Olympian Zeus as a standalone paid visit: the columns are visible from the fence and Hadrian's Arch.
- Lycabettus funicular queues at sunset: walking up or a taxi is faster, and Philopappos gives the better Acropolis view free.
The full Athens travel guide: when to go, safety, getting around