Those who spend a few extra days in Athens almost always fall for the neighbourhoods where tourists are few and the city shows itself as it is: noisy, creative, political, convivial. Here are the main ones.
Exarchia
Exarchia is the district of students, intellectuals and left-wing and anarchist movements, next to the Polytechnic and the National Archaeological Museum. The Polytechnic is a symbolic place: on 17 November 1973 the student uprising against the colonels' dictatorship was crushed with tanks, and every year the anniversary is marked with a large march. The district is full of bookshops, publishers, small theatres, cheap bars and mezedopolia, and its walls are covered in murals and slogans.
On Saturdays Kallidromiou Street hosts one of the city's liveliest neighbourhood markets (laiki), with fruit, vegetables, olives and cheese. Above the district, Strefi Hill is a wild park with a fine view. Exarchia Square is affected by works for a station on the new metro line 4, strongly opposed by residents. Exarchia has a reputation as a turbulent area: by day and on ordinary evenings it is calm and pleasant, but during demonstrations and anniversaries there may be clashes with police, and it is best to stay away.
Gazi and Kerameikos
Gazi takes its name from the gasworks built in 1857 and closed in 1984. The chimneys and gasholders have become Technopolis, the municipal cultural centre with exhibitions, concerts and festivals. Since the 2000s, with the opening of Kerameikos metro station, the area has filled with bars, clubs and restaurants, many popular with the LGBTQ+ community. It is one of the centres of Athenian nightlife, especially at weekends. Neighbouring Kerameikos combines the archaeological site of the ancient cemetery, see the page, with streets of workshops and bars.
Metaxourgeio
The name comes from the 19th-century silk factory (metaxi). Long neglected, with abandoned neoclassical buildings, over the past fifteen years it has become an area of art galleries, independent spaces, street art and bars around Avdi Square and the municipal theatre. It coexists with a poorer, run-down part, especially towards Omonia: take care in the evening.
Pangrati
Behind the Panathenaic Stadium, Pangrati is a middle-class residential district with lively street life. Varnava, Plastira and Proskopon squares are ringed by cafés, bakeries, tavernas and bars frequented almost only by Athenians. Here is the Basil and Elise Goulandris Foundation, with its modern art collection, and a few steps away the First Cemetery of Athens, with funerary monuments of great artistic value, including the famous Sleeping Maiden by sculptor Giannoulis Chalepas. Pangrati is an excellent base for staying in an authentic district 15 minutes' walk from the centre.
Kypseli
North of the centre, Kypseli was in the 1930s and 50s the modern district of the bourgeoisie, with rationalist and Bauhaus-style buildings. Then it declined, and today it is a multi-ethnic, creative district in full revival. Its heart is Fokionos Negri Street, a long tree-lined pedestrian boulevard with cafés and bars; the restored municipal market hosts social projects and small businesses.
Tips
| District | When to go | Watch out for |
|---|---|---|
| Exarchia | Evening, Saturday morning for the market | Demonstrations and anniversaries |
| Gazi | Friday and Saturday nights | Club prices, crowds |
| Metaxourgeio | Afternoon for the galleries | Some poorly lit streets |
| Pangrati | Evening, for dinner | Nothing in particular |
| Kypseli | Afternoon and evening | Nothing in particular |
See also nightlife, contemporary art and street art and all neighbourhoods.